Oracle women fought 7 years for equity, only to win just an extra paycheck or two

Oracle Corp.’s female employees, who battled the company in court for nearly seven years over gender-pay equity, have settled for $25 million — a seemingly modest sum for the tech giant, translating to just one or two paychecks for most women.

The proposed agreement, filed this week and pending court approval, would resolve a dispute dating back to June 2017, part of a series of lawsuits over the past decade alleging systematic gender pay disparities in tech companies.

This case against Oracle marked a significant milestone as the first in the industry to attain class-action status, a distinction not achieved in similar battles against Microsoft and Twitter. However, this status was revoked from the Oracle employees in 2022 by a California state judge.

Under the terms negotiated with Oracle America Inc., after settling attorney fees and allocating a portion to the state Labor Department, approximately $15 million would be distributed among around 4,000 employees. This group includes women who served in the company’s product development, support, and information technology departments in California since June 2013.

Oracle has yet to issue a response to the settlement proposal. In the agreement, the company, with a market capitalization of approximately $314 billion, maintains its denial of the allegations.

This case underscores the challenges women in the tech sector face when seeking pay equality through legal channels. Class-action status is critical as it enables plaintiffs to pool resources and negotiate larger settlements. However, securing this status has become increasingly difficult since a landmark 2011 decision by the US Supreme Court, which raised the bar for advancing massive employment discrimination cases.

Similar legal battles led by the same attorneys resulted in a $118 million settlement with Google in 2022, benefiting 15,500 women who had obtained class-action status the year before. The average payouts per person — $3,750 for Oracle and $5,500 for Google, after legal expenses — pale in comparison to the approximately $50,000 each received by about 2,800 women at Goldman Sachs in a $215 million pay equity settlement last year.

Another relevant point of comparison is the US Labor Department’s unsuccessful 2017 case against Oracle, seeking $400 million in back pay for women and minorities. However, an agency judge concluded after a trial that the company did not intentionally engage in pay discrimination.

Beyond monetary compensation, the Oracle settlement includes provisions for an independent expert to assess relevant job roles and recommend adjustments to ensure compliance with equal-pay laws.

Lawyers representing the plaintiffs, James Finberg and John Mullen, noted that their firms’ efforts over nearly seven years surpassed the $8.3 million they are requesting in fees. They emphasized their commitment to maximizing payouts for their clients.

Individual payouts under the settlement will vary based on each woman’s overall compensation during her tenure at Oracle.

_{Repurposed article originally published in Mercury News}