Joseph F. Bataillon, United States District Judge.
Before me is that portion of the defendant's motion (Filing No. 25) for summary judgment concerning the statute of limitations issue. I took this single issue under advisement at the conclusion of the hearing on the defendant's motion on November 21, 2000. Upon consideration, I find that this remainder of the defendant's motion should also be denied.
The defendant's motion seeks partial summary judgment based on the statute of limitations for the Equal Pay Act: two years for a non-willful violation, three years for a willful violation. 29 U.S.C. § 255(a). The plaintiff filed her claim on September 7, 1999, so the defendant argues that any damages accruing before September 7, 1997, are barred because the plaintiff did not plead and cannot prove that the defendant acted willfully.
The plaintiff responds that fact issues exist about whether the defendant acted willfully based on 1) the deposition testimony of Sue Gard, the defendant's Coordinator of Compensation and Benefits, in which Gard said that she understood that in 1997 it was unlawful to pay women less than men doing the same duties, and 2) conversations which the plaintiff and Linda Wild, her supervisor, had with the defendant's Human Resources Director and the Provost about the inappropriate classification of Hall's position and the need to increase her pay.
I agree that fact issues remain about whether the defendant's alleged violation of the Equal Pay Act was willful. The plaintiff therefore will be allowed to present evidence with regard to alleged damages accruing on and after June 23, 1997, the date on which the plaintiff was initially hired as the Computer Lab Operations Coordinator, the position at issue in this suit.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED
1. The defendant's motion (Filing No. 25) for partial summary judgment concerning the statute of limitations issue, which I took under advisement at the conclusion of the hearing on the defendant's motion on November 21, 2000, is denied. 2. The plaintiff will be allowed to present evidence with regard to alleged damages accruing on and after June 23, 1997, the date on which the plaintiff was initially hired as the Computer Lab Operations Coordinator, the position at issue in this suit.