EQUALITY

U.S. Women Soccer Stars File Fair Wage Complaint

Five players filed a federal complaint.

Five players on the U.S. women’s national soccer team have filed a federal complaint alleging that they are facing wage discrimination. Their lawyer, Jeffrey Kessler, said the filing alleges that the team’s members are paid substantially less than players on the men’s national team. The five included in the complaint include some of America’s most decorated female athletes: co-captains Carli Lloyd and Becky Sauerbrunn, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, and Hope Solo. The complaint requests an investigation of U.S. Soccer by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Lloyd said in a statement: “We have been quite patient over the years with the belief that the federation would do the right thing and compensate us fairly.” Solo added, “The numbers speak for themselves. We are the best in the world, have three World Cup championships, four Olympic championships, and the U.S.M.N.T. get paid more to just show up than we get paid to win major championships.”