The 2016 gender gap in Senior attorney promotions is described in “Episode 5 – At The Defender Association Division men don’t earn more, they just get paid more.” Now, the sequel:
Real money and how gender bias in TDAD’s senior selection created permanent salary castes. Male Seniors on top. Female Seniors below male Seniors. All Seniors on top of all plebian attorneys. Plebian attorneys are forever barred from the Senior castes.
The three attorney castes have the same duties. “Senior attorney” is a salary level, or four salary levels, not a job description. The Senior salary slots were closed after the 2016 Senior selection, locking in the privileged few and locking out everyone else.
The Department of Public Defense (DPD) administration was annoyed by complaints and law suits resulting from the 2016 Senior selection process. The SEIU union, representing the female Senior applicants, was ill prepared to fight King County. DPD and the union, therefore, replaced the 2016 Senior selection with an automatic step system. Under the step system the lowest paid Senior attorney will perpetually be paid significantly more than the highest paid non-Senior attorney. Because Senior attorneys enjoy automatic step increases within their salary slots and receive the same Cost of Living Adjustments as all other DPD employees, the salary gap between Seniors and non-Senior attorneys grows every year. For example, a two percent COLA increases a plebian attorney’s $100,000 salary to $102,000; a two percent COLA increases a Senior attorney’s $150,000 salary to $153,000. The Senior attorney’s initial $50,000 salary advantage over the plebe is increased to $51,000 with the COLA. The cycle repeats and the pay gap widens with each labor contract. Attorneys who were not made Seniors in 2016 have no hope of matching Seniors’ salaries, ever.
The 2016 promotions resulted in windfalls for all thirty-five attorneys designated “Senior.” At TDAD male Seniors received larger windfalls than female Seniors. Non-Senior attorneys received nothing.
Listed below are the TDAD Senior attorneys’ compensation in 2015, the year before the senior selection and in 2016 when Seniors were awarded their new salaries with lump sums to cover retroactivity to January 1, 2015. To illustrate how the 2016 Senior selection was the gift that keeps on giving, Seniors’ salaries for 2022 with the 3% COLA specified in the most recent labor contract are included. (I checked with a union rep but if I am wrong about the numbers, please let me know).
Male Senior one (level 4): His annual salary was increased by $34,000, from $108,000 (2015) to $140,774 (2016). The salary increases were retroactive to January 1, 2015, so this man received a lump sum back payment of $26,878. In 2016, including the lump sum retroactive pay, this male attorney was paid a total of $167,652, $59,652 more than he was paid in 2015. In 2022, with his COLA kiss, this male attorney’s annual salary is $176,241. Three attorneys, including one woman, were scored and ranked higher than this male attorney.
Male Senior two (level 3): This male attorney’s annual salary was increased from $93,000 (2015) to $132,308 (2016). The salary increase was retroactive to January 1, 2015, the retroactive portion was paid in a lump sum of $33,619. In 2016 this male attorney was paid a total of $165,927, up $73,000 from his 2015 salary. In 2017 this attorney’s salary was increased to $137,000. He has since resigned. Eight female TDAD applicants were originally ranked above this applicant. Originally this man was not in the promoted group. He was seven ranks below the top thirty-five. The TDAD managing attorney convinced the full senior selection committee to raise this attorney’s score. Even after that intervention, all four of the TDAD women who remained in the promoted group had higher point scores. Only one TDAD woman was placed at the same salary level (Senior level 3) as this man. The other three senior women were placed at the lowest salary level (Senior level 1) despite having higher scores than this man.
Male Senior three (level 3): This male attorney’s annual salary was increased from $106,000 to $132,308. The salary increase was retroactive to January 1, 2015, the retroactive portion was paid in a lump sum of $21,509. In 2016 this male attorney was paid a total of $153,246 up $48,000 from his 2015 salary. This male attorney’s annual salary in 2022 is $162,044.
