Central Bucks Teacher Accuses District Of Violating Equal Pay Act

DOYLESTOWN, PA — A Central Bucks School District teacher has filed a lawsuit accusing her employer of paying women teachers substantially less than men.

The collective action suit was filed June 8 in federal court by Dawn Marinello, an English teacher who has been employed with the district since August 2016. She alleges that her 14 years of teaching experience in the Commonwealth should have placed her in "Step 15" of the district's salary schedule as a fifteenth year teacher with a master's degree when she was hired by the district.

Instead, she was placed in Step 1 of the salary schedule, the lawsuit argues.

"The District has willfully engaged in a pattern and practice of compensating male teacher employees more favorably than women teacher employees under the Salary Schedules," the lawsuit states.

Her attorney, Edward Mazurek, cites the example of a male teacher — who went unnamed in the lawsuit — whose previous teaching experience in Pennsylvania was accounted for in his salary. The lawsuit also lists Rebecca Cartee-Haring as a female Central Bucks teacher who was not properly paid.

Marinello was a teacher at Wissahickon School District from 1995 to 1997, followed by a teaching stint at Hatboro-Horsham School District until 2007, and then at Cheltenham School District from 2014 to 2016, according to the lawsuit.

The suit alleges that the district's conduct constitutes a violation of the federal Equal Pay Act and asks for the district to pay unpaid back wages to Marinello, Cartee-Haring and any other female teachers in the district who were not properly paid.

Central Bucks School District Responds

The school district filed its response with the court on Monday, in which it stated that Marinello did not reference her employment in the Wissahickon School District in her employment application with the district. Furthermore, the district said it believes that Marinello was employed in the Cheltenham School District as a long-term substitute and not as a regular teacher.

The district said it cannot confirm the exact number of years of teaching experience that Marinello had when she was hired by the district. It also stated it has discretion to place transferring teachers from other school districts where it sees fit on the salary schedule, and "rarely places transferring teachers higher than the fifth step of the Salary Schedule regardless of their years of service."

The case is currently being reviewed by Judge Michael Baylson.

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