about

what happens when a software engineer dares to ask for equal pay?

hi, i'm kate.

I started Equal Clay to raise awareness about workplace and domestic financial abuse, interrogate the systems that harm survivors, and help others build financial resilience.

my story

pay discrimination

In 2020, Apple constructively discharged me after refusing to fix the pay gap I‘d uncovered when eight male colleagues with my title all disclosed that they made more money for the same work.

regulatory capture

I reported Apple to the EEOC, who opened an investigation. At first it looked hopeful. Then the agency started breaking its own rules, and Apple poached one of my EEOC investigators.

financial abuse

All of this happened atop financial abuse by a former spouse through the family court system. Depleting a mother‘s resources is a common domestic abuse tactic, because it is covert and effective.

so i make art.

Despite all of the evidence, the EEOC failed at enforcing fair pay law and protecting marginalized software engineers at Apple.

This paved the way for family court to enable my domestic abuser to evade fair child support. He insisted that my education guaranteed me access to a lucrative tech career that I had irresponsibly chosen to leave, and the judge bought it.

Enduring years of these intertwined miscarriages of justice took a devastating toll on me financially, emotionally, and physically.

Making art is an act of resistance. After repeatedly being denied access to safety or remedies, I make art to record my experiences for the public record and to advocate for change.