Female Senior one (level 3): This female attorney’s annual salary was increased from $108,000 to $132,308. The salary increase was retroactive to January 1, 2015, the retroactive portion was paid in a lump sum of $18,938. In 2016 this female attorney was paid a total of $151,246, up $43,246 from her 2015 salary. This female attorney’s annual salary in 2022 is $162,044. This female attorney was scored higher than the male attorney placed at level 4. She is the only female applicant who was not placed in the lowest paid senior level.
Male Senior four (level 3): This male attorney’s annual salary was increased from $108,000 to $132,308. The salary increase was retroactive to January 1, 2015, the retroactive portion was paid in a lump sum of $18,754. In 2016 this male attorney was paid a total of $151,062, up $43,000 from his 2015 salary. This male attorney’s annual salary in 2022 is $162,044. Only one TDAD woman was placed at the same salary level (Senior level 3) as this man. The other three senior women were placed at the lowest salary level (Senior level 1) despite all of them having higher scores than this man.
Male Senior five (level 2). This male attorney’s annual salary was increased from $108,000 to $124,342. The salary increase was retroactive to January 1, 2015, the retroactive portion was paid in a lump sum of $11,530. In 2016 this male attorney was paid a total of $135,872, up $27,872 from his 2015 salary. This male attorney’s Level 2 salary was $128,000 in 2017. He has since resigned.
Female Senior two (level 1): This female attorney’s annual salary was increased from $95,560 to $113,984. The salary increase was retroactive to January 1, 2015, the retroactive portion was paid in a lump sum of $14,207. In 2016 this female attorney was paid a total of $128,191, up $32,631 from her 2015 salary. This female attorney’s annual salary in 2022 is $143,388.
Female Senior three (level 1): This female attorney’s annual salary was increased from $105,643 to $113,984. The salary increase was retroactive to January 1, 2015, the retroactive portion was paid in a lump sum of $4,379. In 2016 this female attorney was paid a total of $128,191, up $22,548 from her 2015 salary. This female attorney’s annual salary in 2022 is $144,861.
Female Senior four (level 1): This female attorney’s annual salary was increased from $103,000 to $113,984. The salary increase was retroactive to January 1, 2015, the retroactive portion was paid in a lump sum of $6,928. In 2016 this female attorney was paid a total of $128,191, up $25,191 from her 2015 salary. This female attorney has since resigned.
Plebian attorneys at TDAD: The highest paid non-management attorneys were paid annual salaries of $107,000 in 2015. With COLAs, in 2022, the highest paid non-management attorneys are being paid annual salaries of $134,755, ten thousand dollars less than the lowest paid Senior and forty-one thousand dollars less than the highest paid senior. The difference will be greater in 2023 and will grow every year thereafter.
Attorneys who were made Seniors in 2016 won a skewed lottery that will benefit them the rest of their lives. King County Public Defenders are part of the Public Employee Retirement System (PERS). Under PERS a retiree’s pension is based, in part, on the average of their highest paid sixty months of service. Obviously, Seniors earning annual salaries of $145,000 to $175,000, will enjoy PERS bases larger than the highest paid non-Senior attorney earning $135,00 per year. That’s in addition to the greater savings and IRA contributions Senior attorneys are able to afford.
Doesn’t seem fair to me. I am eager to hear from anyone who thinks TDAD’s distribution of salaries to male Seniors, to female Seniors, and to non-Seniors who can never be Seniors, is fair.
Next: When it’s personal.
Comments welcome: Send to Honestretiree@gmail.com.
Disclaimers:
The attorneys who were given Senior status and salaries in 2016, male or female, are NOT responsible for the corruption of the process.
I recognize that the non-attorney staff at TDAD and other divisions are critical members of all defense teams. Non-attorney defenders, all of you, have been chronically underpaid and undervalued since and before public defense was absorbed by King County. Memoirs are self reflective (narcissistic? – nature of the beast). I am willing to post about the struggles of staff for fair pay and parity with the prosecution staff, if any of you former co-workers provide me with the information. Send to Honestretiree@gmail.com.
Observations 