Jury awards nearly $1.4 million to DMACC IT worker for pay disparity, retaliation

William Morris
Des Moines Register

An information-technology worker at Des Moines Area Community College deserves $1.4 million in back pay and damages from her employer, according to a Polk County jury. 

Sandra Selden sued the college in 2020, alleging she was paid "tens of thousands of dollars less" than a male colleague despite having the same title and greater responsibilities.

As an application support analyst, Selden worked on the school's student and faculty software tools and information systems, and was responsible for more systems than her sole male colleague. After she asked her superiors about the pay discrepancy, the school refused to consider her application for a promotion, which led to a claim for retaliation, according to court filings.

The case went to trial Nov. 1, and on Nov. 10, the jury sided with Selden. The college was ordered to pay more than $223,500 in back wages as well as more than $986,000 for past and future emotional distress, plus interest, for a total of nearly $1.38 million.

More:How much did the discrimination lawsuit against former Gov. Terry Branstad cost Iowa taxpayers? $2.8 million and counting

College President Rob Denson said in an email the school stands by its pay practices.

"Although we cannot comment on the facts of the case, DMACC has a structured process by which we recruit, screen, and hire employees, and then set compensation based on qualifications and experience," he said in a statement. "Thereafter, the amount someone earns in any position is influenced by longevity. We believe our processes were followed in this case."

Attorney David Albrecht, who represented Selden, said the decision will force the college to confront an issue it so far has wanted to ignore.

"Equal pay for equal work is a simple concept, but it requires vigilance, and it requires people like Sandy to speak up," he said.

DMACC: Y2K, seniority explain pay gap

In its court filings, the college argued there were valid nondiscriminatory reasons for the pay gap.

Selden's male counterpart had been at the school nearly 16 years longer than her and had accrued more than a decade of additional raises. While Selden pointed out that female IT workers of similar seniority were also paid less, the school countered that those workers had been hired for less-senior roles and had thus started at a lower pay grade.

Furthermore, the school said, it is reasonable that workers hired at a time of high demand will command higher wages. Selden's male coworker was hired in 1998, at a time when programmers were in high demand due to Y2K. Selden was hired in 2013, when the job market was less competitive.

From May:'She still has not recovered': Jury awards Iowa DHS employee $790k in sexual harassment lawsuit

Those arguments didn't persuade the jury, Albrecht said, because members of the 1998 hiring committee said Y2K played no role in their search, and neither did it result in a corresponding pay bump for the women hired around the same time. And while it's normal for workers to see their pay increase with seniority, Selden argued successfully that discrimination had been built in from the moments she and her coworker were hired.

"The fact that he’d been there years longer than Sandy actually didn’t play a role," Albrecht said. "What we were looking at was, the jobs have an initial salary range, and the evidence the jury heard was when they initially hired the male (coworker) they did so at a much elevated rate, and they didn’t do that with Sandy."

More:Des Moines violated Iowa's Civil Rights Act, jury finds, in failing to adequately accommodate arborist's disability

The college argued that the language in its job description for the senior role Selden sought required a degree in computer science that she does not have. That meant she could not prove her sex or her questioning of pay disparities played played a role in the decision not to interview or hire her, it said.

Selden, in court documents, pointed out that her former supervisor, whose role she sought, also did not have a degree in computer science. Neither did the man eventually hired for the position. And the job description also calls for applicants with familiarity with particular software applications — experience that Selden, alone among the applicants, possessed.

The college, Denson said, is "waiting for the disposition of all post-trial motions and then will confer with our attorney to decide as to next steps."

Selden, meanwhile, plans to remain in her job with the college, Albrecht said.

William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com, 715-573-8166 or on Twitter at @DMRMorris.