Harris-Miller World Cup Lawsuit: Equal Pay and $24M Settlement

The USWNT equal pay lawsuit was a 2019 class action, Morgan v. U.S. Soccer Federation, brought by all 28 members of the U.S. Women’s National Team, who alleged they were paid less than the men’s team despite better results. After a 2020 ruling gutted the pay claims, the sides settled in February 2022 for $24 million, tied to new collective bargaining agreements that equalized pay across the men’s and women’s programs, including pooled FIFA World Cup prize money.¹

How the Fight Started

On March 31, 2016, five players — Carli Lloyd, Hope Solo, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, and Becky Sauerbrunn — filed a wage discrimination complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. They said female players earned thousands less than men across nearly every category of competition, from friendlies to World Cup games.²

The gap was easy to draw. A male player was guaranteed $5,000 per friendly regardless of result, meaning he could out-earn a female player who won every game. For World Cup performance, the women’s team collected $2 million after winning the 2015 tournament; the men’s team received $9 million after being eliminated in the first round of the 2014 World Cup.² After the EEOC issued right-to-sue letters, the players took the case to federal court.

The 2019 Lawsuit

On March 8, 2019, all 28 USWNT players filed a class action in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, bringing claims under the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.³ Named plaintiffs included Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Carli Lloyd, Tobin Heath, Rose Lavelle, Crystal Dunn, Christen Press, Lindsey Horan, and Ashlyn Harris.⁴

In November 2019, the court certified the class, covering every player called up to camp or who played in a game since February 2014. Certified claims went beyond pay to include discriminatory working conditions: being made to play on artificial turf, receiving fewer charter flights, and getting less promotional support than the men.⁵

The 2020 Ruling That Nearly Ended the Case

On May 1, 2020, Judge R. Gary Klausner granted U.S. Soccer’s motion for summary judgment on the equal pay claims. The reasoning was that during the 2015–2019 class period, USWNT players had actually earned more than the men’s team in total, roughly $24.5 million compared to $18.5 million, and more on a per-game basis as well.⁶

The court rejected the players’ argument that individual bonus rates should be compared in isolation. The women’s collective bargaining agreement included guaranteed annual salaries and benefits that the men’s “pay-to-play” deal did not, and the women’s union had turned down a men’s-style structure in earlier negotiations. In the court’s view, the two teams had bargained for fundamentally different compensation structures.⁶

Both the Equal Pay Act and Title VII pay claims were dismissed. The judge allowed the separate working conditions claims to move forward, covering travel, hotels, and team staffing.⁷ Those working conditions claims settled out of court in December 2020.³

The Appeal and the $24 Million Settlement

The players appealed the dismissal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in April 2021.³ Oral argument was set for March 7, 2022. It never happened.

On February 22, 2022, U.S. Soccer and the players announced a $24 million settlement. Of that, $22 million went to the players as back pay, and $2 million was placed in a fund for players’ post-career goals and charitable efforts in women’s and girls’ soccer, with individual players eligible to apply for up to $50,000.¹ The settlement was contingent on ratification of new collective bargaining agreements for both national teams. A California federal judge granted final approval on December 13, 2022.⁸

What Changed for Pay Going Forward

On May 18, 2022, U.S. Soccer signed identical collective bargaining agreements with the men’s and women’s team unions, running through 2028. The deals made the United States the first country to equalize national team pay across genders for all competitions, including the World Cup.⁹

The centerpiece is World Cup prize pooling. U.S. Soccer combines the FIFA prize money earned by both teams, and players on the respective World Cup rosters receive an equal percentage of the combined total. The arrangement covers the 2022 and 2026 men’s World Cups alongside the 2023 and 2027 women’s World Cups. The mechanism was designed to close the gap in FIFA’s own prize pools. The women’s team received a $110,000 per-player bonus for winning the 2019 World Cup; the men would have received $407,000 each had they won in 2018.¹⁰

Beyond the World Cup, both teams now receive identical roster appearance fees and identical performance bonuses for friendlies, calibrated to match result and opponent ranking. They share the same framework for commercial, broadcast, sponsorship, and ticket revenue, with U.S. Soccer splitting its share 50/50 between the programs. One trade-off on the women’s side: USWNT players no longer receive guaranteed annual salaries, and U.S. Soccer no longer pays their NWSL club salaries.⁹

The pooling arrangement will get its largest test soon. The 2026 Men’s World Cup will be hosted in the United States, and FIFA’s prize pool for the expanded 48-team tournament is expected to be the largest in the competition’s history. Under the current CBA, those earnings will be shared equally with the women’s program heading into the 2027 Women’s World Cup.⁹

Ashlyn Harris as a Public Voice

Among the plaintiffs, Harris was one of the more visible advocates outside the courtroom. After the USWNT won the 2019 World Cup, she used the New York City victory parade as a stage for protest, posting videos of herself tearing pages from the lawsuit and tossing them like confetti, and was recorded saying “Pay us, bitch.”¹¹

At the Athlete Ally Action Awards in November 2019, Harris criticized the U.S. Men’s National Team for staying quiet on the women’s fight, saying, “we need men to step up… And I think that is right now the fucking thing that’s missing.” The men’s players association had issued a July 2019 statement supporting the women’s “pursuit of fair compensation,” but Harris said a single collective release did not amount to the active, public advocacy the moment called for.¹²

1
CNBC. USWNT and US Soccer Federation Reach $24 Million Settlement in Equal Pay Lawsuit
2
NPR. Members of U.S. Women’s National Team File Federal Equal Pay Complaint
3
Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. Morgan v. U.S. Soccer Federation
4
The New York Times. U.S. Women’s Soccer Team Complaint
5
Courthouse News Service. U.S. Women’s Soccer Team Secure Class Status in Equal Pay Spat
6
EEOC. Morgan v. USSF Ninth Circuit Amicus Brief
7
The New York Times. USWNT Equal Pay Ruling
8
Law360. Final Approval Granted to US Women’s Soccer Settlement
9
U.S. Soccer. USSF Women’s and Men’s National Team Unions Agree to Historic Collective Bargaining Agreements
10
PBS NewsHour. U.S. Men’s and Women’s Soccer Teams Formally Sign Equal Pay Agreements
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BuzzFeed News. US Women’s Soccer Team Parade Platform Equal Pay
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Power Plays. In USWNT Equal Pay Lawsuit, Ashlyn Harris