Allstate’s “Tradition” of Sex Discrimination

In the early 1970s, after Lola Kouba took a job with Allstate Insurance Company, she discovered that she was earning less than men with the same job. In fact, Allstate based employees’ salaries on prior income—since women traditionally earned less, Allstate’s women workers started a step down the wage ladder. As the named plaintiff in Kouba vs. Allstate Insurance Company, Lola was catapulted into the struggle for women’s equality. ERA helped her win a $5 million settlement for 3,400 women nationwide. Today, Lola is still a pioneer as the first woman claims director for a major California insurance company.