The University of Colorado Denver is facing a proposed class action in state court alleging it continued to pay female faculty less than male colleagues even after internal reviews identified widespread salary disparities, in violation of Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act.
In a lawsuit filed Friday in Denver County District Court, 21 female faculty members sued the Regents of the University of Colorado, claiming the university knowingly maintained unequal pay practices across multiple academic departments after conducting internal compensation audits. The plaintiffs allege the university failed to correct the disparities or provide back pay despite evidence that women were being paid less for substantially similar work.
“With knowledge of those inequities, CU Denver did not adjust the compensation of those who were adversely impacted by the new evidence of unequal pay and did not pay back pay,” the complaint states.
According to the lawsuit, after Colorado’s equal pay law took effect in January 2021, university leadership directed each of the system’s four campuses to conduct equity analyses to assess compliance. At CU Boulder, a publicly released report found that hundreds of female faculty members were underpaid, leading to salary adjustments and a $4.5 million settlement in related litigation.
The plaintiffs allege CU Denver took a markedly different approach. Its equity analysis, completed internally in early 2022, was not publicly disclosed, and the university asserted it was protected by privilege. The lawsuit claims the analysis contained serious methodological flaws and was structured in a way that understated pay inequities.
Among other issues, the plaintiffs allege CU Denver improperly combined gender and race into a single variable when analyzing compensation, a practice they say distorted the results. They also contend the university excluded non-tenure track faculty from the review, even though CU Denver employs more non-tenure track faculty than tenured or tenure track professors.
The complaint estimates that between 250 and 275 female non-tenure track faculty members may have been paid less than male counterparts because of gender. It further alleges that nearly 100 of approximately 131 female tenure-track faculty members in a given year were underpaid for the same reason.
Despite those findings, the plaintiffs say the university did not raise salaries or provide retroactive compensation. The lawsuit includes examples of alleged disparities, including a full professor of music who earned roughly $10,000 to $12,000 less per year than three male professors with comparable or lesser seniority, and a professor in education and human development who reportedly earned $30,000 less than a male peer.
The plaintiffs also allege they repeatedly alerted the university to the pay gaps through faculty meetings and formal equity grievances, many of which were denied or left unanswered. Some grievances were rejected based on justifications barred under state law, including reliance on market conditions at the time of hiring, the lawsuit claims.
The proposed class includes all female faculty employed at CU Denver since January 2021. The plaintiffs are seeking back pay for up to six years, salary adjustments, lost retirement benefits, liquidated damages, attorneys’ fees, and court-ordered changes to prevent future violations.
Attorneys for the faculty did not immediately comment, and representatives for the Regents of the University of Colorado had not responded to requests for comment.
The plaintiffs are represented by Seth J. Benezra, John A. Culver, and Madeline A. Collison of Benezra and Culver PC.
The case is Joanne Addison et al. v. The Regents of the University of Colorado, case number 2026CV30098, in the Second Judicial District of Colorado.
