Lacey’s Place LLC Series Midlothian, doing business as Lacey’s Place, which owns and operates more than 30 video gaming parlors in Illinois, violated civil rights law by paying female district managers lower wages than male district managers on the basis of sex, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed today.

According to EEOC’s lawsuit, female district managers were paid less than their male coworkers since at least March 2018. Several female district managers had similar or more experience and education than their male colleagues, but made between $6,000 and $16,500 less in annual salary.

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Pay Act, which prohibit pay discrimination based on sex. The EEOC filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois (EEOC v. Lacey’s Place LLC Series Midlothian d/b/a Lacey’s Place, Civil Action No. 2:22-cv-02161) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The EEOC’s litigation effort will be led by Trial Attorneys Elizabeth Banaszak and Adrienne Kaufman and Supervisory Trial Attorney Deborah Hamilton.

“Employers are required to pay male and female workers equally for equal work,” said Gregory Gochanour, EEOC’s regional attorney in Chicago. “That is the law, and the EEOC will hold employers accountable if they don’t live up to that responsibility.”

EEOC Chicago District Director Julianne Bowman added, “The fact that we continue to see these sex-based wage disparities nearly 60 years after the Equal Pay Act and Title VII were enacted demonstrates that more work is required to achieve the promise of equal pay for equal work.”

The EEOC is seeking back pay, liquidated damages, the elimination of the pay disparities, and other injunctive relief to correct and prevent future pay discrimination.