» Can My Job Only Fire Women When Downsizing? I Need A Gender Discrimination Lawyer!
Can My Job Only Fire Women When Downsizing? I Need A Gender Discrimination Lawyer!
On Behalf of Brian Spitz | Dec 8, 2014 | Employment Discrimination, Gender Discrimination |
Best Ohio Gender Discrimination Attorney Answer: What do I do if I've been passed up for a promotion because of my gender? Can my employer use budget cuts as an excuse to fire me because I'm a woman? Can I sue if my employer fires me in a downsizing but keeps less qualified men?
In 1999 the movie, "Office Space" opened in theaters and although it was not a huge box office success, the film is considered by many to be a cult classic. Watch the trailer for the movie here. A large part of the movie concerns a fictitious company, Initech, and how the employees of the company react to the company's decision to downsize.
The company hires two consultants referred to as, "the Bobs," to help sort through Initech employees and offer opinions as to who could be laid off. In one of the movie's classic scenes, the Bobs decide to lay off an employee whose last name is difficult to pronounce. The character's name is Samir Nagheenanajar, and one of "the Bobs" delivers the line, "Samir Nah…Nah…Not gonna work here anymore."
Which brings us to today's topic: What happens when an employer needs to downsize but discriminates against the employees when making the final call?
In the case of Deanna McClurg, a former female employee of Missouri's Department of Transportation, the answer is, a jury award for $850,000. Deanna worked with the Department for close to thirty years when her employer decided to reduce the workforce from 45 employees down to 20. Even though Deanna had spent over half of her employment working as a supervisor of a facility and running a crew of employees, she was not selected by her employer to continue working after the downsizing. The problem with this scenario is not the Department had to face budget cuts or reduce the workforce, the problem is that the Department opted to keep at least five younger male employees instead of Deanna. These five younger male employees had less seniority than Deanna and also each had a disciplinary or safety violation in their personnel files stemming from their employment at the department.
<img " title="Best Ohio Gender Discrimination Attorney Answer: What do I do if I've been passed up for a promotion because of my gender? Can my employer use budget cuts as an excuse to fire me because I'm a woman? Can I sue if my employer fires me in a downsizing but keeps less qualified men?" src="/wp-content/uploads/sites/1603539/2020/05/Cleveland-002.jpg" alt="Do I have a claim for gender discrimination? I want to sue my company for gender inequality at work? I was fired because I am a woman. My boss favors men. My supervisor is sexist." width="300″ height="123″ />Although the attorneys for the department attempted to argue that just because Deanna had more years of service, does not mean that she was a superior employee, however it appears that the jury just didn't buy this argument. It took the jury only two hours to deliberate and return the sizable award for Deanna. The award included compensation for Deanna's personal financial loss and also a punitive damage award intended as a punishment for the Department's unlawful conduct.
Even though Deanna worked and lived in Missouri, her situation is still applicable to employees in Ohio. As we've blogged about before, Federal laws prohibit gender discrimination, namely, the provisions in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. These laws are designed to prohibit discrimination on the basis of several different classifications, including sex. Similarly, Ohio Revised Code § 4112.02(A) makes it an unlawful discriminatory practice for any employer to pay male and female employees disparately or to "discharge without just cause, to refuse to hire, or otherwise to discriminate against that person with respect to hire, tenure, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, or any matter directly or indirectly related to employment" based on gender.
If it appears that your employer intends to lay you off during downsizing, and you believe that your gender may have been a factor in the decision, the best think you can probably do is contact an attorney before or immediately after you've been told that you are Nah…Nah…Not gonna work there anymore.
If you feel that you are being discriminated based on your gender or sex, then call the right attorney. It is never appropriate to discriminate against female employees. Discrimination against women includes being harassed, fired, wrongfully terminated, discriminated against, demoted, wrongfully disciplined, denied a promotion, and denied wages or not receiving equal pay. When you call the right attorney to schedule a free and confidential consultation at 866-797-6040, you will meet with an attorney from Spitz, The Employee's Law Firm to discuss wrongful discrimination claims and help you determine the best way to pursue your gender/sex discrimination claims.
The materials available at the top of this page and on this employment law website are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. Your best option is to contact an Ohio attorney to obtain advice with respect to gender discrimination questions or any particular employment law issue. Use and access to this employment law website or any of the links contained within the site do not create an attorney-client relationship. The legal opinions expressed at or through this site are the opinions of the individual lawyer and may not reflect the opinions of Spitz, The Employee's Law Firm, Brian Spitz, or any individual attorney.