Gender Discrimination in The Workplace
A few short decades ago, discrimination in the workplace based on a person’s sex or gender was commonplace. Today, there are state and federal laws in place to stop gender discrimination at work. The federal laws in place include Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on sex, and the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which protects men and women who perform equal work for the same company from sex-based wage discrimination. In California, the Fair Employment and Housing Act prohibits discrimination in employment because of sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation.
Because of those laws, it’s illegal and a civil rights violation to discriminate against a person because of sex or gender in any aspect of employment, which includes hiring and firing, compensation, recruitment, promotion, layoffs, job transfers, testing, fringe benefits, training, retirement plans, and other conditions of employment. Some examples of discriminatory practices in the workplace include harassing someone because of gender, firing someone because of their gender, or retaliating against an employee because he or she filed a complaint about gender harassment.
Examples of Gender Discrimination
For example, if a hospital wants to hire male nurse assistants because men are stronger at moving patients and changing beds, and offers to pay men more, that is illegal. Employers aren’t allowed to pay one gender more than another or to make assumptions based on gender. Another example of gender discrimination is when employers penalize women for taking maternity leave, or refuse to hire young women for fear they will become pregnant and leave the company.
However, despite the laws in place to stop gender discrimination at work, it still happens. Studies show that women are not paid equally to men. In recent years, several major U.S. corporations have been sued by groups of women who claim they were discriminated against because of their gender.
Men can also be discriminated against because of their gender. If a company decided to promote a less-qualified woman to a senior management position over a more-qualified man in order to have more women in management, that is gender discrimination as well, and the male victim can pursue his legal rights.
Being the victim of gender discrimination can be frustrating and in some cases traumatic for both women and men. Employees of both sexes should be free to pursue their careers without their gender or sex becoming an issue.
If You’ve Encountered Gender Discrimination
If you are the victim of gender discrimination in the workplace, it’s crucial to contact an experienced California discrimination attorney. Unfortunately, many human resources professionals will not fully pursue discrimination complaints, or they may decide to deny your complaint. Therefore, in many cases of gender discrimination it becomes necessary to file a federal or state lawsuit, or both.
Contact Liberty Law, Employment Rights Law Firm in Oakland, California
At Liberty Law, Micha Star Liberty believes that no women or men should be discriminated against in the workplace because of their gender, sex, gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation. Instead, an employee should be judged on his or her effectiveness in the workplace. If you have been the victim of gender discrimination, call Micha Star Liberty, Oakland gender discrimination attorney, at 415-896-1000 or 510-645-1000. She works with clients in Oakland, San Francisco, Fairfield, Tracy, Hayward, Berkeley, and the surrounding areas. Call today.