Sex/Gender Discrimination

It is both illegal as well as a civil rights violation to discriminate against a person or harass a person because of their sex and/or gender in any aspect of employment, including hiring and firing, compensation, recruitment, promotion, layoffs, job transfers, testing, fringe benefits, training, retirement plans, and other conditions of employment. Some examples of discriminatory practices in the workplace include harassing someone because of gender, firing someone because of their gender, or retaliating against an employee because he or she filed a complaint about gender harassment. If you believe you were discriminated against because of your sex and/or gender, it is recommended to contact an attorney with significant experience in sex and/or gender origin discrimination and harassment cases. There are certain skills necessary to prove a sex and/or gender discrimination case, and our attorneys’ experience and knowledge will have a direct impact on the value of your case.

Employers are not legally able to pay one gender more than another or to make assumptions based on gender. For example, an employer cannot hire a certain sex/gender because they believe that sex/gender is stronger, faster, etc. Another example of gender discrimination is when employers penalize women for taking maternity leave, or refuse to hire young women for fear they will become pregnant and leave the company (which may also result in a Pregnancy Discrimination claim). Males can also be discriminated against because of their gender. If a company decided to promote a less-qualified woman to a senior management position over a more-qualified man in order to have more women in management, that is gender discrimination as well, and the male victim can pursue his legal rights. With sex/gender discrimination, many derivative claims may arise as well. For example, if a supervisor commits sexual assault on several female employees, not only will those females have claims for sexual assault (and possibly sexual battery), but they also may bring forth claims of sex/gender discrimination, as it was very likely due to their sex/gender that they were targeted for the sexual assault. 

It is important to note that the harassment does not have to be done by an employer or by a supervisor. If a co-worker, client or customer engages in the harassment, that can also constitute sex and/or gender discrimination and harassment, especially if the employer was aware of the offensive conduct. 

Some examples of sex and/or gender discrimination and sex and/or gender harassment may include:

• Teasing the employee about their sex and/or gender
• Making insensitive stereotypes based on sex and/or gender
• Discriminating against or harassing an employee based on physical traits or clothing that is typically associated with a sex and/or gender
• Laying off certain employees before other employees simply due to their sex and/or gender
• Denying the employee opportunities because of their sex and/or gender
• Overly monitoring and scrutinizing the employee
• Unfairly disciplining the employee
• Denying the employee benefits
• Refusing to rehire the employee if they were fired

In California, the principal statute governing employment discrimination is the Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) (Govt C §§12900–12996). This statute protects the right of all persons to seek, obtain, and hold employment without discrimination based on race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age (at least 40), military and veteran status, or pregnancy. (Govt C §§12940(a), 12941, 12945(a)). This statute does not only protect paid employees but also extends to individuals who are unpaid interns and volunteers. (Govt C §12940(j)).

If you believe you have been treated differently because of your sex and/or gender, give us a call at 855-IM-FIRED for a free case evaluation. Our attorneys have substantial experience with these types of cases representing individuals who have been discriminated against in the past or who are currently experiencing discrimination because of their sex and/or gender.

There are no up-front costs and you do not pay any attorneys’ fees unless we get a recovery in the case.

Contact our Los Angeles California employment attorneys and lawyers now for all of your employee rights’ needs!