Gender Discriminations

STEPS TAKEN BY EMPLOYERS TO END GENDER DISCRIMINATION

To prevent gender discrimination or sexual harassment from occurring in the workplace, more and more employers are adopting a zero tolerance policy towards all acts of discrimination. This usually includes the creation of an official written policy against discrimination that is circulated to all employees, as well as education and training courses for all managers (and often for all employees). In addition, the companies have to show that they are serious about implementing and enforcing the new policy by creating disciplinary standards for violations of the policy.

Another step employers can take is to conduct a thorough investigation every time a claim of discrimination or harassment is lodged. If a company identifies a situation where it believes discrimination has occurred and the company is going to be held liable, it can ease the amount of punishment handed down if it conducts a thorough in-house investigation that culminates in appropriate action taken against the person who committed the discrimination, up to and including dismissal of that employee.

When managers are trained to recognize instances of sexual discrimination or harassment, they should be told one thing above all others—not to try to handle the complaint by themselves. Instead, they should always immediately notify the human resources department that an incidence of discrimination or harassment has been reported and needs to be investigated. If the training is also provided to all employees, primary efforts should be spent on teaching employees what is and is not considered to be appropriate behavior and on helping employees understand each other better so that they can work together more effectively.

THE CURRENT STATE OF GENDER DISCRIMINATION

While many cases of sexual discrimination or harassment involve men victimizing women, there is a new backlash that has seen allegations of reverse sexual discrimination. A male cosmetics counter employee at a Dillard's department store in Florida became angry when his suit was stained by the make-up he was selling. When he asked the store for a uniform of some sort, which the female employees who worked at the make-up counter at another store in the same mall wore, he was ignored by store management. The man also alleged that he was passed over for promotions and was ineligible to win store sales contests because all of the prizes were for women. The employee filed a sexual discrimination claim with the EEOC and later filed a lawsuit against the store.

In another case, a male employee of Vision Quest National in Philadelphia filed a lawsuit alleging sexual discrimination when he was fired after complaining that he had to work nights for the company while women did not. The company had instituted a policy saying women did not have to work the night shift because the company was in a high-crime area; several female employees had threatened to quit if forced to work nights. The company claimed the policy was a bona fide occupational qualification (which is one of the EEOC's exemptions in discrimination cases), but the courts ruled that this was not the case and sided with the male employee.

In addition to reverse discrimination cases, there have also been recent instances of same-sex discrimination cases. While the EEOC holds that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act does protect against same-sex discrimination, the courts have been reluctant to rule on the matter. In 1998, however, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the ruling of a lower court and in so doing held that same-sex discrimination was in fact covered by Title VII because the law referred to sex in every context.

Discrimination against employees on the basis of gender (as well as race, national origin, age, and/or disability) is wrong. It may also be very costly. Charges of employment discrimination that are successfully brought before the EEOC are usually resolved, in part, by issuing the plaintiff a monetary award. The trend towards larger awards has been steady and although it is unclear whether that trend will continue, some people clearly believe that it will. As a result, a new form of commercial liability insurance emerged in the late 1990s in answer to the rising costs associated with employment discrimination actions. It is called Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) and it may one day be a standard policy within commercial insurance packages.

Avoiding the need for such an insurance policy is, of course, preferable. Establishing serious policies to prevent discrimination is essential. Making these efforts visible and apparent to all will help to create a work environment free of discrimination, or at least one in which discriminatory acts are brought to the attention of management right away.

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