Schleicher v. Preferred Solutions, Inc., No. 15-1716 (6th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseFrom 2009-2013, Schleicher worked for Preferred, a Michigan-based company that provides staffing for corporate clients. With his female co-workerPiotrowski, Schleicher led Preferred’s healthcare information technology group. The two performed the same job, had the same responsibilities, and each earned a share of the profits they collectively generated. They requested to be paid pursuant to different compensation models: Schleicher received 20% of the group’s profit pool, while Piotrowski received a $100,000 base salary plus a 10% draw from the profit pool. Schleicher outearned Piotrowski by $694,159.38, but had disagreements with Seipenko and other Preferred employees. In 2013, the company modified Schleicher’s compensation model so that it matched Piotrowski’s. At the end of 2013, Seipenko terminated Schleicher. Schleicher sued under the Equal Pay Act, alleging that Preferred violated the statute by paying him more than Piotrowski for three years, then lowering his compensation so that it matched Piotrowski’s. The district court granted summary judgment to Preferred, finding that it had conclusively established that sex played no part in the pay differential between Schleicher and Piotrowski. The Sixth Circuit affirmed. Preferred carried its “heavy burden” of proving that the disparity between Piotrowski’s and Schleicher’s pay was due to a “factor other than sex.”
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