Best Employment Discrimination Attorneys Answers: What is the definition of gender discrimination in the workplace? What are some gender issues in the workplace? Can my job gender stereotype me?
Gender discrimination has its roots in the misogynistic misconceptions of what women are capable of. Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, gender discrimination, also known as sex discrimination is defined as treating an employee or applicant less favorably based on that persons sex, which includes pregnancy or that person’s sexual orientation/gender identity. Title VII makes it unlawful for any employer to discrimination regarding any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, fringe benefits, and anything else that deals with job. (Best Law Read: What Is Disparate Treatment?; Can Unequal Progressive Discipline Prove Discrimination?; The Pay Gap Still Is An Issue For Women; When Does Being Passed Up For A Promotion Equal Discrimination?)
What is an example of gender discrimination? American Freight Management Company, LLC d/b/a American Freight Furniture and Mattress was sued for its systemic practice of rejecting qualified female applicants. As our employment discrimination lawyers have discussed before, a wrongful failure to hire is just as bad as a wrongful termination under Title VII. (Best Law Read: How Do I Prove A Failure Hire Case?).
American Freight, which is a Delaware, Ohio company, runs a chain of warehouse-style discount furniture stores with more than 150 locations across the United States. According to the lawsuit filed against it hiring managers intentionally blocked women applicants who had applied to both warehouse and sales jobs based on the instructions of corporate bosses, who told them women workers “complain and make trouble.” The lawsuit details that store managers repeatedly made sexist comments, including that women “bitch too much.” Worse yet, these managers were overheard saying that female employees would be too much of “a distraction” to the male employees – like that is the woman’s fault even if that was remotely true. These same supervisors refused to hire women in the warehouse based on the gender stereotype that “women can’t lift.” And, then these male chauvinistic pigs just made up lies, such as women cannot “do as great a job at selling furniture as men.” I’d like to see some statistics on that assertion. Geez.
These stereotypes were allegedly used to reject applications before every meeting with any of the women. This means that they never actually found out if an individual woman applicant could deadlift 200 pounds or was the salesperson of the year 10 years running at her last job. These horrible bosses just did not want women regardless of their qualifications. There is no justification for this conduct as all job applicants deserve to be evaluated based on their qualifications regardless of their gender, or for that matter race/color, religion, national origin, age, or disability. Stereotypes about protected classes cannot be used to make hiring, promotion, termination or any other employment decision.
Because this conduct had been ongoing since 2013 and affected thousands of women, American Freight agreed to pay $5 million and to give job opportunities to women who were previously rejected.
Not only is the horrible conduct an example of gender discrimination in the hiring process, but it also should serve as an example to other employers not to discriminate against applicants and employees based on their gender. Of course, if they fail to heed this warning, our employment discrimination lawyers will be coming for you.
If you have been discriminated against based on your gender or sex (including pregnancy or LGBTQ+ status), then call the right attorney. It is always illegal to discriminate against female employees. In addition to our wrongful failure to hire example, 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, you will meet with an attorney from Spitz, The Employee’s Law Firm to discuss gender discrimination, wrongful termination, and failure to hire claims in order to assist you in deciding what the best course of action is for you. The best way to address gender discrimination and a sexist boss or manager is not to wait. Call our top attorneys in Cleveland, Boardman, Detroit, Akron, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo.
Disclaimer:
The gender discrimination 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 The Spitz Law Firm, Brian Spitz, or any individual attorney.