Morgan v. United States Soccer Federation

Alex Morgan (plaintiff), a US Women’s National Soccer Team (WNT) player, filed suit on her behalf and on behalf of other players against the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) (defendant) for violation of the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Inferior treatment by the USSF of the WNT was claimed compared to the US Men’s National Soccer Team (MNT). As background, the WNT had sustained considerably more international success than the MNT during the relevant period. The MNT and WNT had separate entities representing the organizations for collective-bargaining purposes. The WNT alleged unequal pay because the MNT would receive higher bonus payments for tournament success than the WNT. The USSF countered by noting that those bonuses constituted the full pay of the MNT, whereas the WNT had guaranteed annual salaries and severance pay not available to the MNT. Moreover, during the period in question, the WNT had actually earned slightly more, both in total and per-game averages, than the MNT. The Title VII claim included disparate treatment based on inferior pay and unequal working conditions (field surfaces, travel conditions, and support services). The USSF denied all of these claims, reiterating that the WNT received superior pay to the MNT. Regarding field surfaces, the USSF admitted that the WNT had played more games on artificial turf than the MNT but also indicated that this was due to playing Victory Tour games that the MNT did not play and were scheduled to enhance the popularity of the WNT. Both sides filed cross-motions for summary judgment.