Gender discrimination describes any situation in which an employer uses a worker’s gender to make an employment decision about him or her. Popular ride-hailing taxi service, Uber, has reportedly been under federal investigation for gender discrimination complaints since August of 2017.
In 2017, former Uber software engineer, Susan Fowler, accused the company’s Human Resources department of being unwilling to address claims she made of sexual harassment by her former manager. New York and federal gender discrimination laws forbid sexual harassment.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is reportedly investigating Uber’s hiring practices and pay disparity. Gender discrimination can occur in any area of the employment process.
For example, gender discrimination could occur in the following circumstances:
- Interview questions — Questions about family life should be left out of interviews
- Training — Men and women should receive the same training, free of any restrictions or privileges due to gender
- Unequal pay — Federal law makes it illegal for employers to pay women less than men for the same work
- Promotion or responsibility bias — Employees should be hired based on who can perform best given the applicant’s skills and past experiences, not his or her gender
- Working conditions — Working condition requirements should be the same for all genders, without special exceptions or privileges
- Sexual harassment — Sexual harassment by co-workers or supervisors should not be tolerated inside or outside of work
- Termination — An employer may generally terminate an employment relationship at any time and for any reason, unless the reason is for the employee’s gender, religion, race, disability or inclusion in another protected class
Gender discrimination can sometimes be difficult to prove. If you feel you have been discriminated against based on your gender, try to maintain record of all incidents of this discrimination, complaints you have made about it and the company’s response to it.
It’s also important to contact an attorney about your situation as soon as possible. An individual only has 300 days from the date of alleged discrimination incident to file a charge with the EEOC against an employer for discrimination based on race, national origin, sex, religion and/or inclusion in another protected class.
