They have numbers showing parity in compensation at the top, but is that enough?
As the back-and-forth between the representatives of the US Women's National Team and US Soccer continues, USSF has filed a response to the WNT's wage disparity complaint and asked the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to dismiss the WNT's claims.
US Soccer's case
USSF's arguments for the differences in wages for the two teams come in the following essential points, based on their filing:
1) The MNT generates more revenue
2) The WNT chose to negotiate for a different salary structure from the MNT, this guaranteed salary sometimes loses out to the paid-by-the-appearance model, and their own "pay equity clause" has already leveled their compensation
3) The WNT and the MNT's collective bargaining agreements were negotiated at different times, so sometimes one team's compensation lags behind the other
USSF has put together an argument that these compensation factors, in addition to the federation being a "strong supporter" of women's soccer, mean that they are not discriminating on the basis of gender and have not violated Title VII or the Equal Pay act.