An LA-based manager alleges female employees at the company were paid tens of thousands of dollars less than their male counterparts

A former employee of Vice Media filed a lawsuit against the company on Tuesday, accusing it of systemic pay discrimination and citing several allegations of female employees being paid tens of thousands of dollars less than their male counterparts.

In the suit, Elizabeth Rose, a former project manager in the Los Angeles office, alleges that while working at the company, she discovered men she worked with were making more than her female colleagues – much more. A male subordinate, whom she had hired, was making $25,000 more a year than she was. Later, when that coworker was promoted to be her supervisor, the suit says, a Vice executive told Rose that the coworker was a “good personality fit” for male clients.

“You would just be floored,” said Michael Morrison, a Santa Monica attorney who filed the lawsuit today on Rose’s behalf.

“She hired someone who made more than her, who was essentially groomed to be her supervisor,” he said. “What greater form of discrimination and oppression than paying someone less for their services because of their sex?”

The lawsuit also alleges that a female editor hired for the media company’s Los Angeles office was offered $15,000 less than a male editor hired for the Brooklyn office. According to the lawsuit, the former Vice manager Michael Prommer, when he was asked about the discrepancy, allegedly replied “this is how much we can offer her”.

Vice said in a statement Tuesday that it was reviewing the lawsuit and, “as a company, we have made a significant commitment to a respectful, inclusive and equal workplace”.

General sexism and sexual harassment were the subjects of a recent New York Times article on Vice, which included allegations of unwanted kissing, groping, and termination for some employees who rejected their superiors’ sexual advances. The Times piece came in the context of the #MeToo movement, which has unearthed systematic sexual harassment and assault in a number of industries, including the news media.

In response to the allegations first reported by the Times, Vice Media founders said “from the top down, we have failed as a company to create a safe and inclusive workplace where everyone, especially women, can feel respected and thrive”.

That response is included in the lawsuit as evidence of the company’s “systematic, company-wide, unlawful treatment of [Rose] and hundreds of similarly situated employees”.

“Even after the New York Times article came out, people can’t tell what Vice has actually done – besides lip service – to make changes,” Morrison said. “It’s time to hold them accountable.”

News of the lawsuit quickly provoked discussion about Vice on social media, with several former female employees posting about their experiences.

One former employee, Kayla Ruble, told the Guardian by phone that she had experienced the kind of pay discrimination alleged in the suit, and described working at Vice as “an intense environment of misogyny”.

She said that her experience had made her think, “maybe I’m not worth it”.

Ruble, who left Vice in 2016, said she wasn’t sure if her experience would qualify her for inclusion in the suit, but she was thinking of contacting Morrison’s law firm, and knew of other female Vice employees with similar allegations who were thinking of doing the same.

They’d likely be in good company. About two hours after the lawsuit was first widely reported, Morrison said, a few women had already contacted his law firm, ready to talk about their own pay disparity grievances with Vice.