Legal Advocacy Fund Cases
Vuolo v. Board of Trustees, University of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, et al.
Case adopted 6/00
Case History
Cheryl Vuolo, former director of facilities and the physical plant at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth campus, sued the university alleging, in part, pay inequity in violation of the Equal Pay Act and Massachusetts state laws, and sexual harassment and retaliation for complaining about sex discrimination in violation of state laws. The complaint also alleges other violations of Massachusetts state laws.
UMass hired Vuolo, a mechanical engineer, in 1983 as staff associate for planning and the physical plant. She was promoted several times, culminating with her appointment as the director of facilities and the plant in 1995. Throughout her career at UMass, Vuolo received outstanding or excellent job performance evaluations. She received various state and local awards and merit salary increases each year of her employment through 1996. Despite this evidence of success, Vuolo was subjected to sexist comments and actions by her subordinates and other co-workers throughout her employment.
In 1991 Vuolo began registering formal complaints with the UMass affirmative action office. The following March she filed a grievance with her union seeking its support to correct her situation. Despite her complaints, the university took no corrective action. In summer 1992 Vuolo filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination alleging sex discrimination in her workplace. By the end of the year, she settled her case with UMass, which agreed to take certain steps to correct the situation.
Although UMass took some of these corrective steps in accordance with the settlement agreement, it failed to comply entirely. In 1998, when Vuolo's employment situation still had not improved, she filed suit in Massachusetts state court. In September 2003, the court dismissed her suit.
In October 2003, Vuolo appealed the court's decision to dismiss her case to the Appeals Court of Massachusetts.
Key Case Issues
Pay inequity in violation of Massachusetts state laws and the Equal Pay Act of 1963, and sexual harassment and retaliation for complaining about sex discrimination in violation of Massachusetts state laws.