CU Admits Gender Discrimination

In an unexpected development a number of women employed at CU Boulder will receive a settlement after filing a complaint concerning gender pay discrimination. This is a welcome change. During earlier years, pay rates were decided arbitrarily, by job classification or negotiation depending on the rank of the position, with a wide range of guidance for so-called “classified” employees. There was enough variation in pay rates allowed per rank that serious inequities could arise, especially after “step raises” were applied over the years to salaries that started at the low range vs. the high range allowed for the position.

The author of this article was visited, during employment at CU, but a fellow staff member with a worrisome message. She was part of a group of staffers assigned to report on pay rates for the OIT department. “Is that all they’re paying her???!!!” was the reaction the team had to my salary in a unit management position.

This serves as further evidence of an ossified organizational apparatus at CU Boulder over the years. Specifically, correcting inequities and enforcing ethics was very difficult. Skilled office politics “players” could get away with a lot.

Another manifestation of this organizational blind spot would be sporadic terminations of gifted employees who’d been hired to solve problems or build new functional areas for CU. They would work hard, in good faith, only to see their achievements eventually taken over by others. Usually this would be accompanied by termination, perhaps for “cause”, but usually neutral with an alleged green light to be hired for other positions. However, actually getting into another position at CU often proved to be elusive.

The lesson here: go ahead and take that interesting job at CU Boulder, but keep your travelling shoes on.

This story also appeared the Daily Camera.