KCK pizza shop ordered to pay teens who protested gender pay gap

A Kansas City, Kan., judge ordered a company that owned a Pizza Studio location at The Legends to pay two teens who lost their jobs when they called out the restaurant for pay discrimination, a case that caught Hillary Clinton’s attention last year.

U.S. District Court Judge Carlos Murguia on Thursday ordered PS Holdings LLC, which owned the Pizza Studio, to pay Jensen Walcott and Jake Reed $2,500 each to conclude a lawsuit brought against the company by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Walcott, of Bonner Springs, and her friend Jake Reed last year were hired to work for Pizza Studio. Walcott later learned that Reed was being paid 25 cents more per hour than she was receiving. When Walcott asked her boss about the pay discrepancy, the company rescinded both their job offers.

The EEOC earlier this year sued PC Holding on claims that the company violated federal law requiring men and women to receive equal pay for doing the same job.

Hillary Clinton on June 24, 2016, noticed news reports about Walcott’s firing and applauded her for it.

“Good for you, Jensen,” Clinton wrote as she was running for president. “Every woman deserved equal pay, no matter what her age. Keep up the hard work — and courage!”

Both were invited to speak at the Democratic National Convention last year.

“I may have lost my job but I am proud that I spoke up for myself,” Jensen said at the convention. “And I am glad that Jake stood with me, too.”

The $2,500 that each will receive represents $850 in back pay and $1,650 in liquidated, compensatory and punitive damages.

“As this case against Pizza Studio demonstrates, the EEOC will thoroughly investigate and enforce this critical federal law,” EEOC St. Louis District Director James R. Neely Jr. said in a written statement.

“It is particularly impressive that these younger workers had the courage to stand up and challenge what they saw as illegal treatment.”

This story was originally published November 9, 2017 at 4:43 PM with the headline "KCK pizza shop ordered to pay teens who protested gender pay gap."