U.S. soccer star Carli Lloyd: 'We're sick of being treated like second-class citizens'

(Image credit: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

published 11 April 2016

U.S. women's soccer co-captain Carli Lloyd published a New York Times essay Sunday making her case for the complaint she and four other teammates filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over alleged wage discrimination. She explained that the decision had nothing to do with how much she loves her job:

It had everything to do with what's right and what's fair, and with upholding a fundamental American concept: equal pay for equal play. Even if you are female. Simply put, we're sick of being treated like second-class citizens. It wears on you after a while. And we are done with it. The United States women's national team is the most successful team in the history of U.S. Soccer. [The New York Times]

Lloyd went on to outline a number of ways she sees the pay discrepancy take shape: annual salaries, bonuses, World Cup victories, and even the amount of money players receive in travel expenses. Expect to hear more from Lloyd and her teammates on this fight — as The Washington Post reports, an Olympics boycott isn't off the table.

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Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.