Feb. 28—During her second day on the stand, a sales representative who has filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against her employer tearfully told jurors how she felt after learning in late 2018 that her salary would be cut.
"I felt not valued," Michele Tourangeau said. "I didn't feel appreciated and I work really hard. I felt picked on, or singled out."
When Tourangeau was hired by Nappi Distributors in 2015, she became the company's first female sales representative. She was offered a 2% commission rate, while her colleagues on the sales team — all men — earned 3%. But when Nappi told Tourangeau in late 2018 that her base salary would be eliminated, the company refused to increase her commission.
Tourangeau filed a civil suit in U.S. District Court alleging that Nappi paid her a smaller commission rate than her male colleagues because she's a woman. Tourangeau also alleged that Nappi didn't pay her for work she performed while on maternity leave, and retaliated against her when she complained.
The decision to sue was not an easy one, Tourangeau said Tuesday. She told jurors she was her family's primary source of income and had a young daughter to support. When the company told her they were reducing her pay, she thought about quitting, but said she depends on her job for health insurance and loves what she does.
"Why should I have to leave? I didn't do anything wrong," said Tourangeau, who is still on Nappi's sales team. "Why should I be the one?"
Nappi denies discriminating against Tourangeau. During opening statements Monday, the company's attorney, John Wall, said Nappi never fully eliminated Tourangeau's salary — after hearing her concerns, they agreed to gradually reduce her base salary over a year and a half, but stopped when the pandemic struck in 2020.
Wall also said every sales rep hired after Tourangeau was offered the same 2% commission rate, regardless of gender, and that the representatives who were hired before Tourangeau only made 3% because they were grandfathered in.
Tourangeau's testimony stretched for several hours Monday and Tuesday. She has not yet been cross-examined by Nappi's attorneys. The trial is scheduled to end Friday but Wall has already raised concerns with U.S. District Judge John Woodcock that he can't wrap up in time.
Woodcock declined to extend the trial, saying he has a criminal case that begins next week, and also declined to place any limits on how long a witness can testify.
"You asked for five days, you got five days," said Woodcock, at one point hitting his desk with a closed fist. "Don't argue with me anymore about this. I can't do anything about this."