Prison guard says she made thousands less than male colleagues, sues North Carolina
A retired female prison guard in North Carolina says men with the same rank were paid thousands of dollars more and did not have as much responsibility.
Melissa Evans, a retired captain from Columbus Correctional Institute, sued the state Department of Public Safety in federal court this week over equal pay.
A spokesman for the department said he could not comment on pending litigation.
Evans retired in April as a captain at the prison near Whiteville in southeastern North Carolina after working there for almost 30 years, according to the lawsuit.
Columbus Correctional is a medium-security prison that houses up to about 700 men, according to the state.
Evans compared her salary and workload to two men with the same rank at the prison. She made $51,333 when she retired, but the men with similar experience made about $4,000 and $5,000 more than her, according to the court filing.
Evans was also the safety officer for the prison, which meant she had to review injury reports, oversee state and local inspections and lead quarterly meetings, the lawsuit said. These duties went beyond what the two men were responsible for in their jobs, according to the filing.
Evans filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission arguing that the prison discriminated against her based on pay, according to the lawsuit.
