Men were excluded from a comparable-worth suit.

In San Francisco, U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel said in a written ruling that only female employees of the state may join the suit against California. Patel said the employees may press their suit despite the recent successful appeal of Washington state’s comparable-worth statute but warned that the case would be difficult to pursue. The suit charges that the state discriminated by paying women less than men for jobs requiring essentially the same skills.