Hall

This is a class action alleging gender-based wage discrimination in violation of the state and federal Equal Pay Acts and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act in which the employer prevailed by summary judgment. We affirm.

FACTS

A.

In 1984, the Los Angeles County juvenile court’s caseloads increased so rapidly that many additional lawyers were needed to represent minors and others subject to the court’s jurisdiction, thus triggering section 44.7 of article IX of the Los Angeles County Charter, which provides: “Nothing in this Article shall prevent the County, when the Board of Supervisors finds that work can more economically or feasibly be performed by independent contractors, from entering into contracts for the performance of such work.” In response to the caseload crisis, the board authorized “as-needed” contracts with lawyers for the juvenile court, and lawyers (including Danna Hall and others included in our references to Hall) entered contracts with the county in which they were designated as “independent contractors.”

In June 1989, county counsel informed the board that the juvenile court’s caseloads had stabilized so that it would be…