Sexual Discrimination?
Woman Doesn’t Have To Do Work Like The Rest Of Us
Question: I work for a large American car rental company at a local branch. Part of the job description for management trainee’s, drivers, and everyone else is they may have to wash and vacuum a car when needed. Our office employs a young lady who worked at her job until her 8th month of pregnancy, and of course everyone at the office didn’t ask her to wash cars because of her condition. She took a leave of absence for a few months to give birth to the child and recover. Now she is back and she refuses to wash and vacuum cars because she is a woman. Women at other branches wash and vacuum cars but our store manager says it’s “not right” to ask a woman to wash a car (even if it is in her job description). Now everyone else in the office has to wash cars for her and her customers as needed; drop what your doing and quick, wash this car for me. One male coworker has quit over this issue and my job is harder now although the boss says i need to have a team player attitude. We also live in a “right to work” state…which basically means you can be fired for any reason at any time. I don’t have an issue with the woman personally but i do have an issue with the boss who makes up the rules to fit his needs at the time. Is he breaking the law? How would i bring a sexual discrimination suit against the company? I am apprehensive of retaliation, i need a job and i ‘d hate to get fired. How would they settle? Thank you in advance.
Answer: The short answer is, yes, it’s sex-based discrimination. The laws must be applied equally. If you treat a person ANY differently – favorably or unfavorably – in any aspect of employment or pre-employment, solely based on their gender, it’s discrimination. You can read what the EEOC says about sex-based discrimination.
Click here to document problems at work. It will also explain how to report it. BTW, retaliation for reporting it is also illegal.
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One Response to Sexual Discrimination?
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I am a waitress for a non-corporate chinese restaurant in Anderson, South Caroina. I am currently 5 1/2 months pregnant. I complete all of my job duties properly and never complain about any physical labor. My boss recentley has been cutting my hours down to 3 shifts per week. I usually work at least five. She refuses to be confronted when I try to talk to her about it and will walk away from me and go to her office. Can I report her for discriminating against me because I am pregnant? I’m an excellent worker and have no complaints, so there appears to be no other reason for my hours to be cut.