Woman Sues Orchestra for Pay Discrimination. There’s Just One Problem.

The first chair flutist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is suing the organization, claiming she receives $70,000 less than her male counterpart because she is a woman.

Elizabeth Rowe, who joined the BSO when she was 29 after a blind audition, which, according to the Washington Post involved playing “behind a brown, 33-foot polyester screen” so no one knew her gender or race. Rowe is now 44, and knows that John Ferrillo, a 63-year-old man, makes nearly $70,000 more than her, because his salary was disclosed in a tax filing, since the BSO is a nonprofit organization.

Ferrillo has been with the BSO since 2001. Rowe has been with the orchestra since 2004. Ferrillo was also lured away from the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the Post reported, by offering to pay him “twice what the orchestra’s rank-and-file-make.”

But the biggest difference between the two? Rowe plays the flute, while Ferrillo plays the oboe. Two very different instruments. So, this is not a case of unequal pay for equal work. BSO provided the Post with a statement, in which it “defended its pay structure, saying that the flute and oboe are not comparable because, in part, the oboe is more difficult to play and there is a larger pool of flutists.” . . .

To be fair to Rowe, she didn’t want her lawsuit to become public. The Post reports that she only wanted her bosses to know about the lawsuit, but the Boston Herald discovered the suit and spoke to Rowe. Her lawsuit will test the Massachusetts Equal Pay Law, which her lawsuit claims requires the orchestra she needs to be paid the same or more than a male in a comparable position. She contends lead oboist is comparable. The BSO says otherwise. (Read more from “Woman Sues Orchestra for Pay Discrimination. There’s Just One Problem.” HERE)

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