THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 24, 1994 TAG: 9409240248
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sued the Old Dominion University Research Foundation, alleging that its female workers are paid less than a male for the same type of work.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Norfolk, said that four female grants managers receive ``less than the rate paid their male counterpart performing equal work.''
The suit does not identify the pay rates or specify the amount of ``appropriate back pay'' that the EEOC is seeking for the employees.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, which is handling the case, said lawyers there would not comment.
The ODU Research Foundation is a private corporation, with a board of directors that administers grants received by the university.
Bob E. Wolfson, the executive director of the foundation, said the organization is negotiating an out-of-court settlement with the EEOC, even though he denies wrongdoing.
``I would rather pay my employees than pay the same amount to lawyers to defend the claim,'' he said.
``We certainly think that our system had valid reasons other than sex to pay the male more,'' said Wolfson, citing his experience and level of education.
He said the EEOC began investigating the foundation after it received a reverse-discrimination complaint from a male employee. The EEOC, he said, didn't find evidence to substantiate the complaint but discovered what it believed was discrimination against female workers. Three of the four females still work at the foundation, he said.
ODU's president, James V. Koch, said he was unaware of the EEOC suit. But he added, ``Our policy is equal pay for equal work, and if that's not what we're doing, we're going to correct it.''
Although the foundation is private, Koch said, he could influence its policy.
When Koch took over at ODU in 1990, he promised to appoint more minorities and women to high-level positions. Since then, he has named women to two of the university's four vice presidential slots - Jo Ann Gora in academic affairs and Kay A. Kemper in institutional advancement.
KEYWORDS: LAWSUIT U.S. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION OLD
DOMINION UNIVERSITY DISCRIMINATION SALARIES by CNB