Nov 8, 2024 Story by: Editor
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against the Mississippi Senate, alleging racial discrimination against a Black attorney, Kristie Metcalfe, who was reportedly paid significantly less than her white colleagues for performing the same work.
“Discriminatory employment practices, like paying a Black employee less than their white colleagues for the same work, are not only unfair, they are unlawful,” stated Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
Metcalfe was employed as a staff attorney in the Mississippi Senate’s Legislative Services Office from December 2011 until November 2019. Staff attorneys in this nonpartisan office are responsible for drafting legislation and managing other legal matters for the Senate’s 52 members, with many attorneys holding the position for decades.
According to the lawsuit, the Senate’s office employed only white attorneys for at least 34 years before Metcalfe joined, making her the first and only Black attorney on staff at the time. Her initial salary was set at $55,000, while her white colleagues earned between $95,550 and $121,800. Roughly a month after Metcalfe’s hiring, her white colleagues received raises, raising their salaries to a range of $114,000 to $136,416, but Metcalfe did not receive a similar increase.
Republican Governor Tate Reeves served as the Senate’s lieutenant governor from January 2012 to January 2020, covering nearly all of Metcalfe’s employment period. Both Reeves and current Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, also a Republican, declined to comment on the lawsuit. Amanda Frusha White, the Senate’s secretary under Hosemann, stated, “We do not comment on pending litigation.”
The lawsuit notes that throughout her tenure, Metcalfe’s pay lagged behind that of her white colleagues by $40,000 to $60,000. In December 2018, the Senate hired a new attorney, a white male with eight years of legal experience, similar to Metcalfe’s. He was paid a starting salary of $101,500, exceeding Metcalfe’s by $24,335, despite his lack of prior legislative experience.
When Metcalfe raised concerns over this disparity with then-Senate President Pro Tempore Terry Burton, a Republican, her request to adjust her salary to match that of her new colleague was denied. Eleven months later, Metcalfe chose to resign. Source: US News
