Oda v. State

Five women professors, who are or were employed by the School of Dentistry, brought this gender discrimination and equal pay lawsuit against the University of Washington. At issue is whether the trial court properly granted their motion to certify it as a class action. The plaintiffs contend that intentional discrimination against the female faculty is a common course of conduct at the University, as evidenced by the administration’s failure to close a statistically-modeled gender gap in compensation. The certification order is before us on discretionary review.

We first hold that the…