gender discrimination lawyer

California Workplace Gender Discrimination Evident in Alleged “Bro Culture”

November 15, 2021 | by Nassiri Law

An electric automaker that recently became a publicly-traded company is now being sued for alleged workplace gender discrimination, with the plaintiff (a former sales and marketing VP) alleging the “bro culture” at the firm had become toxic.

According to TechCrunch.com, plaintiff, who had a long employment history with other prominent car manufacturers, joined the Rivian team in California late last year. She was fired, however, after reporting gender discrimination to the human resources department. Although the company has declined to comment on the discrimination allegations, plaintiff has not only filed her claim in court, but also made a statement with the American Arbitration Association and written a blog post on the company’s issues on Medium.

Among her claims:

She was regularly ignored by a superior when trying to point out problems.
She was routinely kept out of important meetings attended by male peers who were making key decisions.
Choices regarding her team were made without her input.

Two days after complaining to HR about these issues, she was fired.

Rivian’s transition to a publicly-traded company is one that has been highly anticipated, with an estimated $8.4 billion anticipated in the initial public offering. It’s estimated there will be 135 million shares sold at somewhere between $57 and $62 each. Underwriters can buy tens of millions more shares, potentially raising the value of the company by nearly $10 billion.

Gender Discrimination Rampant at Pinterest, Former Exec Alleges in Lawsuit

September 10, 2020 | by Nassiri Law

Pinterest, a $21 billion company that markets mostly to women on its virtual pinboards, is accused by its former chief operating officer of rampant sexism, harassment, retaliation and wrongful termination. She alleges she was fired for speaking out about disparate treatment between female and male top executives.

As The New York Times reports, the former COO says in her San Francisco Superior Court lawsuit that she was excluded out of key meetings, given professional feedback that was highly gendered and she was paid less than her male peers when she was first brought on. She learned the pay disparity after the company filed to go public last year. She talked about how decisions were often made in informal discussions among male colleagues; the “meeting after the meeting.” Despite being the No. 2 executive, she said she endured a culture of constant exclusion. When she ultimately spoke up about it, she said, she was dismissed (the dispute compared to a domestic squabble), maligned (told she wasn’t working collaboratively enough) and ultimately fired.

As our Orange County gender discrimination lawyers can explain, this type of discriminatory action in the upper echelons of corporate America may look slightly different than at other levels, particularly as it can be more subtle. But one thing our employment lawyers have noted no matter the pay grade is that workers who speak out about unfair treatment may find themselves may find themselves a target of demotion, loss of benefits or firing. This in itself is an illegal act called retaliation. Continue Reading ›

California Gender Discrimination Lawsuits Must be Severed, Re-Filed Individually

October 28, 2019 | by Nassiri Law

A federal judge in California has ruled that plaintiffs in a gender discrimination lawsuit against Walmart Inc. must file their cases individually, rather than altogether in class action litigation. The decision wasn’t especially surprising, given a similar ruling made by a federal court in Florida earlier this year. Although this will create challenges for the individual plaintiffs, it could ultimately mean higher damage awards for some of the individuals.

This case, Renati v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., involved of a group of 18 women who had originally been part of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case of Dukes et al v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which certified a class of 1.5 million workers (more than any other in history), all asserting that the retail giant was in violation of Title VII for disparate pay and benefits to female workers compared to their male counterparts. Women alleged that not only were they paid less than men, they were also overlooked for promotions and raises that were handed over to men less-qualified. One plaintiff was reportedly told that a certain position she sought was “a guy’s job.”

However, the SCOTUS reversed itself on the class certification issue in 2011, finding that while all the women shared the same cause of action predicated on gender discrimination claims, there was no common practice, policy or set of facts applicable to all plaintiffs. There was simply too much variation from case-to-case. Therefore, cases would have to be filed either individually or in smaller groups. Continue Reading ›

$7 Million Awarded in California Police Gender Discrimination Claim

May 1, 2019 | by Nassiri Law

A woman who served as chief of police in Baldwin Park, about 20 minutes outside of Los Angeles, has been awarded $7 million in a California race and gender discrimination employment lawsuit filed five years ago. The case was among the few gender discrimination claims in California to actually go to a jury trial.

Gender Discrimination in Police Departments

Federal law prohibits harassment on the basis of a person’s gender. This includes sexual harassment, of course, but also harassing a woman or making comments about females generally, as noted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Individuals of either gender can be either victim or harasser, and those involved can be supervisors, co-workers or clients/customers.

