The Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) and the Texas General Land Office (GLO) have agreed to pay $175,000 to three female employees who were allegedly paid less than male workers for equivalent work, a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Pay Act of 1963.

The women were hired as program specialists for the Disaster Recovery Division (DRD) of the former Texas Department of Rural Affairs (TDRA) in January 2009. Shortly after joining the agency, one of the women discovered that pay for female program specialists was significantly lower than for male specialists. She complained to management about the discrepancy, but the company reportedly failed to respond. In October 2009, she filed a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

In April 2010, the TDRA conducted a compensation analysis. An internal memo by TDRA management confirmed that salaries of the female specialists in the DRD, which ranged from approximately $62,000 to $72,522, “fell significantly short of the expected values” compared with salaries of their male coworkers, which ranged from $79,631 to $95,157. As a result of the audit, the TDRA gave the three female workers an “equity adjustment” that brought their pay closer, but not equal, to that of the men. The adjustments were not retroactive.

In February 2011, the DRD notified its employees that the division was being abolished. Two male program specialists were retained by the TDRA, while all the women were let go.

Both the U.S. Justice Department and the EEOC filed lawsuits against the TDA and the GLO, as the TDRA’s successors, for pay discrimination and retaliation. The settlement includes back wages and numerous provisions to ensure future compliance with federal law.