Louisiana State University.

Two former female lawyers at Louisiana State University's Health Sciences Center in New Orleans have sued the school and three administrators, including the general counsel, over gender discrimination and retaliation claims.

The plaintiffs include Katherine Muslow, who worked as university in-house counsel for 16 years and served as the Health Science Center's general counsel until last year; and Meredith Cunningham, who worked as a part-time in-house counsel under Muslow.

The suit alleges, “LSU (New Orleans), in particular its Office of the Chancellor, has engaged in a years-long pattern and practice of discriminating against women employees, which includes compensating women at rates lower than men working in positions that require the same or substantially equal skill, effort, and responsibility.”

Ernie Ballard III, Louisiana State's media relations director, told Corporate Counsel on Monday, “As far as I know, we haven't been served with anything yet, but we do not comment on pending litigation.”

Muslow reported to Larry Hollier, chancellor of the university's New Orleans campus. Hollier and his vice chancellor are defendants in the suit, along with Thomas Skinner, the university vice president of legal affairs and general counsel based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Hollier could not be reached, and Skinner did not return messages seeking comment.

Calls to Muslow were diverted to Peter Koeppel of Koeppel Clark in New Orleans, one of the attorneys representing Muslow and Cunningham. Koeppel pointed to the complaint and said court rules forbid attorneys in Louisiana from commenting on pending litigation.

He said Muslow works as a special counsel with his law firm and also could not comment.

The suit was filed July 22, after the women received their right to sue notices from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

According to the suit, the women were qualified and competent and never received a negative performance review.

It states that a 2017 school market study showed that Muslow's salary of $182,475 was $45,045 below the minimum for her pay grade and more than $132,000 below the midpoint, despite her 16 years of service.

“The annualized salary of one male direct-report in the chancellor's Office, whose position was graded two pay levels below Muslow's, exceeded Muslow's salary by $61,275,” the suit says. “At the time, this particular direct-report had only recently been hired and worked part time.”

Cunningham and two other women in the office at her pay grade received well below the minimum, according to the suit, while two men in the department with the same pay grade received salaries exceeding the $162,242 midpoint.

After Muslow confronted Hollier, he adjusted her pay to the minimum level but refused her request to raise it to the midpoint. Cunningham did not receive a salary adjustment because she was part-time, the suit alleges, even though male part-timers did receive pay raises.

When salary increases were given in 2018, the plaintiffs did not receive any raise, while a male direct-report to Hollier, whose position was two pay grades below Muslow's, was increased so that his salary exceeded hers by $32,480.

In December 2018 the suit says the school consolidated the campus legal departments under Skinner and informed Muslow she would have the title of chief counsel in 2019, reporting to Skinner's deputy general counsel. Her job and her pay would not change under the consolidation.

When Cunningham and Muslow received new employment contracts, they objected to accepting the same “discriminatory salaries,” the suit says. On Feb. 15 they wrote to Skinner asking that their salaries be reviewed and raised to bring them in line with their male counterparts, court records show.

Three days later Skinner rescinded the employment contracts. On March 1 the school “retired” the women's positions.

Their suit contains 10 counts of both federal and state pay and gender discrimination as well as retaliation claims. It seeks punitive and compensatory damages plus costs.

No defendant has filed a response yet, nor are the defense lawyers named. The case is pending in U.S. District Court in Eastern Louisiana under Judge Barry Ashe.