A great many of our cases involve discrimination and retaliation. We are heavily involved in cases of discrimination based on race, disability, gender, national origin, and ethnicity.
Gender Discrimination
The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) and Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 make it unlawful for an employer to discriminate on the basis of gender by denying employment or taking other adverse employment actions against an employee due to the employee’s gender. Gender discrimination also encompasses sexual harassment, gender identity discrimination, and sexual orientation discrimination, which are addressed in other articles on this website.
The legislative purpose of the LAD is to eradicate discrimination, which harms the State as well as individuals. Gender discrimination in the workplace can take many different forms: it can be subtle or overt, intentional or unintentional, and can occur before, during, or even after employment.
Gender discrimination in hiring: a few examples of ways employers can discriminate against applicants on the basis of gender are: choosing to advertise in magazines and newspapers and on websites which are targeted to audiences of the desired gender, and avoiding advertising in media which target those of the undesired gender; requiring applicants to have specific qualifications which are more likely to be held by those of the desired gender, but which actually have no impact on an applicant’s ability to perform the job; and judging applicants based on what they wear to an interview, while finding that all clothing options available to female candidates are inappropriate.
Of course, employees can also be discriminated against in many ways after being hired. Examples of overt discrimination include: allowing only males to apply for certain positions; paying men more than women; promoting males at a higher rate than similarly-qualified females; and refusing to consider male applicants for positions which have historically been held by women. More subtle ways in which employees can be discriminated against due to gender include: intentionally or unintentionally giving better assignments to male or female employees, because of their gender; only inviting male employees to social events outside of work; and grouping employees by gender for work and/or social events, so that female employees do not have the opportunity to speak with or be acknowledged by the most powerful individuals in the organization.
In order to be the basis for a lawsuit, gender discrimination in employment must result in an adverse employment action, such as termination, demotion, suspension, failure to hire, failure to promote, etc. If an employer takes any of these actions due to an employee’s or applicant’s gender, that is gender discrimination in employment.
It is important to note that employers can be held liable for discriminatory actions which their employees take, if the employer knew or should have known about the harassment/discrimination, and failed to take prompt and adequate remedial action.
Do you believe you have been discriminated against in employment due to your gender? It’s important to act quickly to find out if you may have a claim of gender discrimination in employment. Since every situation is different, an experienced New Jersey employment attorney can help you fully understand your rights in this area.
The attorneys at Hyderally & Associates are ready to help you. They have experience working to fight gender discrimination in employment, so they can review your situation to provide information that will help you decide if you would like to pursue a claim against an employer under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination or Title VII. Call an experienced employment attorney in New Jersey at (973) 509-8500.
This article is for informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice, and may not reasonably be relied upon as such. If you face a legal issue, you should consult a qualified attorney for independent legal advice with regard to your particular set of facts. This article may constitute attorney advertising. This article is not intended to communicate with anyone in a state or other jurisdiction where such an article may fail to comply with all laws and ethical rules of that state or jurisdiction.