Vice Media Class Action Says Female Employees are Underpaid

A class action lawsuit accuses Vice Media of systematically paying female employees less than their male counterparts.

Plaintiff Elizabeth Rose worked for Vice Media from 2014 to 2016 as a channel manager and project manager, in Vice’s Brooklyn and Los Angeles offices and claims she was paid less than her male counterparts because of her gender.

She seeks compensatory damages on behalf of other female employees of Vice who worked for the company during the last three years.

The Vice Media gender pay inequality class action lawsuit argues that “through formal policies and widespread practices, [Vice’s] male leadership interferes with, limits, or prevents female employees from receiving equal pay for equal or substantially similar work compared to their male counterparts,” and thus violates the California Equal Pay Act, the New York Equal Pay Act, and the Federal Equal Pay Act.

Rose states that as part of her assigned work, she worked on a project that was a collaboration between Vice Media and Live Nation, and saw a memo detailing the pay information of about 35 Vice employees. From this memo, she learned that a male subordinate that she hired earned $25,000 more annually than she did, and that across the board, female employees earned less than their male counterparts.

The Vice Media female employees underpaid class action lawsuit cites another case in which a female employee made $15,000 less than a man with the same job. She was promoted to editor, and in her new role, made $15,000 less than her male predecessor. She tried to negotiate for more pay, but was told that there was no room in the company’s budget to pay her more.

The Vice Media class action lawsuit cites the fact that the company’s founders, Shane Smith and Suroosh Alvi sent out a memo to their employees on Dec. 23, 2017 that acknowledged the gender-based pay gap and promised to rectify it.

The memo read “listening to our employees over the past year, the truth is inescapable: from the top down, we have failed as a company to create a safe and including workplace where everyone, especially women, can feel respected and thrive.”

In the same memo, the founders promised to achieve pay parity by December 2018, but have not agreed to compensate employees retroactively. The memo states that the company’s steps towards equality include “a pay parity audit started last year, a goal of 50/50 female/male representation at every level by 2020, and the formation of a diversity and inclusion advisory board.”

The Vice Media gender pay gap class action lawsuit seeks compensation for women who have been underpaid during the last three years.

Rose is represented by Michael S. Morrison and Jessica S. Choi of Alexander Krakow and Glick LLP.

The Vice Media Gender Pay Inequality Class Action Lawsuit is Elizabeth Rose v. Vice Media Inc, et. al., Case No. BC693688, in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles.