Judge Throws Out USA Women's National Team's Equal Pay Claim Against US Soccer

The US women's national team have lost their case on equal pay after a federal judge dismissed their claim.

US co-captain Alex Morgan and her players launched a lawsuit against United States Soccer Federation in March 2019 over an equal pay dispute with their male national team counterparts.

And the complaint had the female players seeking over a whopping $66m in damages under the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

US District Judge R Gary Klausner on Friday threw out the women's national team's case for the Equal Pay Act allegations, according to The Guardian.

But Klausner allowed the players' allegations of discriminatory working conditions against USSF to head to trial.

"The history of negotiations between the parties demonstrates that the WNT rejected an offer to be paid under the same pay-to-play structure as the MNT, and the WNT was willing to forgo higher bonuses for benefits, such as greater base compensation and the guarantee of a higher number of contracted players," the 78-year-old District Judge wrote in a 32-page decision.

"Accordingly, plaintiffs cannot now retroactively deem their CBA worse than the MNT CBA by reference to what they would have made had they been paid under the MNT's pay-to-play terms structure when they themselves rejected such a structure."

According to reports, the trial is scheduled to take place on 16th June in a federal court in Los Angeles.

Molly Levinson, a spokeswoman for the women's players, has admitted that they won't stop in their battle for equal pay.

"We are shocked and disappointed with today's decision, but we will not give up our hard work for equal pay," she said.

"We are confident in our case and steadfast in our commitment to ensuring that girls and women who play this sport will not be valued as lesser just because of their gender."

The women's players plan to ask the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn Klausner's decision, which could force the trial back to 2021 or an even later date.

US co-captain Megan Rapinoe, who has championed the fight on equal pay, took to Twitter and tweeted: "We will never stop fighting for EQUALITY."

Other players from the US national team, including Tobin Heath and Christen Press, echoed Rapinoe's sentiments on Twitter.

The women's national team won their fourth World Cup title last summer in France with a 2-0 victory over the Netherlands.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Football News, Football, USA, US

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

@AdnanRiaz9