County officials in Idaho have agreed to pay $350,000 to four former jail nurses to settle a lawsuit alleging they were discriminated against because they are women.
Tracy Johnson, Toni Krieter, Rene Whitneck and Linda Ellis were four of the five nurses working at the Canyon County Jail when they sued in U.S. District Court in 2019. The fifth nurse, a man, was paid more than all of them, according to the lawsuit. In the lawsuit against Canyon County and county officials, the women said they were denied equal compensation based on their sex even though they had similar or more experience than their male counterpart and performed essentially the same jobs.
The male nurse had six years of experience and was making more than $31 an hour, according to the court document. The women were all making around $23 and $24 an hour, even though two of them had 15 years of experience and one of them had 20 years of experience.
A trial on the claims against Canyon County was set for September. But earlier this month, the women and the county agreed to a settlement to end the case. In the agreement, Canyon County denied any wrongdoing but agreed to pay the women $350,000 to settle the claims, with each side handling its own attorney fees and court costs. (AP)
