Gender Pay Discrimination Claims Result in HP and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Paying $1.5M

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Gender Pay Discrimination Claims Result in HP and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Paying $1.5.jpg

HP and Hewlett Packard Enterprise are well-known Bay Area tech giants. Together the companies will pay $1.45 million due to “systemic pay discrimination” allegations negatively affecting their female workforce.

The $1.5M Payment from HP & Hewlett Packard:

The $1.5 million is intended to cover back pay for close to 400 female employees of the two tech giants. The affected employees work for operations in California and three other states. The amount paid to the affected employees will also include interest.  

The Terms of the Settlement Resolving Gender Pay Discrimination Claims:

Under the terms of the settlement, HP and Hewlett Packard agreed to investigate compensation policies and actively seek ways to make sure the companies’ employment policies and practices (including record-keeping processes, and internal auditing of company records) comply with employment law. The tech giants are cooperating with the terms of the agreement, which should be good news for their female employees and future female employees.

Tech Giant Denies Gender Pay Discrimination Claims:

Hewlett Packard denied the discrimination allegations, but settled in order to put the entire matter in the past. The company insists that, as a company, they are dedicated to unconditionally including all employees (including pay equity issues) and do not discriminate on any basis, including gender, race, or sexual orientation. Since the tech giant firmly believes their current policies and business practices are strong and effectively provide equal pay for equal work, they believe the charges made in the case are without merit. However, they decided that it was in the best interests of the company and everyone involved to resolve the issue quickly by voluntarily settling with the plaintiffs.

Allegations of Pay Discrimination:

While the company repeatedly claimed that they do  not tolerate discrimination of any kind at their company, or in their business or employment policies or practices, the Labor Department found compensation disparities during routine employment law compliance checks. These disparities seemed to clearly indicate a disparity in compensation between Hewlett Packard’s male and female workers performing similar job duties in similar positions at the company.

If you need to discuss how to file a California gender pay discrimination lawsuit or if you have questions about identifying California Labor Law violations, please get in touch with Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP. Experienced employment law attorneys are ready to assist you in any one of various law firm offices located in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Chicago.