Gender discrimination attorney Orange County

Playing Field Becoming Less Level for Women Coaches

June 7, 2018 | by Nassiri Law

In what unfortunately is an unsurprising trend, the percentage of female coaches for NCAA sports teams is decreasing, even for women’s teams. According to a report from KCUR, women are actually losing ground over their male counterparts in coaching positions, despite more equal rights awareness and protections than ever.

To illustrate the trend, 20 percent of softball coaches were men in 1982 at the time of the first Women’s College World Series. The eight teams who played in the championships that year were all coached by women. Today, Division I softball programs have expanded greatly, and so has the percentage of men coaching those teams, up to 35 percent.

It’s not just softball that’s affected. In 1972 more than 90 percent of all collegiate teams were coached by women. Now it’s half, according to NCAA Champion Magazine. The KCUR report showed that of Division I volleyball teams, a championship title victor has never been coached by a woman, and in women’s basketball only four of the Sweet 16 teams last year were coached by women. This isn’t even to address the obvious lack of women coaching men’s teams. Women’s sports in general have increased in respect and popularity, making coaching opportunities more appealing to men, who previously were less interested in the roles. Continue Reading ›

Salk Institute at Center of Gender Discrimination Accusations

January 8, 2018 | by Nassiri Law

This past year has proven that even highly respected institutions are not immune from perpetuating gender discrimination in the workplace.

This particular conflict began with three lawsuits in the Superior Court of California County of San Diego separately filed last summer by female professors at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California. Plaintiffs describe alleged systemic discrimination against women in the areas of pay, job promotions and access to opportunities.

These lawsuits have led to a professor at the institute being put on temporary leave of his job as editor of the renowned Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal as of Jan. 1. He was asked to step aside by the NAS Council.

The professor was named in one of the lawsuits (Lunblad v. Salk Institute for Biological Studies) as someone at Salk who made it challenging for women to succeed. For his part, he has denied culpability and says the lawsuits have nothing to do with his work at the journal, according to an article from The San Diego Union Tribune. Continue Reading ›

Sexual Harassment Training Under Scrutiny by California Investigator

May 5, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

Amid growing allegations of widespread sexual harassment at the University of California Berkely, California’s top sexual harassment investigator is initiating a comprehensive review of training policies throughout the state.

The California Department of Fair Housing, responsible for enforcing the state’s civil rights laws, has created a task force that will specifically focus the effectiveness of current sexual harassment awareness training. The effort is being overseen by the department’s director, Kevin Kish.

The announcement came just two months after a number of allegations of misconduct by faculty arose at the university, which became national news and sparked a conversation about how we handle gender discrimination at universities and colleges. Continue Reading ›