A pay-equity dispute that began more than two years ago at Beaver Creek, and later surfaced publicly at the state Capitol, has now become a federal lawsuit.

Former Beaver Creek Operations Manager Michelle Siemer, who filed a discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2022 alleging she was paid less than male colleagues for equal or greater work, has now brought those claims into federal court. Her complaint, filed Oct. 7, accuses Vail Resorts of violating the federal Equal Pay Act, Title VII, and Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, and alleges the company later retaliated against her for speaking up.

Siemer is seeking lost wages, liquidated and punitive damages, attorneys’ fees, and restoration of her benefits, including a lifetime ski pass, which she says she earned over more than two decades of employment.

Siemer left Beaver Creek in June 2022 after more than two decades with the company. Two months later, she submitted a complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that male employees with lower titles and fewer responsibilities earned more than she did, and that internal requests for equal pay and a proper grade classification went unaddressed.

Her concerns became public in early 2023, when she testified before the Colorado Senate’s Business, Labor and Technology Committee in support of SB23-105, a bill to expand the back-pay period available to victims of wage discrimination. At the hearing, she described what she viewed as systemic pay inequities at Vail Resorts and said, “my position should have been fixed years ago.”

Siemer provided a recording of a conversation between her, Beaver Creek Senior Director of Resort Operations Lee Hoover, and Beaver Creek Director of Resort Operations Jerry Hensel, in which Hensel and Hoover appear to agree with her assessment that her position needed to be fixed.

“This should be taken care of, but it’s in corporate America and then they do not do things as swiftly as what we would all like them to be done,” Hensel said.

“If it was Lee Hoover’s Resort, or Jerry Hensel’s Resort, it’d be done,” Hoover said. “But it isn’t, and that’s, right or wrong, that’s where it is at right now.”

Siemer testified that even male employees who reported to her were paid more, and that supervisors told her nothing could be done to correct the disparity. Vail Resorts declined a request to comment on the testimony.

The commission’s review of Siemer’s charge concluded in September with the issuance of a “right-to-sue” letter, clearing the way for the case to proceed in federal court. The lawsuit filed in October expands on her earlier allegations, adding claims that after she filed her complaint with the commission, Vail Resorts rehired her part-time but then refused to schedule her for shifts for nearly two years — a gap she says threatened her ability to earn the lifetime ski pass given to 25-year employees.

In a response filed Oct. 21, Vail Resorts denies all allegations of discrimination or retaliation, claiming that Siemer was not paid less than men performing substantially equal work; decisions regarding her pay, grade level, and duties had legitimate business reasons; and the company did not retaliate after her Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filing.

Siemer requested a jury trial, and on Nov. 3, Magistrate Judge Kathryn A. Starnella scheduled a formal scheduling conference for Jan. 7, with both parties required to submit a proposed scheduling order by Dec. 31. The conference will set the timeline for discovery, depositions and pre-trial motions.

This story is from VailDaily.com.