Don't Harp on It: University of Miami Settles Master String Player's Gender Discrimination Case

The University of Miami has opted against going to trial in a court battle with harpist Laura Sherman, settling a civil case in which she claimed the school denied her fair pay as part of a pattern of blatantly shortchanging female employees on their salaries.

Sherman, who has played the harp in Broadway shows and toured the world with Barbra Streisand, voluntarily dismissed the case against the University of Miami in December after the parties reached a confidential settlement.

Filed in October 2022, Sherman's lawsuit argued that her workload was the same or heavier than her male counterparts but that she received significantly lower wages. She pointed to the university's own study completed in 2018 (a year before she joined as an instructor), which reported that salary for male, non-tenured associate professors averaged $215,159, nearly $68,000 more than their female counterparts at the school.

According to the study (embedded below), the school of music was among the university departments with the most glaring pay discrepancies between men and women. Male lecturers received a $61,491 salary, whereas their female colleagues made $18,000 less at $43,061 on average in the music school.

The University of Miami sought to dismiss the case on the grounds that the study, while issued in 2018, used data that predated Sherman's employment by two years. The school further claimed she was improperly comparing the pay of men and women with similar job titles instead of drilling down to specifics of whether their job responsibilities were the same.

Sherman maintained that the large pay gaps outlined in the report persisted during her employment and that her lawsuit described them in detail, with specific comparisons between her job role and those of her better-paid male peers. She told the court the school had a new salary study but refused to turn it over.

"This discrepancy which was present prior to plaintiff being hired for defendant was never rectified, and the issues continued to date as evidenced by plaintiff’s wage disparity," an amended complaint argued.

Judge David Miller denied the university's motion to dismiss in January 2023, opening a path to trial for Sherman. But after jousting in court for the better part of last year, Sherman and the school notified the judge in December that they had reached a settlement following a mediation conference.

The settlement was recorded on the docket roughly two weeks after the judge set the case for a now-canceled jury trial.

As with many civil case settlements, the details of the deal are confidential and not disclosed in the court file. Sherman's lawyer, Daniel Hunt, declined to comment when reached by New Times.

The case had sought damages for violations of the Equal Pay Act and the Florida Civil Rights Act.

Sherman was hired as a lecturer at the university in July 2019 at a $30,000 salary. She made $41,000 the following academic year and, as of 2022, earned a $44,500 salary, according to the complaint.

She is still listed as the head of the Frost School of Music's harp department. Recent pictures on social media show her posing with pupils and congratulating young players on their performances at a University of Miami recital hall in Coral Gables.

The University of Miami has litigated similar claims of gender-based salary discrimination in the past.

In 2019, the university settled a case brought by Sung Hee Joo, an assistant professor of environmental engineering, who claimed the school was paying male professors thousands more than women with the same title and experience were receiving.

Another lawsuit against the university over alleged gender discrimination in teacher salaries went to trial in March 2022. In that case, brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of a political science professor, a jury found in favor of the university, rejecting claims it had violated the Equal Pay Act.