Nurse practitioners employed by New York state have sued the agency that oversees their salary structure, alleging they are being underpaid based on gender, the Times Union reported Sept. 23.
The federal class-action lawsuit, representing 200 nurse practitioners employed by the state Civil Service Commission, was filed in mid-September. The lawsuit alleges that nurse practitioners perform work that should be more highly compensated but they have been blocked from advancing in the structural setup. These nurse practitioners, who commonly work in correctional facilities and hospitals, are currently at a Grade 24, but want to be promoted to Grade 28 then 34, according to the Public Employees Federation, one of the largest public sector unions in the state. The union has met with the Department of Civil Service to ask for the upgrade for years, but the compensation structure has not been changed for the majority of nurse practitioners.
The lawsuit said that in many cases, nurse practitioners rendered medical services that a clinical physician would provide but were paid substantially less.
"For the last 10 years, nurse practitioners in New York have sought pay equity," the lawsuit said. "By and large, these efforts have been unsuccessful, and they continue to suffer systemic wage inequality, a classification (at Grade 24) with no possibility of internal advancement or steps."