1. Chapter 8 Gender Discrimination
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2012 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

2. Learning Objectives
Recite Title VII and other laws relating to gender discrimination
Understand the background of gender discrimination and how we know it still exists
List the different ways in which gender discrimination is manifested in the workplace
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3. Learning Objectives
Analyze a fact situation and determine if there are gender issues that may result in employer liability
Define fetal protection policies, gender-plus discrimination, workplace lactation issues, and gender-based logistical concerns
Differentiate between legal and illegal grooming policies
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4. Learning Objectives
List common gender realities at odds with common bases for illegal workplace determinations
Distinguish between equal pay and comparable worth and discuss proposed legislation
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5. Does it Really Exist? Recognizing gender discrimination
Gender discrimination covers both males and females
The vast majority of EEOC gender claims are filed by women
The Merrill Lynch message
“Contraceptive equity”
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6. Does it Really Exist?
In 2007 EEOC issued “family responsibility discrimination” (FRD)
Women are more likely to suffer adverse employment actions taken against them due to their care giving responsibilities
Focus of EEOC claims
Shift from hiring discrimination to on-the-job issues
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7. Does it Really Exist? Statistical evidence of gender disparity
Nearly half the workforce is female – Females represent two-thirds of all poor adults
Only 15 percent of women work in jobs typically held by men
A 2011 White House Commission on Women and Girls report indicated that women earn 75 percent as much as men at all level of educational attainment
The gender-based wage gap is present in every profession
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8. Does it Really Exist?
In Fortune 1000 industrial and Fortune 500 service firms, 97 percent of top managers are white males
Gender was not originally part of the Civil Rights Act
By law it is the person’s ability that must be the basis for workplace decisions
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9. Gender Stereotypes
Women are better suited to repetitive, fine motor skill tasks
Women are too unstable to handle jobs with a great deal of responsibility or high pressure.
Men make better employees because they are more aggressive
Men do not do well at jobs requiring nurturing skills, such as day care, nursing, elder care, and the like
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10. Gender Stereotypes
When women marry they will get pregnant and leave their jobs
When women are criticized at work, they will become angry or cry
A married woman’s income is only extra family income
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11. Gender Stereotypes
A woman who changes jobs is being disloyal and unstable
A woman cannot have a job that requires her to have lunch or dinner meetings with men
Women cannot have jobs that require travel or a good deal of time away from home
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12. Gender Discrimination in General
Advertising
Application questions
Interview questions
Different hours or job positions
Discipline
Training
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13. Gender Discrimination in General
Seniority systems
Different wages and benefits
Different terms or conditions of employment
Termination
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14. Recognizing Gender Discrimination
Does the policy exclude members of a particular gender from the workplace or some workplace benefit?
Dothard v. Rawlinson
Do height and weight requirements statistically exclude certain groups?
Do these requirements directly correlate to ability to do the job?
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15. “Gender-Plus” Discrimination
“Gender-plus” discrimination: Employment discrimination based on gender and some other factor such as marital status or children
Males are not subject to the same limitations
Phillips v. Martin Marietta Corp.
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16. Gender Stereotyping
Gender stereotypes: The assumption that most or all members of a particular gender must act a certain way
Workplace decisions based on:
Ideas of how a particular gender should act or dress
What roles they should perform
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17. Gender Stereotyping Prohibited by Title VII
Frequently leads to actions that form the basis of unnecessary liability for the employer
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18. Grooming Codes
Title VII does not prohibit an employer from using gender as a basis for reasonable grooming codes
Use reasonable standards of what is generally thought to be male- or female-appropriate attire in a business setting
Perceptions of the employee in the workplace
Gender-based grooming policies
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19. Customer or Employee Preferences
Customer preference is not a legitimate and protected reason to treat otherwise-qualified employees different based on gender
The Hooters situation
Civil rights Act of 1991
Title VII applies to U.S. citizens employed by American-owned or controlled companies doing business outside the United States
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20. Logistical Considerations
Breast-feeding for working mothers
Employers may not forgo hiring those of a certain gender because of logistical issues unless it involves an unreasonable financial burden
Examples
Female sports reporters
Female firefighters
Bathroom facilities
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21. Equal Pay and Comparable Worth
Despite the Equal Pay Act, women earn on average 77 cents for every dollar earned by men.
Women’s salaries may be equal by the year 2050
The EPA overlaps with Title VII’s general prohibition against discrimination in employment on the basis of gender.
EPA is concerned with the content of the job
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22. Equal Pay and Comparable Worth
Title VII’s Bennett Amendment
Exceptions permitted by EPA would be recognized under Title VII
Comparable worth: A Title VII action for pay discrimination based on gender
Jobs held mostly by women are compared with comparable jobs held mostly by men
In regard to pay to determine if there is gender discrimination
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23. Equal Pay and Comparable Worth
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
Passed in January 2009
Fair Pay Act
Paycheck Fairness Act
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24. Gender as a BFOQ
Title VII permits gender to be used as a bona fide occupational qualification under certain limited circumstances
The EEOC guidelines for gender as a BFOQ are very strict
BFOQ as a defense generally found inapplicable
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25. Pregnancy Discrimination
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act
Prohibits discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions
Amended Title VII’s definitions to include pregnancy
EEOC report
182 percent increase in the filing of pregnancy discrimination charges over the past 10 years
Pregnancy  inability to perform
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26. Fetal Protection Policies
Fetal protection policies: Policies an employer institutes to protect the fetus or the reproductive capacity of employees
Limit or prohibit employees from performing certain jobs or working in certain areas
Many times these policies only exclude females
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27. Management Tips
Send the message that gender bias will not be tolerated
Back up such message with appropriate enforcement
Take employee claims seriously
Promptly and thoroughly investigate all complaints
Make sure the “punishment fits the crime.”
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28. Management Tips
Conduct periodic training to remind employees about the anti-bias policy
Conduct periodic audits
Review workplace policies
Actions taken to address gender issues need not make the workplace stilted or formal
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