Although the law doesn’t bar “simple teasing,” isolated incidents of minimal seriousness and offhand comments, it’s illegal when it’s so severe or frequent that it creates an offensive and hostile work environment OR when the result is an adverse employment action, such as demotion or termination. Continue Reading ›

Female Doctors Allege Gender Discrimination in Pay

September 18, 2017 | by Nassiri Law

Gender discrimination can occur in all industries, at all education levels and all income tiers. Recently, a trio of female physicians in North Carolina filed a gender discrimination lawsuit alleging the male doctors within their health system were paid substantially more than them, despite comparative levels of education, experience and expertise.

Also sometimes referred to as “sex-based discrimination,” it occurs when an employee is treated differently due to their gender. Title VII prohibits discrimination when it comes to any aspect of employment – including hiring, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoffs, firings and fringe benefits. Whether directed at male or female employees, it’s illegal when it has a negative impact on a person’s employment and it’s not job-related or necessary to the operation of the business.

The North Carolina case involves three female doctor plaintiffs who allege their male counterparts are paid substantially more money for doing the exact same work. Continue Reading ›

Women Face Employment Consequences for Reproductive Health Choices

February 5, 2017 | by Nassiri Law

During a recent Senate confirmation hearing to the post of Health and Human Services Secretary, Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), stated he did not believe companies were allowed to terminate women from their jobs for their reproductive choices. Specifically, he indicated that the right to use birth control was not something that affected women’s employment status.

In fact, as our gender discrimination attorneys know, this is far from true.

Price is a conservative politician, and as such, he has been vocal and active in his anti-abortion stance. And in 2015, he voted for a resolution that would have eliminated protections for women in the District of Columbia from being fired due to their reproductive health choices. That resolution indicated at the top that it opposed the vote by the D.C. Council in favor of the Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Act, the purpose of which is to shield women from discrimination at work on the basis of the decisions they make in favor of their reproductive health. However, a the recent confirmation hearing, he insisted that the measure he voted for in D.C. would not have meant that employers could discriminate against workers based on their reproductive choices. In a back-and-forth with Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Price stated he did not think employers ought to be able to or are currently allowed to discriminate against someone based on their health status or the medications (including birth control) that they use. Continue Reading ›

Women Settle With Police, City for Gender Discrimination By Chief, Supervisors

November 28, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

Three women who reached settlements in their gender discrimination claims against a city and local police department in Iowa say that while the compensation has vindicated them, they have lost much over the last few years. They lost their jobs, of course. But says her once promising career was effectively ended. All say their lives won’t ever be the same.

One described it as the most difficult time her life. She used to wonder why women wouldn’t come forward with complaints about discrimination, why it was so under-reported. Now, sadly, she knows.

“You’re second-guessed and your told that you’re making things up,” she said. “You’re told that you’re crazy.” Continue Reading ›

Former Video Game Developer Files $3.1M Employment Lawsuit for Discrimination, Misclassification, Wrongful Termination

July 14, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

A former employee of Valve, one of the country’s largest video game developers, alleges her work environment became hostile and she was ultimately fired after she underwent a gender reassignment surgery.

She alleges she was mocked by supervisors and forced to become an independent contractor when she asked for the accommodation to move to Los Angeles during her surgery and recovery. Then, days after she raised concerns about the company’s alleged use of underage workers being employed full-time as translators, she was fired.

In its response to plaintiff’s lawsuit, A.M. v. Valve Corp., company administrators say they had no choice but to terminate plaintiff because her position was being relocated back to the company’s headquarters in Washington state. However, plaintiff insists she offered to return to Washington, but the company refused. Continue Reading ›

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.

Pao California Gender Discrimination Lawsuit Against Venture Capital Firm Goes to Trial

February 23, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

A high-profile gender discrimination and retaliation lawsuit is underway in Silicon Valley, with one of the area’s oldest venture capital firms in the center of the storm.

In her complaint, Ellen Pao claims she was subjected to five years of retaliation after she refused sexual advances from several of the senior partners at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. As a former partner of the firm, she stated she and other female workers were discriminated against when it came to matters of pay and promotions. She also said she was pressured into having an affair with a senior executive, and after she ended it, the discrimination began – and continued for the better part of five years. She is seeking $16 million in compensation for back pay, future wage losses and other damages as a result of the alleged discriminatory conduct.

The case is being closely watched as it has underscored longstanding issues of sexual inequality in the field of technology. As a result, many technological firms have started releasing diversity data regarding their workforces, and have vowed to make improvements with regard to racial and gender balances.