$15.0M
Recovery for employees denied legally required meal and rest breaks.
Employment
What a California Equal Pay Claim Is Worth
The most common reason underpaid employees never call a lawyer is the quiet assumption that the money at stake is small — a few months of difference, maybe. California law says otherwise. Since January 1, 2026, an Equal Pay Act claim reaches back up to six years, and the statute then doubles the recovery. A pay gap you have carried for years is usually worth far more than it feels like from inside one paycheck. Here is exactly how the numbers work.
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Understanding Your Equal Pay Case
Explore essential resources on your rights, your options, and what to expect — everything you need to navigate the legal process, all in one place.
Back pay is the wage differential — your comparator's pay minus yours — accumulated across the violation period, capped at six years. And "pay" means more than salary: under § 1197.5(l)(3), wages include overtime, bonuses, stock, stock options, profit sharing, and benefits, so the calculation captures every channel through which the gap flowed — a change that matters most in equity-heavy tech compensation. Raises compound the math too: a base-salary gap usually widens over time because percentage increases ride on the unequal base. A careful damages model, built from payroll records obtained in discovery, is routinely larger than the client's own estimate.
An amount equal to your unpaid wages, added on top — in effect, statutory doubling. Liquidated damages exist because wage underpayment inflicts harm beyond the missing dollars, and California builds that recognition into the remedy rather than making you prove it. Combined with the six-year lookback created by SB 642, this is what turns a seemingly modest annual gap into a substantial claim.
Not under § 1197.5 — its remedies are back pay, liquidated damages, interest, and fees. But pay discrimination based on sex, race, or ethnicity typically also violates the Fair Employment and Housing Act, and a FEHA discrimination claim adds emotional distress damages and, where the employer acted with malice or oppression, punitive damages. Filing both claims together is standard practice in serious cases, and it changes settlement posture considerably.
Labor Code § 1197.5(j) prevents double recovery for the same violation: if you recover under both state and federal law, you return the smaller of the two amounts. In practice, California's remedies — longer lookback, employer burden of persuasion, no exhaustion requirement — are usually the better vehicle, and the federal claim serves as a complement rather than the main event.
Run the arithmetic before deciding. A $6,000 annual gap over six years is $36,000, doubled to $72,000 before interest — on contingency, with fees paid by the employer if you prevail in court. There is also a forward-looking component: asserting your rights is protected activity, and the correction of your pay rate compounds for the rest of your career. The case review that answers "is it worth it" is free — and if your timing is tight, start with our guide to equal pay filing deadlines.
Meet Our Equal Pay Attorneys
Nationally-Recognized Powerhouse, Fighting for the Justice You Deserve
Our award-winning attorneys have recovered billions for clients while taking on insurance companies and major corporations.
John G. Yslas, Esq.Senior Partner, Chair of the Employment Wage & Hour Class Action Department
Mary Lee Caruso, Esq.Senior Partner
Tyler J. Woods, Esq.Senior Partner
Arrash Fattahi, Esq.Partner
Benjamin Haber, Esq.Partner
Nicol Hajjar, Esq.Partner
Diego Aviles, Esq.Junior Partner
Jeffrey Bils, Esq.Junior Partner
Emily Borman, Esq.Junior Partner
Jose Maria D. Patino, Jr., Esq.Junior Partner
Christina M. LeJunior Partner
William M. Pao, Esq.Junior Partner
Eugene Zinovyev, Esq.Junior Partner$12.0M
Recovery for employees denied legally required meal and rest breaks.
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Past results do not guarantee similar outcomes. Each case is unique and evaluated on its own facts.
What Compensation Does the California Equal Pay Act Provide?
Four components. First, back pay: the full difference between what you were paid and what your comparator was paid, for the entire period the violation existed, up to six years (Labor Code § 1197.5(i)(2)). Second, liquidated damages: an additional amount equal to the back pay — the statute doubles your recovery. Third, interest on the unpaid wages. Fourth, costs and reasonable attorney's fees if you prevail in court. Worked example: a $15,000-per-year gap sustained for six years is $90,000 in back pay, doubled to $180,000, before interest and fees. Emotional distress and punitive damages are not available under § 1197.5 itself — which is why serious cases usually pair it with a FEHA discrimination claim that provides both.
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#1 Pregnancy Discrimination Settlement
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#1 Age/Disability Discrimination Settlement
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#1 Wrongful Termination Settlement
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#1 Meal & Rest Breaks Settlement
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*#1 settlements in California have been awarded by TopVerdict.com. Past results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
Equal Pay FAQs
Our Most Frequently Asked Questions
We've answered the most common ones below. If yours isn't here, call us — we're available 24/7.
The wage gap for up to six years, doubled, plus interest and attorney's fees. A $15,000 annual gap can support roughly $180,000 before interest and fees; the exact figure depends on your comparator's total compensation and how long the gap ran.
Yes. The amended statute counts all forms of pay — bonuses, stock, stock options, profit sharing, benefits — in the comparison and therefore in the damages.
No. Wilshire Law Firm handles these on contingency — no fees unless you get paid — and prevailing employees can recover attorney's fees from the employer in litigation.
A resolution typically addresses the rate going forward as well as the arrears — and retaliation for having asserted the claim is separately unlawful.
Back wages are generally taxable as wages; how a settlement is structured matters. We coordinate with tax professionals on allocation — ask about it during your case review.