Gender Discrimination Lawyer Best Answers: Can my boss keep choosing less qualified and less experienced men for promotion? How should a respond to promotions based solely on gender?
Okay, so I woke up to -12 degree temperatures this moring in Cleveland, Ohio. The weather here in Northeast Ohio has been horrific this winter. Yesterday, I had to go to the Lake County Probate Court to probate a settlement of a minor client. Because parking stinks there, I had to park three blocks away. After walking in the cold to the building, I was told that the back entrance was closed and I had walk around the block to the front. In the middle of feeling sorry for my cold self, I walked outside to find a woman road crew member shoveling all the sidewalks by hand. No fancy blower or mini-snow plow. We exchanged a few quick pleasantries and then she got back to shoveling all the sidewalks around the two court buildings.
As an employment lawyer, my first thought was good for her for going out and getting what most would consider a man’s job. And, then I thought, well, good for her employer for giving the labor job to a clearly qualified woman – the sidewalks were perfect. Some employers think that they are being chivalrous or protecting women by not giving them labor job or positions that demand physical work. But, that line of thinking will get employers in trouble.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it unlawful for employers to make any employment decisions based on gender, including decisions to hire, fire, promote, assign jobs or award benefit. This is true even if the employer tries to justify its position as a noble way of protecting a woman.
Here is a good example of such gender discrimination. Barbara A. Wilson joined the public works department in Cowlitz County as an accountant clerk in 1985. She then became a road crew worker and tried to move up the ladder to road crew foreman. Based on her qualifications, tenure and experience, she probably should have gotten the job the first time she applied, or the second, or the third, or the tenth. But, each time the promotion was given to a less qualified man with far less seniority. So, Barbara hired herself the best employment discrimination lawyer she could find and sued the heck out of her employer for gender discrimination. As part of her lawsuit, Barbara asserted that the road department employed only three women compared to 55 men and that no woman has ever been promoted to road crew foreman. If true, that is some pretty damning facts.
The employer thought so too, and agreed last month to pay $185,000 to settle the gender discrimination lawsuit instead of trying to explain their hiring decisions to a jury. As part of the settlement, Barbara is still employed as a road crew worker. I wonder what will happen the next time she applies for the promotion?
Well, according to the news story, one of the attorneys stated: “it’s unlikely that Wilson, who is about seven years away from retirement, ever will be promoted. The current road foremen are relatively young.” So, I guess the next suit is for age discrimination.
If you feel that you are being discriminated based on your gender or sex, then call the right attorney. It is never appropriate to discriminate against female employees. Discrimination against women includes being harassed, fired, wrongfully terminated, discriminated against, demoted, wrongfully disciplined, and denied wages. When you call the right attorney to schedule a free and confidential consultation at 866-797-6040, you will meet with an attorney from Spitz, The Employee’s Law Firm to discuss wrongful discrimination claims and help you determine the best way to pursue your gender/sex discrimination claims.
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The materials available at the top of this page and on this employment law website are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. Your best option is to contact an Ohio attorney to obtain advice with respect to gender discrimination questions or any particular employment law issue. Use and access to this employment law website or any of the links contained within the site do not create an attorney-client relationship. The legal opinions expressed at or through this site are the opinions of the individual lawyer and may not reflect the opinions of Spitz, The Employee’s Law Firm, Brian Spitz, or any individual attorney.