Penn State to pay $703,000 to settle gender pay discrimination claims

Pennsylvania State University will pay $703,742 in back wages and interest and enter into a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor to resolve alleged gender pay discrimination against female employees.

Based on a compliance review, the Department of Labor said it found that, at least as of July 1, 2020, Penn State would have paid female employees 65 times less than men holding similar positions in facilities operations and maintenance, education extension and upper management jobs. This also included one female faculty in research professor roles in the College of Engineering and Applied Research Laboratory and some female faculty in teaching professor roles in the College of Agricultural Sciences and the Donald P College of Communications Bellisario.

In addition to paying back wages, Penn State has agreed to take steps to ensure that its compensation practices and policies do not discriminate.

The government said the university’s actions violated Executive Order 11246, which prohibits federal contractors from discriminating in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin.

“Employers holding federal contracts must provide all employees with equal employment opportunity and audit their hiring processes to ensure there are no barriers to equal employment,” said Samuel B. Maiden, regional director of the Philadelphia office of the federal contract compliance unit.

The state’s largest public university, Penn State is among the nation’s largest universities. In 2024, Penn State received more than $178 million in payments from federal contracts with agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NASA, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Departments of Defense and Agriculture.

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