California gender discrimination lawyer

California Gender Discrimination Lawsuit at Tech Firm Alleges Systematic Disparate Wages

January 2, 2019 | by Nassiri Law

Women who work in tech are known to be at higher risk of gender disparity. Interestingly, in the early days of electronic computing, many of these jobs were strongly associated with women (as it was considered an unimportant, deskilled work). However, once it became clear that computers would be indispensable in almost every corner of industry and government, the female programmers who once held all the requisite skills suddenly were pushed out, boxed out of their jobs, denied promotions and replaced by men (especially when the women in question were married or had children).

In Silicon Valley, our California employment attorneys know the claims of gender discrimination have been well-documented. While companies insist they are doing their best to address these problems, the reality is progress has been slow and uneven.

Recently, another such gender discrimination lawsuit, was filed against tech giant Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, accused of systematic pay disparity that resulted in women consistently being paid less than their male counterparts for the same work – even when they had more experience or more seniority at the firm than their male counterparts. In one case, plaintiff said she was asked to step into the role of a recently-deceased supervisor, for which she was promised a promotion and a raise. Yet it wasn’t until another co-worker in a different department stumbled across financial documents with the firm that she – and others – learned she received far less pay (and no change in title) for taking over her predecessor’s responsibilities. Per The Mercury News, plaintiffs are seeking class action status. Continue Reading ›

New Employment Law Bolsters Equal Pay for Equal Work, Targets Gender Discrimination

March 24, 2018 | by Nassiri Law

Gender equality in the workplace has been a long and hard-fought struggle, and it’s not over yet. Recently, a pay equity bill passed in Washington state that will make it more clear what constitutes wage and gender discrimination, ultimately fortifying employee rights.

HB 1506 updates a 75-year-old wage law making it a misdemeanor to discriminate based on gender, according to a report from KING 5 News. This measure will not only make it illegal to discriminate based on gender, but levelthe playing field for all employees. This is achieved in two substantial ways.

First, the measure defines what it means for “similarly employed” workers to receive equal compensation. As our employment attorneys can explain, many companies skirt the issue of “equal pay for equal work” by giving employees different titles, even though the tasks and work load are similar. In the past, employers could argue that because the jobs technically weren’t the same, wage comparisons were not relevant. By moving the goalpost to include “similarly employed” workers as deserving equal pay, Washington has removed this loophole and made sure that those with similar responsibilities and skills remain on a level playing field. Continue Reading ›

Women Face Employment Consequences for Reproductive Health Choices

February 5, 2017 | by Nassiri Law

During a recent Senate confirmation hearing to the post of Health and Human Services Secretary, Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), stated he did not believe companies were allowed to terminate women from their jobs for their reproductive choices. Specifically, he indicated that the right to use birth control was not something that affected women’s employment status.

In fact, as our gender discrimination attorneys know, this is far from true.

Price is a conservative politician, and as such, he has been vocal and active in his anti-abortion stance. And in 2015, he voted for a resolution that would have eliminated protections for women in the District of Columbia from being fired due to their reproductive health choices. That resolution indicated at the top that it opposed the vote by the D.C. Council in favor of the Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Act, the purpose of which is to shield women from discrimination at work on the basis of the decisions they make in favor of their reproductive health. However, a the recent confirmation hearing, he insisted that the measure he voted for in D.C. would not have meant that employers could discriminate against workers based on their reproductive choices. In a back-and-forth with Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Price stated he did not think employers ought to be able to or are currently allowed to discriminate against someone based on their health status or the medications (including birth control) that they use. Continue Reading ›

Yahoo Gender Discrimination Claim Filed by Male Employee

February 9, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

Almost all gender discrimination lawsuits in California are filed by women. It’s well-established that women as a whole are offered less prestigious jobs, are paid less, promoted less and are targeted more frequently for sexual harassment.

So is it ever valid for a male employee to file a gender discrimination claim? Before you roll your eyes at the notion, consider first of all that discrimination against a man simply because of their gender is just as illegal as if the roles are reversed. Now consider the case recently filed in Federal District Court in San Jose against Yahoo.

The former Yahoo manager lost his job after the company came under the direction of female chief executive Marissa Mayer. In his complaint, he alleges the quarterly performance review favored by Mayer is discriminatory against men. The process requires superiors to rank every worker on a scale of 1 to 5. Those ratings were integral in the firing of hundreds of workers since Mayer took over in 2012. Workers with the lowest of those rankings were routinely trimmed from the roles. Continue Reading ›