gender discrimination

Yahoo Gender Discrimination Claim Filed by Male Employee

February 9, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

Almost all gender discrimination lawsuits in California are filed by women. It’s well-established that women as a whole are offered less prestigious jobs, are paid less, promoted less and are targeted more frequently for sexual harassment.

So is it ever valid for a male employee to file a gender discrimination claim? Before you roll your eyes at the notion, consider first of all that discrimination against a man simply because of their gender is just as illegal as if the roles are reversed. Now consider the case recently filed in Federal District Court in San Jose against Yahoo.

The former Yahoo manager lost his job after the company came under the direction of female chief executive Marissa Mayer. In his complaint, he alleges the quarterly performance review favored by Mayer is discriminatory against men. The process requires superiors to rank every worker on a scale of 1 to 5. Those ratings were integral in the firing of hundreds of workers since Mayer took over in 2012. Workers with the lowest of those rankings were routinely trimmed from the roles. Continue Reading ›

Twitter Takes On Gender Bias Employment Lawsuit in California

February 7, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

Much has been written about the lack of gender diversity in Silicon Valley. The problem has even birthed a few California employment lawsuits, with varied results. Most notable among those was the case of Ellen Pao, a junior partner, against her former employer and powerhouse venture capital firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Pao lost her her bid for compensation spring, after jurors found there was not enough evidence of gender discrimination.

Now in the latest legal action against a technology giant, Twitter is accused of gender discrimination by a former engineer. Tina Huang claims she was forced out of the firm because she is a woman. She has the testimony of a former colleague to help back her claims.

However, Twitter has come out swinging, alleging that former colleague of Huang’s likely violated an employment contract by helping his friend land a job at the venture capital firm where he’d begun working. The company plans to file a motion to dismiss, claiming the allegations have no basis in truth. Continue Reading ›

Class Action Status Granted in Pay Disparity Case

January 9, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

A lawsuit was filed by a female employee against the insurance company Farmers, according to LA Times. The plaintiff in the lawsuit claimed she was paid less than men who had similar positions at the company, despite the fact those men had decades less experience than she did. After she filed the lawsuit, three additional women opted into the suit over the course of the late summer. Additional women also began to file claims, bringing the total number of women suing the insurance company to 12.

It is very common for employment discrimination cases to involve not just one plaintiff, but many. If a company discriminates against one woman by offering her lower pay than her male counterparts, the company likely engages in this discriminatory practice across the board and ends up paying many women less than they should receive if the discrimination was not occurring. Because discrimination is usually pervasive and affects many workers, it is very common for lawsuits of this type to involve multiple plaintiffs all coming forward with similar claims.

Sam’s CEO Faces Allegations of Racism After Comments About Diversity in the Workplace

December 18, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

Wal-Mart has been sued multiple times over the years by employees alleging discrimination. As National Organization for Women explains, female workers are routinely paid less than male workers at Wal-Mart, with women in 2001 making as much as $5,200 less per year on average as compared with male workers. The history of discrimination led to the “largest class action gender discrimination lawsuit in U.S. history.”

With this history of legal trouble related to discriminatory actions, it should come as no surprise that Sam’s Club– which is a division of Wal-Mart– would be in trouble again for making statements considered discriminatory. What is surprising, however, is that this time the allegation is being made that the CEO is prejudiced not against women or minorities but against white men.

A statement made by the CEO of Sam’s Club has sparked arguments across the Internet and in print, and has prompted some to organize a boycott of the store because of comments that some view as discriminatory.

Employers Must Respond Promptly to Claims of Harassment to Reduce Liability Risks

December 14, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

When an employee makes a claim of harassment, the employer has an obligation to take action. Employers may become liable for the creation of a hostile work environment if the company does not have a mechanism in place for reporting problems and does not take allegations seriously. There is ample legal history demonstrating an employer’s failure to move forward with investigating claims of harassment can result in significant legal liability when employees are victimized.

