CLEVELAND, Ohio-Cleveland City Council and Mayor Justin Bibb introduced a proposed ordinance at the council meeting on Monday that prohibits Cleveland businesses with 15 or more employees from inquiring, screening or relying on the salary history of an applicant in deciding whether to employ such applicant.

The legislation would also require that prospective employers provide the salary range of the position. Any person may file a complaint alleging that a violation has occurred with the Fair Employment Wage Board within 180 days of the alleged violation.

The proposed equal pay ordinance comes as newly elected President Donald Trump issues executive orders taking down DEI programs and tampering with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which has angered progressive Democrats and prominent Civil Rights groups, including the National NAACP and its president and CEO Derrick Johnson. He has promised a vigorous response, according to a press release.

At least 22 states and dozens of other cities, including Cincinnati, Columbus, and Toledo in Ohio, have successfully implemented similar legislation, leading to more equitable compensation practices, proponents say.

Prohibiting employers from asking about a job applicant's salary history is designed to help ensure that worker compensation is based on the qualifications, experience, and responsibilities of the position rather than the applicant's identity or background. (Ord. No. 104-2025), Council President Blaine Griffin said in a press release on Monday.

Ward 7 Councilwoman Stephanie Howse Jones, who heads the city's Black Women's Commission, added that "pay equity is not just a woman's issue but a family issue."

Cleveland is a largely Black major American city with a population of roughly 372,000, according to the 2020 U.S. Census. It, no doubt, has historical significance, including the election in 1967 of the late Carl B. Stokes, the first Black mayor of Cleveland and of a major American city.

The equal pay legislation was officially introduced at Monday’s council meeting by Mayor Justin Bibb and council members Jasmin Santana of Ward 14; Charles Slife of Ward 17, and Howse-Jones, also a former state lawmaker.. They say the legislation will prohibit wage discrimination, increase transparency on pay rates, and establish a city-wide task force to strategize on closing a pay-wage gap that disproportionately impacts the city's Black and Hispanic communities, poor people, single women with children, and women in general.

According to the Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan research institute, women’s wages across broad racial and ethnic categories among full-time, year-round workers, Hispanic women experience the largest pay gap, having earned just 57 cents for every $1 earned by White, non-Hispanic men in 2020. Black women also experience wide pay gaps, with data on Black women alone revealing that—despite consistently having some of the highest labor force participation rates—they earned just 64 cents for every $1 earned by White, non-Hispanic men in 2020. This number dips slightly to 63 cents, reflecting a slightly larger wage gap when data on multiracial Black women—meaning Black women who also identify with another racial category—are included in the analysis.

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