A University of California professor has filed a pay discrimination lawsuit claiming she was paid nearly $3 million less than a male colleague with around a decade less experience.
Edwina Barvosa, a Harvard-educated professor of applied social and political theory at the University of California, Santa Barbara, alleges that the disparity continued despite both academics having similar working-class backgrounds and Mexican American heritage.
Her male counterpart is identified in the legal proceedings only as “Professor Y”. Barvosa, who has taught at UCSB since 1998, claims he was hired eight years after her.
The lawsuit says Professor Y received total compensation of $232,050 in 2023, while Barvosa was paid $150,317. In 2024, he allegedly received $251,700 compared with her $157,000.
Barvosa claims she was underpaid by at least $991,478 in base salary. With interest, the figure is estimated at approximately $2.96 million, while her lawyers say future pension losses could take the total above $30 million over the next 39 years.
Professor claims double standard over promotion
The complaint alleges that Barvosa raised the pay disparity with the executive dean of the College of Letters and Science, who acknowledged she was underpaid but said there was little he could do.
She claims he subsequently refused to approve even a $200 raise or promote her to full professor. The lawsuit says the dean cited the fact that a book by Barvosa had not been fully accepted by Cambridge University Press and that she had not spent four years at her current career step.
Her lawyers allege that the same dean had approved Professor Y’s promotion six to 12 months earlier, even though his book was also unfinished. The complaint describes the alleged difference in treatment as gender discrimination.
Barvosa is also said to have raised her concerns in writing in December 2020. She claims that, on June 14 the following year, she received an unjustified reprimand and was passed over for a prestigious endowed chair, which was allegedly awarded to Professor Y.
The proceedings name the University of California Board of Regents, along with senior university officials and other named defendants. Barvosa accuses them of breaching California’s Equal Pay Act and of discrimination, harassment, whistleblower retaliation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
She is seeking back pay, damages and punitive damages. She is also asking for an order preventing the university from claiming ownership of her scholarly work.
Complaint alleges hostile workplace
The lawsuit describes what Barvosa alleges was a hostile working environment. An associate dean is accused of “aggressively lunged across the faculty meeting table” while pressuring her to vote for a salary increase for the dean.
It further claims that the university’s research office blocked a discrimination study she was conducting with the University of Texas after accusing her of plagiarism. Her sabbatical was allegedly delayed over a research report submitted years earlier.
The complaint also alleges tensions between white and minority faculty members, including an allegation that one professor insisted on being able to use the N-word routinely despite complaints from graduate students.
Barvosa claims the dispute damaged her health, alleging that she suffered partial finger loss and a permanent knee injury. She also says workplace stress contributed to a heart attack on December 9, 2024, despite having no other risk factors.
Her department reportedly voted unanimously, 9-0, to advance her this year, but the university’s top personnel committee allegedly recommended that she receive no salary increase.
The initial lawsuit was filed in Santa Barbara County Superior Court in June. An amended complaint was later filed on August 31 against the University of California Board of Regents and unidentified defendants.
The allegations have not been established in court. UCSB was contacted for comment.
