Two women who work as victim witness advocates for the Knox County district attorney’s office say the county has been paying them less than a male colleague for the same work for years.

Lynn Talbot and Stephanie Laite filed a civil complaint in U.S. District Court on Tuesday against the Knox County Board of Commissioners and the district attorney’s office. The long-time employees are seeking back pay and an order that Knox County provide civil rights training to its employees.

Their attorney, Blake McCartney, said in an interview Wednesday that her clients filed their complaint “for the sake of the people that come after us.”

“It’s not just a one-off” case, McCartney said. “It’s systemic change, as far as the equal pay and non-discrimination.”

For more than two decades, the lawsuit claims, Talbot and Laite were paid “two to three dollars per hour less than a male employee who is responsible for substantially equal and comparable work.”

Both Talbot and Laite have worked for the district attorney’s office as victim witness advocates for nearly three decades, according to the complaint. They’re responsible for informing crime victims and their families of upcoming court events, coordinating between prosecutors and victims, preparing victims for court and notifying victims when the person who harmed them is about to be released from custody.

“We’re sort of a conduit between the prosecutors and the victims,” Talbot said in an interview Wednesday.

Talbot said the job is more than just being there when someone is upset.

“There’s having to understand the whole neurobiology of trauma … we have to keep victims apprised of all the goings-on in the case that they’re named in, starting with their rights,” she said. “Then we have to prepare them for any sort of court proceeding they’re going to be involved in.”

Talbot and Laite learned back in 2011 that a male coworker in their office, who had been there about a decade, was reclassified to work as a prosecutorial assistant/investigator.

The work is comparable, the lawsuit claims, but they’re not considered the same on the county’s tiered pay scale — Talbot and Laite are on Grade 13 and their male coworker is at Grade 14.

The women say they have complained to the county several times over the last 14 years, through correspondence with the former district attorney, a former county commissioner and their human resources manager.

No individuals are named as defendants in the complaint, which does not mention correspondence with active commissioners or the current district attorney, Natasha Irving.

Irving and the current commissioners did not respond to emails Tuesday afternoon seeking comment.

Talbot and Laite also filed a joint complaint in December with the Maine Human Rights Commission, which issued them a right-to-sue notice on June 17.

The women were at an even lower pay scale in 2011, but were moved to Grade 13 after speaking with the former district attorney, according to the complaint.

They were demoted to Grade 12 without explanation in 2016, the complaint says, but a county commissioner agreed to return them to Grade 13 after they complained again.

Talbot and Laite were still making less than their male coworker, who was at Grade 14 the entire time, according to the complaint.

“This has nothing to do with the person in the other role,” Talbot said. “Although it has become very awkward in our office, it is not about a person. It is about the ongoing, systemic wage discrimination.”

The lawsuit says the women also told Human Resources Manager Amber Christie about the disparity. The complaint claims Christie acknowledged the male coworker was being paid for supervising duties he did not have, but didn’t take any further action.

Christie, who is now the county administrator, did not respond to messages seeking comment Tuesday.