State auditor says there is not enough data to review gender pay equity

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- State Auditor Susan Montee said Thursday that she cannot determine whether men and women in state government are paid similarly because some jobs are unclassified and cannot be compared with others.

Montee, in a letter responding to a requested audit of gender pay equity, wrote that to do that analysis there must first be a "comprehensive review of all positions," and that the state Office of Administration must "establish criteria that allow for objective comparisons."

Thirty House Democrats had asked Montee, a Democrat, to audit state government and check for gender pay equity among state employees. That request came after details about allegations of sexual harassment and gender discrimination by former Agriculture Director Fred Ferrell were made public in a lawsuit filed by former department employee Heather Elder.

A spokesman for Montee said the auditor is stating what needs to be done before she could examine the situation. Spokesman Sean Spence said Montee is not recommending that the administration rewrite its job classifications.

Jessica Robinson, a spokeswoman for Gov. Matt Blunt, said much of the data Montee is seeking is a function of auditing and that Montee's office has the staff and resources to do that type of analysis.

Some state employees and state departments, such as the Department of Conservation, do not fall under the Office of Administration.

Rep. Trent Skaggs, who was among those requesting the audit, said he is reviewing Montee's suggestions. He said he fears female state employees are being paid less than men, which will continue until lawmakers act.

According to a report produced by the Missouri State Highway Patrol after Blunt ordered it to investigate allegations against Ferrell, the former director told another department employee that a woman would need to work twice as hard as a man to earn the same amount of money.

Ferrell was put on paid leave during the two-week investigation in May and was reinstated after Blunt received the report. Ferrell resigned last month at Blunt's request.

"When you have the director of a major department in Missouri making those accusations and creating that environment, I'm afraid it's going on in other departments in Missouri," said Skaggs, D-Kansas City, on Thursday.

Montee, in her letter, highlighted Minnesota's system in which each job receives a specific number of points and jobs within the same range of points must have equal salaries. She said the result has been that women in state government now earn 97 cents per dollar earned by men. The statewide average in Minnesota is 73 cents for each dollar, she said.

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On the Net:

State Auditor: http://www.auditor.mo.gov