KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ Federal authorities have filed legal action in a case of gender discrimination that drew national attention to a pair of Kansas City-area teens last year.
Last year, high school friends Jensen Walcott and Jake Reed were hired to work at a Kansas City, Kan., pizza restaurant.
But when Walcott learned that Reed was offered 25 cents more an hour for the same job than she was, she protested to the company, which then withdrew its employment offer to both.
News of what happened drew the attention of Hillary Clinton, and the teens were invited to speak at the Democratic National Convention.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., against the company that operated the Pizza Studio restaurant at the Legends Outlets. The company, PS Holding LLC, no longer owns the Pizza Studio at the Legends.
The suit alleges that the company violated the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which makes it illegal to pay men and woman unequally for doing the same job. The federal law also makes it illegal to retaliate for contesting such action.
