A Manhattan judge has tossed a class-action lawsuit seeking greater pay equity between New York’s mostly female school crossing guards and the mostly male, higher-earning NYPD traffic-enforcement cops.
In a ruling Tuesday, federal Judge William Pauley said comparing the two professions is like comparing apples and oranges.
He said traffic agents perform different duties and have “more rigorous” hiring requirements — like having a high-school diploma and driver’s license, undergoing weeks of training and passing a civil-service exam.
Crossing guards don’t have to meet any educational requirements, possess a driver’s license or pass a civil-service test, the judge wrote. They get one week of training.
The 2015 lawsuit against the city was filed on behalf of 1,600 school crossing guards, paid between $11.79 and $14.40 an hour at the time. Traffic-enforcement cops annually earned from $33,751 to $40,930 — or $16.16 to $19.60 per hour.
Plaintiffs’ lawyers didn’t immediately comment. A Law Department spokesman said the city was “pleased” by the ruling.