Chapter 8Chapter 8Gender Discrimination Gender Discrimination

McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2012 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

8-8-22

Learning ObjectivesLearning Objectives Recite Title VII and other laws relating to gender

discrimination

Understand the background of gender discrimination and how we know it still exists

List the different ways in which gender discrimination is manifested in the workplace

8-8-33

Learning ObjectivesLearning Objectives Analyze a fact situation and determine if there

are gender issues that may result in employer liability

Define fetal protection policies, gender-plus discrimination, workplace lactation issues, and gender-based logistical concerns

Differentiate between legal and illegal grooming policies

8-8-44

Learning ObjectivesLearning Objectives List common gender realities at odds with

common bases for illegal workplace determinations

Distinguish between equal pay and comparable worth and discuss proposed legislation

8-8-55

Does it Really Exist?Does it Really Exist? Recognizing gender discrimination

Gender discrimination covers both males and females

The vast majority of EEOC gender claims are filed by women

The Merrill Lynch message

“Contraceptive equity”

8-8-66

Does it Really Exist?Does it Really Exist? In 2007 EEOC issued “family responsibility

discrimination” (FRD)

Women are more likely to suffer adverse employment actions taken against them due to their care giving responsibilities

Focus of EEOC claims

Shift from hiring discrimination to on-the-job issues

8-8-77

Does it Really Exist?Does it Really Exist? Statistical evidence of gender disparity

Nearly half the workforce is female – Females represent two-thirds of all poor adults

Only 15 percent of women work in jobs typically held by men

A 2011 White House Commission on Women and Girls report indicated that women earn 75 percent as much as men at all level of educational attainment

The gender-based wage gap is present in every profession

8-8-88

Does it Really Exist? Does it Really Exist? In Fortune 1000 industrial and Fortune 500

service firms, 97 percent of top managers are white males

Gender was not originally part of the Civil Rights Act

By law it is the person’s ability that must be the basis for workplace decisions

8-8-99

Gender StereotypesGender Stereotypes Women are better suited to repetitive, fine motor

skill tasks

Women are too unstable to handle jobs with a great deal of responsibility or high pressure.

Men make better employees because they are more aggressive

Men do not do well at jobs requiring nurturing skills, such as day care, nursing, elder care, and the like

8-8-1010

Gender StereotypesGender Stereotypes When women marry they will get pregnant and

leave their jobs

When women are criticized at work, they will become angry or cry

A married woman’s income is only extra family income

8-8-1111

Gender StereotypesGender Stereotypes A woman who changes jobs is being disloyal

and unstable

A woman cannot have a job that requires her to have lunch or dinner meetings with men

Women cannot have jobs that require travel or a good deal of time away from home

8-8-1212

Gender Discrimination in GeneralGender Discrimination in General Advertising

Application questions

Interview questions

Different hours or job positions

Discipline

Training

8-8-1313

Gender Discrimination in GeneralGender Discrimination in General Seniority systems

Different wages and benefits

Different terms or conditions of employment

Termination

8-8-1414

Recognizing Gender DiscriminationRecognizing Gender Discrimination Does the policy exclude members of a particular

gender from the workplace or some workplace benefit?

Dothard v. Rawlinson

Do height and weight requirements statistically exclude certain groups?

Do these requirements directly correlate to ability to do the job?

8-8-1515

““Gender-Plus” DiscriminationGender-Plus” Discrimination “Gender-plus” discrimination: Employment

discrimination based on gender and some other factor such as marital status or children

Males are not subject to the same limitations

Phillips v. Martin Marietta Corp.

8-8-1616

Gender StereotypingGender Stereotyping Gender stereotypes: The assumption that most

or all members of a particular gender must act a certain way

Workplace decisions based on:

Ideas of how a particular gender should act or dress

What roles they should perform

8-8-1717

Gender StereotypingGender Stereotyping Prohibited by Title VII

Frequently leads to actions that form the basis of unnecessary liability for the employer

8-8-1818

Grooming CodesGrooming Codes Title VII does not prohibit an employer from

using gender as a basis for reasonable grooming codes

Use reasonable standards of what is generally thought to be male- or female-appropriate attire in a business setting

Perceptions of the employee in the workplace

Gender-based grooming policies

8-8-1919

Customer or Employee PreferencesCustomer or Employee Preferences

Customer preference is not a legitimate and protected reason to treat otherwise-qualified employees different based on gender

The Hooters situation

Civil rights Act of 1991

Title VII applies to U.S. citizens employed by American-owned or controlled companies doing business outside the United States

8-8-2020

Logistical ConsiderationsLogistical Considerations Breast-feeding for working mothers

Employers may not forgo hiring those of a certain gender because of logistical issues unless it involves an unreasonable financial burden

Examples

Female sports reporters

Female firefighters

Bathroom facilities

8-8-2121

Equal Pay and Comparable WorthEqual Pay and Comparable Worth Despite the Equal Pay Act, women earn on

average 77 cents for every dollar earned by men.

Women’s salaries may be equal by the year 2050

The EPA overlaps with Title VII’s general prohibition against discrimination in employment on the basis of gender.

EPA is concerned with the content of the job

8-8-2222

Equal Pay and Comparable WorthEqual Pay and Comparable Worth Title VII’s Bennett Amendment

Exceptions permitted by EPA would be recognized under Title VII

Comparable worth: A Title VII action for pay discrimination based on gender

Jobs held mostly by women are compared with comparable jobs held mostly by men

In regard to pay to determine if there is gender discrimination

8-8-2323

Equal Pay and Comparable WorthEqual Pay and Comparable Worth Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

Passed in January 2009

Fair Pay Act

Paycheck Fairness Act

8-8-2424

Gender as a BFOQGender as a BFOQ Title VII permits gender to be used as a bona

fide occupational qualification under certain limited circumstances

The EEOC guidelines for gender as a BFOQ are very strict

BFOQ as a defense generally found inapplicable

8-8-2525

Pregnancy DiscriminationPregnancy Discrimination The Pregnancy Discrimination Act

Prohibits discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions

Amended Title VII’s definitions to include pregnancy

EEOC report

182 percent increase in the filing of pregnancy discrimination charges over the past 10 years

Pregnancy inability to perform

8-8-2626

Fetal Protection PoliciesFetal Protection Policies Fetal protection policies: Policies an employer

institutes to protect the fetus or the reproductive capacity of employees

Limit or prohibit employees from performing certain jobs or working in certain areas

Many times these policies only exclude females

8-8-2727

Management TipsManagement Tips Send the message that gender bias will not be

tolerated

Back up such message with appropriate enforcement

Take employee claims seriously

Promptly and thoroughly investigate all complaints

Make sure the “punishment fits the crime.”

8-8-2828

Management TipsManagement Tips Conduct periodic training to remind employees

about the anti-bias policy

Conduct periodic audits

Review workplace policies

Actions taken to address gender issues need not make the workplace stilted or formal