UC Santa Barbara professor sues university over alleged equal pay violations

Professor Edwina Barvosa has filed a lawsuit in Santa Barbara County Superior Court against the University of California, Santa Barbara, alleging that the institution underpaid her by nearly 3 million dollars. The New York Post reported that the lawsuit was initially filed in June and was first uncovered by the student newspaper, The Daily Nexus. [1]

According to the New York Post, Barvosa is a Harvard-educated professor of applied social and political theory who has taught at the university since 1998. The complaint alleges that she was paid significantly less than a less experienced, white male colleague, who was hired eight years after her to perform the same job. The suit identifies the male colleague as Professor Y and further alleges that the university retaliated against Barvosa after she voiced complaints. [1]

The University of California, Santa Barbara is a public land grant research university situated in Santa Barbara County, California. It established its roots in 1891 as an independent teachers college and eventually joined the University of California system in 1944 as its third oldest campus after Berkeley and UCLA. [7]