Opinion ID: 25032
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Prior Salary/Market Forces

Text: 27 The trial court similarly did not err when it denied the University's motion for judgment as a matter of law because the record shows that UTHSCSA's affirmative defense to Siler-Khodr's claims based on Sydney's prior salary and market forces is pretext as well and is easily rebutted. Pauerstein testified that he offered a faculty position to Sydney because he wanted to retain Rochelle as a member of the Ob/Gyn Department. Sydney testified at trial that his primary reason for accepting employment at the University was that he had tired of the responsibilities at his job in private industry and he wanted to pursue academic research. Moreover, although he testified that there were no negotiations regarding his salary offer with the University, he also testified that had his salary offer not been in excess of $80,000, he probably would have asked for a higher salary. The trial court, however, did not err when it adjudged that the evidence was legally sufficient to rebut this affirmative defense because the record reflects that Sydney's primary reason for accepting Pauerstein's offer was not related to salary. 28 The University also argues that market forces dictated a higher salary for Sydney. It relies on the testimony of Dean Young, who stated that the wage differential is justified, given that the salary paid to a new employee is driven almost entirely by market forces- the University must expend resources to attract qualified individuals in a market where other organizations have the same goal. This Court has previously stated that the University's market forces argument is not tenable and simply perpetuates the discrimination that Congress wanted to alleviate when it enacted the EPA. See Brennan v. City Stores, Inc., 479 F.2d 235, 241 n.12 (5th Cir. 1973) (stating that factors other than sex such as the tighter market for salesmen and male tailors does not justify its hiring of men with such skills at a rate higher than that paid to obtain women of similar skills).