Opinion ID: 199050
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Compliance Process Improver Position

Text: Appellant next argues that she was discriminated against because she was compensated at level 6 while Edwin López was compensated at level 8, although it appears that the two may have had the same job title. Here again, appellant has failed to make out a prima facie case. Although job titles may be given some weight in determining whether two employees hold substantially equal positions, the EPA's emphasis is on the responsibilities and functions of the position. See Miranda v. B & B Cash Grocery Store, 975 F.2d 1518, 1533 (11th Cir. 1992) (Although job titles are entitled to some weight in this -13- evaluation [of whether jobs are substantially equal], 'the controlling factor under the Equal Pay Act is job content' -- the actual duties that the respective employees are called upon to perform.). Here, there exists a genuine dispute of fact over whether López at one time held the position of Compliance Process Improver;10 however, that dispute is not material, because appellant has failed as a matter of law to establish that her responsibilities were substantially equal to those of López. López has had managerial and supervisory responsibility for all of Smithkline's Quality Control analytical laboratories since he became Analytical Services Leader, and he now has responsibility for the microbiology and external compliance labs as well. He oversees the performance of scores of employees and also controls a budget of nearly three million dollars. Appellant has not shown that she ever had comparable responsibility. In sum, we are persuaded that the two positions were in fact substantially dissimilar, and we agree with the district court that appellant has failed to make a prima facie showing of disparate compensation for comparable work. Her EPA claim therefore fails as a matter of law.