One recent case out of a federal district court in Illinois, demonstrates just how important it is for employers to be serious about taking prompt action quickly after discrimination or harassment claims are made. While decisions made by Illinois district courts are not binding within California, California and federal laws apply to require prompt actions from companies within the state as well. This means California employers could be just as vulnerable to litigation and could face similar outcomes when they don’t take complaints seriously.

Target Resolves Employment Discrimination Litigation with Large Settlement

August 22, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

According to a recent news story from Bring Me The News, big box retailer Target has just agreed to pay $2.8 million to settle a complaint by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). It was alleged the screening process for job applicants the retailer used was discriminatory.

The money collected as part of the settlement agreement will be given to the roughly 3,000 candidates who were allegedly rejected for higher-level positions with the retailer. The reason these applicants were rejected, according to EEOC, is because the test instruments utilized in the screening process were allegedly discriminatory against African Americans, Asians and women. EEOC said several of these tests were not even job-related. More specifically, it was not that there was one thing in these tests you point to and say was discriminatory, but when the results are reviewed in the context of the gender, ethnicity and national origin of the applicants, it was clear to EEOC that there was a discriminatory impact. Continue Reading ›

Denial of Same-Sex Spousal Benefits Sparks Lawsuit Against Chain

August 2, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

In the case of Cote v. Wal-Mart, Inc., filed within the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, alleges the big box chain store engaged in gender discrimination when it refused to extend spousal benefits to the wife of a female employee.

This argument hasn’t yet been vetted in courts, though that is the stance of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In this case, plaintiff filed a complaint with the EEOC last year, as a prerequisite to filing her lawsuit against her former employer. The EEOC determined Wal-Mart had engaged in discrimination by denying benefits to the worker’s wife.

According to news reports of the case, the employee sued the company on the basis of its prior policy of denying health care insurance to husbands and wives of gay and lesbian employees. Plaintiff seeks class action certification for her lawsuit, which was filed in Boston, Mass. Continue Reading ›

Feliciano v. Autozone, Inc. – Sexual Harassment Claim May Proceed

April 14, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

A female auto shop worker will be allowed to pursue her claim of sexual harassment against her employer, although other claims of disability discrimination and wrongful termination on the basis of race, religion and national origin were dismissed.

The Connecticut Supreme Court recently reversed the trial court decision on the issue of sexual harassment in Feliciano v. Autozone, Inc., in which plaintiff is a black woman from the U.S. Virgin Islands who practices the Rastafarian religion. As part of that religion, she wears her hair in dreadlocks.

In the spring of 2007, the company became aware of a situation in which nearly 20 transactions were flagged for potential abuse of a customer awards loyalty program discount. Those transactions were all processed by plaintiff, who later conceded she had allowed other employees to use her customer service number. She admitted this was wrong. Termination of employment was recommended on the grounds of violating the company’s loss prevention policy. Within a week, she was fired.

Gender Discrimination Lawsuit Targets Twitter

April 8, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

A proposed class action lawsuit has been filed by a former female employee of social media giant Twitter, alleging the way the company initiated promotions was discriminatory to women workers.

The gender discrimination lawsuit is just the latest to be filed against a California-based technology firm. Others that have faced similar allegations include Facebook and Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield, which is being sued by Reddit’s CEO.

In the case against Twitter, filed in a state court in San Francisco, plaintiff alleges the microblogging giant had no formal way of promoting workers. It did not post job openings or grant promotions. Rather, it reportedly relied on a “shoulder tap” process that effectively blocked women from the company’s highest-ranking engineering posts.

California Equal Pay Act Introduced by Female Democrats

April 6, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

Inspired by the Academy Awards acceptance speech of actress Patricia Arquette, a group of female Democrat lawmakers are introducing a bill that would help women workers earn the same paycheck as men for the same work.

The measure, SB 358, is sponsored by the Democratic members of the California Legislative Women’s Caucus and would strengthen protections against pay discrimination and retaliation against workers who ask about pay.

Sponsors of the bill called it “long overdue.” Equal Rights Advocates conducted a study in 2013 that found companies in California pay women 84 cents for every dollar earned by a man. That gap is even wider for Latina women, who earn 44 cents to every dollar white men make.