Economic equity news is a weekly round-up of articles by Donna Seymour of AAUW-NYS that features our core values of poverty solutions, opportunity and access, workplace fairness, healthy lives, equal pay and representation at all tables. Sign up for our mailing list to receive this directly to your inbox.

• Massachusetts Becomes First State Ever To Ban Employers From Asking For Salary Histories via Think Progress

Massachusetts has leapfrogged over all other states to pass the most robust equal pay law in the country. The law takes a step that is completely unique: it prohibits employers from asking prospective hires about their salary histories until after they make a job offer that includes compensation, unless the applicants voluntarily disclose the information. No other state has such a ban in place.

• Report reveals women are harassed out of STEM fields via The Atlantic

A recent analysis by The Atlantic showed that despite the progress of women’s representation in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, they are often sexually harassed out of the industry. The article cited a 2015 study by the University of California, Hastings College of Law, which revealed one in three women in science are sexually harassed out of their work. The study also found that 64 percent of female scientists face a “maternal wall bias” that includes stereotyping a woman’s ability to succeed because of her commitments due to motherhood. The article offered solutions to overcoming gender bias and sexual harassment in the STEM industry, noting AAUW’s advocacy efforts to empower women in these fields.

• Mobile tech company settles pay discrimination lawsuit for $19.5 million via ABC News

Qualcomm agreed to pay $19.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that alleged the mobile technology company was denying equal pay and was providing unequal opportunities for promotion for women in STEM. According to court documents, the company also had an unofficial policy of rewarding employees who work extra hours, which is not conducive to work life balance. Less than 15 percent of the company’s senior leaders are women, and managers are also mostly men. In addition to the cash settlement, the settlement requires Qualcomm to implement policy and programmatic changes to promote women in STEM. Qualcomm stated they had “strong defenses” against the accusations, but that they want to focus on creating a work environment that will “drive equity and a diverse and inclusive workforce.” The plaintiff’s lawyer, David Sanford, said he hopes that the settlement will inspire other technology companies to level the playing field.

• More Than 400 Women Are Now Suing Merck for Unequal Pay via Fortune

One of the nation’s largest pharmaceutical companies, Merck, is facing a $250 million class action lawsuit for alleged diminished pay and gender discrimination. More than 400 former and current employees of the company are accusing Merck of paying women sales representatives less than their male counterparts, denying women opportunities for career advancement, and pressuring pregnant women to quit their jobs. More than 400 current and former female employees of Merck have joined a $250 million class action suit against the drugmaker, alleging diminished pay and gender discrimination, the law firm representing the plaintiffs announced on Thursday. “Many women across the country believe that they suffered pay discrimination while working at Merck,” said David Sanford, chairman of Sanford Heisler and co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs, in a statement. “What started out as one woman against a corporation has now grown to more than four hundred.”

• The truth about the gender wage gap via Vox

Nearly 10,000 people graduated with MBAs from University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business between 1990 and 2006. In 2009, three economists decided to study a quarter of those graduates. They asked a detailed set of questions about the jobs they’d held since graduation, how many hours they worked, where they worked, and what they had earned each year.