Facts

Plaintiff Bettina Boxall has been employed as a reporter for defendant Los Angeles Times since August 1987. In her career, plaintiff constantly reported on top news events, received honors and awards, including a Pulitzer Prize for environmental reporting in 2014. Plaintiff filed a class action lawsuit against defendant Los Angeles Times and defendant Tribune Publishing for race and gender discrimination with respect to plaintiff's salary.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: Plaintiff contended that her salary was in the lower range compared to other non-white male colleagues pursuant to a study conducted by a male reporter in the 1990s in the Metro Bureau. The study asked anonymous volunteers their about their race, gender, experience, tenure and salary. Plaintiff contended that the disparities in her pay in comparison to male colleagues and non-minority colleagues violated the California Equal Pay Act because the difference in the pay between male and female employees was not due to seniority, merit, education, training or experience but rather was due to gender and race. Plaintiff further contended that defendants' discriminatory pay policies violated the Federal Equal Pay Act.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS: Defendants denied plaintiff's contentions.

Result

Defendants agreed to settle the case for $3 million.