Best Ohio Gender Discrimination Attorney Answer: I am one of the only women in my company – How can I prove that women here are treated worse than men? What if I am in an industry in which women are radically underrepresented? Can I bring a class action on behalf of all the women at my company if the company’s policies are discriminatory?
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Ohio Revised Code § 4112.02 are designed to make gender discrimination at work illegal. To this end, employers cannot harassment, deny a promotion, refuse to hire, fire, evaluate performance, and assign duties based on an employee’s gender. These employment discrimination laws apply to every industry and workplace regardless if they historically have been a field dominated by men.
By now most of you have heard about the widely publicized gender discrimination case of Ellen Pao v. Kleiner Perkins. Pao was suing her former employer, a venture capital firm called Kleiner Perkins, for gender discrimination. Kleiner Perkins, located in Silicon Valley, is one of the major players in the sector of the venture capital industry that serves the technology industry. Pao was one of the only female partners in the firm, and one of very few women – 6 percent – in that industry overall. After a four week trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Kleiner Perkins and against Pao on the gender discrimination claims.
Pao may have lost this round, but it remains to be seen whether she lost the bigger fight. From the onset of Pao’s suit, Kleiner’s public image was continually battered. And the ripple effect only expanded from there, as it became more and more clear that the issue of how women were treated in the workplace, and why there were so view women in the workplace, was not isolated to Kleiner. As it ends up, the entire venture capital world has a terrible record on including women, and so does the even wider world of tech companies. What it looks like to everyone – including some of the jurors that didn’t end up voting in favor of Pao – is pervasive, subtle sexism in the workplace, and an unconscious bias that works against women.
This means that the struggle over the place of women in Silicon Valley is only beginning. Already two new gender discrimination suits have been filed against Facebook and Twitter, and no doubt more are on their way.
The suit against Twitter was filed by former engineer Tina Huang. She – like Pao – is claiming that the process for promotions is biased against women. She is hoping to have her lawsuit certified as a class action.
The suit against Facebook doesn’t allege the same sort of systemic discrimination. In it a former manager, Chia Hong, claims she was “discriminated against, harassed, and retaliated against” because of her sex and race, and that ultimately she was unlawfully and wrongfully terminated. But there is still a direct line between this case and Pao’s – Hong’s lawyers are Lawless & Lawless, the same firm that brought Pao’s suit against Kleiner. (See our lawyer’s blog on this gender discrimination case: I Was Fired Because I’m A Mother. Can I Sue My Employer? Best Lawyer Reply!)
Our employment discrimination lawyers have already blogged about wage difference statistics for working women. (See What Can I Do If My Employer Pays Me Less Than Men For The Same Job? I Need A Lawyer!).
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, denied a promotion, and denied wages or not receiving equal pay. 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.
Disclaimer:
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.