Former Oracle employees sue company for alleged pay discrimination

Three female, former Oracle employees, Rong Jewett, Sophy Wang and Xian Murray, are suing Oracle for allegedly paying women less than men in similar jobs. The lawsuit, filed August 28, seeks a class-action status to represent all other women who have worked at Oracle.

The lawsuit, first reported by The Information, alleges that Oracle discriminated against women by “systematically paying them lower wage rates than Oracle pays to male employees performing substantially equal or similar work under similar working conditions,” the filing states. The time period the lawsuit references is four years prior to the filing and through the date of the trial in California.

Referencing how the U.S. Department of Labor sued Oracle in January based on its compliance review that found “systemic discrimination against women” and “gross disparities in pay,” the lawsuit states Oracle had known or should have known about the pay disparity between its male and female employees.

“Oracle is required to maintain records of the wages and wage rates, job classifications, and other terms and conditions of employment of all of its employees throughout California,” the lawsuit states. “Oracle therefore knew or should have known that it paid female employees in Covered Positions less than it paid their male counterparts for performing substantially equal or similar work, yet Oracle took no steps to eliminate its unlawful and discriminatory pay practices at any time during the Class Period.”

The plaintiffs are seeking wages due, interest and liquidated damages plus interest. They also want Oracle to guarantee they won’t pay women less than men for similar work in the future.

Oracle is not the only tech company facing lawsuits and allegations around gender discrimination. Google is under fire following an internal memo leaked, suggesting that women are inferior to men. That memo came shortly after a judge sided with Google and said the company didn’t have to hand over pay data as it relates to gender.

Oracle declined to comment.

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