Best Ohio Gender Discrimination Lawyer Response: Is it gender discrimination if my boss is the same gender as me? Can my boss fire me and replace me with a man? What if I think I was fired just because of my gender? Does my boss need to make comments about me being female for me to sue for gender discrimination?
Who makes the best burritos, men or women? That was a trick question, the answer is clearly Chipotle, and the gender of the employee does not matter. Just asking that question seems a bit ridiculous, yet we see employees being treated unfairly because of their gender on a regular basis. As our employment discrimination attorneys have previously blogged about, Ohio law in Ohio Revised Code § 4112.02(A) and federal law in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 provide legal protections against employment discrimination based on gender. That means an employer cannot treat employees differently or terminate an employee because of their gender. (See Lawyer: Do I Have A Gender Discrimination Claim If I Quit?; Do Women Have To Accept An Existing Sexist Work Culture?; Gender Discrimination: Thank Goodness, We Are In Ohio; and Can I Sue For Gender Discrimination If I’m A Man?).
Recently, in Reynolds v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, was faced with a similar question. Did Chipotle engage in a pattern and practice of discriminating against and/or terminating female managers? Seven female former managers of Chipotle alleged that Chipotle discriminated against them because they were female. The court examined the facts and circumstances surrounding each former employee to see if the former employee could potentially prove gender discrimination. To do so each former employee would need to demonstrate:
(1) she is a member of a protected class; (2) she was qualified for her job; (3) she suffered an adverse employment action; and (4) she was replaced by a person outside the protected class, or she was treated differently than similarly situated non-protected employees.
The court found that there was enough evidence that a jury could reasonably decide that Chipotle had discriminated against and wrongfully terminated some of these employees based on their gender. This evidence included:
- Male managers were given longer periods of time to be promoted to General Manager before they were terminated;
- The female managers were replaced with male managers;
- Male managers received worse or comparable audit scores and were not fired;
- Male manager’s comments about female managers being “emotional”;
- Male manager’s comments that a female manager should replace her female apprentice with a male;
- Male manager’s comment that there was “too much estrogen” in the restaurant.
Although some of the evidence that the court considered included gender-based comments, some of the evidence was merely the difference between the way Chipotle treated its male and female managers. Ultimately the court did not decide whether Chipotle had discriminated against the female employees. The court’s decision was only that there was enough evidence that a jury could find that Chipotle had discriminated against the female employees, and the case should proceed to trial.
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.