The Iowa Supreme Court has thrown out a lower court ruling on a former Iowa State University professor’s claim of wage discrimination.
Silvia Cianzio was an ISU professor who specialized in plant breeding. While serving on a Ag College Department review committee she discovered she was paid between 11 and $46,000 less than her male counterparts. She sued ISU and the Board of Regents for wage discrimination after retiring with 31 years of service in 2020.
A district court judge ruled her lawsuit was limited to two years before she filed it. The Iowa Supreme Court ruled the district court erred, and Cianzio can seek damages for the entire time period for which she was discriminated against.