AAUP News Updates
by AAUP
October 1, 2019
The AAUP has filed an amicus brief in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in support of Jennifer Freyd, who sued the University of Oregon (UO) for pay discrimination based on significant pay disparities with male faculty members. A district court had dismissed her suit based, in part, on findings that she and her male colleagues did not perform equal work, and that the reasons for the pay differentials did not have a disparate impact on women. The district court, in ruling against Freyd, also claimed that the pay differential was justified by the “academic freedom” of faculty. The AAUP’s brief disputes this argument, writing, “academic freedom is a condition of employment that all faculty hold in common to enhance their ability to engage in teaching, research, and service. It is not a weapon to be wielded as a justification for gender-based inequalities.”