THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 28, 1996 TAG: 9609280230
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 31 lines
Gov. George F. Allen on Friday approved a settlement with five male Virginia Commonwealth University professors who had sued the university, claiming that a $440,000 lump-sum payment to female faculty members to erase salary inequities violated their rights.
Allen approved the settlement, drafted by the state Attorney General's Office, while in France, said spokeswoman Julie Overy.
She said she could not provide details of the settlement.
Ted Smith, one of the professors who brought the suit, said Friday, ``We're delighted that the settlement is final, and frankly we feel completely vindicated now.''
The suit hinged on the validity of a university study on which the payment was based. The male professors said the study was incomplete because it did not include such measures as teaching load and research productivity. VCU argued that the study was solid and that the professors had not proved that the results would have changed if the factors had been included.
Smith said he could not discuss the settlement. But he said it included a pledge by VCU ``that it will never again hand out pay raises without specific measures of merit.
``That's a pretty big admission - they're promising never to do again what they did.''
VCU President Eugene P. Trani could not be reached Friday.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY LAWSUIT SETTLEMENT by CNB