Rutgers Law School Fundraising Dean Files Gender Discrimination And Equal Pay Lawsuit

Law360, Ex-Rutgers Law Fundraising Exec Launches Equal Pay Suit:

A former law school fundraising executive has slammed Rutgers University with a gender discrimination and equal pay lawsuit in New Jersey state court alleging she was improperly paid less than a male counterpart and ultimately fired for complaining about the inequitable treatment.

Robin Todd, who served as assistant dean for development at the Camden campus of Rutgers Law School, said Thursday that she made such complaints for several years before being terminated in recent months under the guise of "restructuring." The university and its fundraising arm, Rutgers University Foundation, are named as defendants in the suit.

"Defendants' claim of 'restructuring' was a pretext for retaliation," the suit says. "In fact, defendants fired plaintiff because of her complaints of gender discrimination and violations of the Equal Pay Act and/or New Jersey Equal Pay Act."

The university hired Todd around November 2015 as the senior director of development for its Camden campus, primarily responsible for fundraising for the law school there, the suit says. Around April 2015, Rutgers had hired Robert Steinbaum as the associate dean for advancement at Rutgers Law School in Newark, and he was mainly responsible for fundraising for the law school at that campus, the suit says.

Todd said she had "significant experience in fundraising and development" at the time of her hiring, but Steinbaum did not when he was hired. However, Steinbaum was offered about $30,000 more in annual pay than Todd, according to the suit. ...

In the spring of 2016, Todd was promoted to assistant dean for development at the law school in Camden, the suit says. Her duties largely remained the same and, even though she was promoted, Todd "was not provided with a salary raise comparable to that of Steinbaum," the suit says.