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Class Action Suit Filed Against UC for $500 Million
Women of Livermore Lab Stand Up
Compiled by Editorial Staff
On December 23, 1998, six current and former female
employees of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory sued UC's
Board of Regents for sex discrimination on behalf of 3,000 similarly
affected workers. The suit charges that the research facility
regularly paid female employees significantly less then their male
counterparts. It also said the lab denied women equal opportunity
for advancement.
At a press conference, Oakland plaintiff attorney Gary Gwilliam
held up a recent photograph of the lab's fourteen white male
directors posing with former President Bush. 'This is the good ole'
boys club,' he said, 'this is a very male-dominated profession, a very
macho organization. As long as there are only men at the top this is
the way it's going to be.'
Attorneys representing the plaintiffs estimated that the claims
for back pay could easily exceed $500 million. 'this is not about
money. It's about changing a system,' said Mary Singleton, lead
plaintiff in the suit. 'It's a battle I've fought for 20 years. The
important thing to me is that we make the system fair.' Singleton
said she and other female employees uncovered disparities in pay
ranging from $1,000 to $2,000 a month between women being paid
less held advanced degrees and had greater on-the-job experience
than their male counterparts.
Environmental Auditor Gloria Glasscox said she became
frustrated training men who were later promoted above her. Project
Manager Janelle Span was told by her Supervisor that she would not
receive a raise due to the probable embarrassment of making more
money than her co-worker husband who did not have a college
degree. Span said '(filing this suit) is a career suicide. I'm doing this
for the women out there.' Other plaintiffs include shirley Rogers
Jennings and Maura Spragge.
Mary Singleton was a chemist in the lab's mechanical
engineering department who rose to the rank of deputy manager of
the plutonium facility before retiring in 1996. She will be featured
speaker at the spring WAGE meeting Saturday, April 17, at
Northbrae Community Church in Berkeley.
-wage@wage.org-