More than 300 current and former female physician assistants (PAs) have sued the health system affiliated with the University of Michigan (UM), Michigan Medicine, over allegations of wage discrimination.
In the lawsuit, filed April 15, current PA Christine Oldenburg-McGee was named the plaintiff as she brought the lawsuit forward on behalf of herself and other colleagues.
The group was allegedly paid $9,000 less per year on average than their male counterparts doing the same amount of work. The president of the United Physician Assistants of Michigan Medicine (UPAMM) union, Oldenburg-McGee said the systemic and long-standing gender-based pay disparities violate Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA) as well as other state and federal laws.
“This case could have been avoided with action years ago,” the PAs’ attorney Sarah Prescott said in a statement, according to MLive. “Instead, our clients have waited long enough. It’s time for accountability.”
The plaintiffs claim that UM was aware of this disparity for years but failed to address it, instead negotiating a contract in 2021 that “rather entrenched it further” and perpetuated the wage gap.
“Despite the UM Defendants’ knowledge of the gender wage gap, and despite expressions of intentions to address the disparity, the UM Defendants have for years failed and refused to correct for it,” the suit read.
The defendants in this lawsuit are the University of Michigan Board of Regents, the University of Michigan, Michigan Medicine, and the University of Michigan Medical School. Some executives named include Dr. David Miller, Jovita Thomas-Williams, and Hakim Berry, as well as Dr. David Miller, the CEO, who allegedly exercised policymaking oversight and managerial control over Michigan Medicine during the specified periods listed in the suit.
The case, filed in the Washtenaw County Circuit Court, is expected to move forward as a certified class action under Michigan Court Rule 3.501.
The plaintiffs seek not only back pay and related retirement losses but exemplary and punitive damages to deter future violations.
“This case is about equal pay for equal work – nothing more, and certainly nothing less,” Prescott said. “These women are highly trained medical professionals. They make the system itself operable, and they deserve to be compensated fairly and equitably.”
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