A University of California, Santa Barbara professor who has taught on campus since 1998 says the school paid a male colleague hired eight years after her so much more over the years that her lost base salary, with interest, now totals roughly $2.96 million. Edwina Barvosa, who works in the Department of Feminist Studies, has sued the University of California Regents, alleging gender discrimination, unequal pay, harassment and retaliation.
Barvosa's amended complaint, filed August 31 against the UC Regents and unidentified defendants, lays out five causes of action, including violations of the California Equal Pay Act, discrimination, harassment and whistleblower retaliation, according to the Daily Nexus. The lawsuit, which OregonLive reports was filed in Santa Barbara County Superior Court against the UC Regents, UC President James Milliken, UCSB Chancellor Dennis Assanis and campus deans, alleges Barvosa was paid approximately $2,957,526 less in base salary than a colleague identified in court filings as Professor Y.
According to OregonLive's reporting, Barvosa and Professor Y earned sharply different salaries in 2024: Barvosa made $150,317 while Professor Y earned $251,700. Barvosa calculated her lost base salary at $991,478, a figure that grows to nearly $2.96 million once interest is factored in, per the same report. Her legal team has also argued that compounded pension losses tied to the pay gap could exceed $30 million.
A Promotion Denied, A Vote Ignored
The Daily Nexus reports that Professor Y joined UCSB in 2006, eight years after Barvosa, and was rapidly promoted in the years that followed. OregonLive's account adds that Professor Y received a promotion months before Barvosa was denied one of her own, even though her department had voted unanimously, 9-0, to recommend her advancement from Professor IV to Professor V along with a corresponding salary increase during the 2025-26 merit review, the Daily Nexus reports.
The pay gap dates back further than the recent merit cycle. Barvosa applied for the MacArthur Foundation UC Endowed Chair in April 2021, but the university denied her the position that June and instead offered it to Professor Y, according to the Daily Nexus. OregonLive's reporting states that school leadership allegedly acknowledged the pay discrepancy but took no corrective action, and that an executive dean allegedly told Barvosa nothing could be done about it.
Allegations of Retaliation and Blocked Research
Barvosa's lawsuit alleges that after she reported discriminatory practices, UCSB retaliated by “punitively” assigning her “major bureaucratic work” and obstructing her academic research, the Daily Nexus reports. In June 2023, the university's Office of Research withheld approval for her participation in a University of Texas research position, citing alleged plagiarism in her proposal, according to the same report. OregonLive's reporting states that Barvosa said the UCSB research office accused her of plagiarism, and that the accusation blocked a planned study of discrimination in STEM fields that she intended to pursue with the University of Texas.
OregonLive also reports additional allegations from the lawsuit, including that an associate dean lunged across a faculty meeting table to pressure Barvosa into voting for his raise, and that she suffered a permanent knee injury and lost part of a finger while working. Barvosa alleges that the stress of her working conditions triggered a heart attack in December 2024, according to the Daily Nexus.
What Barvosa Is Seeking
Per the Daily Nexus, Barvosa is seeking compensation for lost wages, employment benefits, emotional distress and other damages. OregonLive's reporting adds that she is seeking back pay, damages and punitive damages, and wants the court to issue an order preventing the university from claiming ownership of her scholarly work. A UCSB media spokesperson declined to comment, citing the pending litigation, the Daily Nexus reports.
Barvosa has spent nearly three decades at UCSB, where her academic work has focused on Chicana/Latina feminist thought, political philosophy and gender studies, according to her UCSB Department of Feminist Studies faculty page. She authored the 2008 book “Wealth of Selves: Multiple Identities, Mestiza Consciousness, and the Subject of Politics,” published by Texas A&M University Press.
California law has moved toward greater pay transparency in recent years. Senate Bill 1162 has required employers to disclose pay scales in job postings and to current employees upon request since January 1, 2023, while Assembly Bill 168 has barred employers from asking job applicants about salary history since January 1, 2018, according to the University of California's own compensation guidelines. UC says those policies are intended to address pay inequity tied to characteristics including gender, race, sex, age and disability.
