Can I file both an EPA suit and a Title VII charge?

Yes. EPA and Title VII can run in parallel for the same underlying pay-disparity facts. Title VII goes through the EEOC charge process (180/300 days), then 90 days post-Notice-of-Right-to-Sue to file. EPA goes directly to federal court on its own 2/3-year SOL.

What makes a violation 'willful' under the EPA?

Willful means the employer knew or showed reckless disregard for whether its conduct was prohibited by the EPA. Willfulness extends the SOL from 2 years to 3 years per paycheck. Whether conduct is willful is fact-intensive and usually contested.

Does the EPA cover non-pay forms of sex discrimination?

No. The EPA is narrow — it covers equal pay for substantially equal work. Non-pay sex discrimination (hiring, promotion, harassment, termination) is Title VII territory and requires the EEOC charge process.

Equal Pay Act — no EEOC charge required

What the EPA covers

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 29 U.S.C. § 206(d) amended the Fair Labor Standards Act to require equal pay for substantially equal work regardless of sex. The substantive standard: men and women performing jobs that require equal skill, effort, and responsibility, performed under similar working conditions, must be paid equal wages.

Pay differentials are allowed under four affirmative defenses: (i) a seniority system; (ii) a merit system; (iii) a system measuring earnings by quantity or quality of production; (iv) a differential based on any factor other than sex. The employer bears the burden of proving an affirmative defense.

No EEOC charge required

Unlike Title VII, the ADA, the ADEA, and GINA, the EPA does not require an EEOC charge as a prerequisite to suit. A claimant may file directly in federal district court (or state court) for back pay and liquidated damages.

Filing an EEOC charge for an EPA claim is still permitted — the EEOC enforces the EPA administratively in addition to handling claims by individuals — but it is optional, not a prerequisite. The federal-court SOL runs on its own clock either way.

The 2-year / 3-year SOL

The standard EPA SOL is 2 years from the underpayment. For willful violations the SOL extends to 3 years. "Willful" means the employer knew or showed reckless disregard for whether its conduct was prohibited by the EPA; willfulness is fact-intensive.

The paycheck rule

Each issuance of a discriminatorily low paycheck is a fresh violation. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, Pub. L. 111-2, 123 Stat. 5 codified this for Title VII compensation claims; for EPA the paycheck rule was already built into the statute's structure as an FLSA-derived continuing-violation pattern.

The practical effect: a pay disparity that started years ago is still actionable as long as a discriminatorily low paycheck issued within the SOL window. You do not lose the claim because the disparity originated outside the window — each payday is its own violation.

Remedies

EPA remedies include:

Back pay — the difference between what you were paid and what you should have been paid.
Liquidated damages — an additional amount equal to back pay, awarded by default unless the employer proves a good-faith defense.
Attorney's fees — recoverable for prevailing plaintiffs.
Injunctive relief — to equalize pay going forward.

Running EPA + Title VII in parallel

The same pay-disparity facts can support both an EPA claim and a Title VII sex-discrimination claim. Many plaintiffs file both:

EPA in federal court directly within the 2/3-year SOL, no EEOC step needed.
Title VII through the EEOC charge process (180/300 days), then 90 days post-Notice-of-Right-to-Sue.

Title VII offers compensatory and punitive damages (subject to statutory caps); EPA offers liquidated damages without the caps. A plaintiff can recover under both, with non-duplicative remedies. The decoder routes EPA inputs straight to the no-EEOC-charge path; pair it with a Title VII run if your underlying facts also support a Title VII claim.