Los Angeles Employment Attorney Blog

A blasting radio a few feet away from reach does the trick. She lugs her way out of bed to begin the hustle. As usual, she awakes tired. The children are already up but playing with toys with total disregard of the time left to get ready. She politely and with kindness, urges the children to get dressed, eat breakfast, and get off to school.

There isn't enough time to just devote herself to helping the children; she has to simultaneously get herself ready for work. Years of going to college at night and raising a family during the day has taken its toll. In predictable time, she is off to work. It is a good job - one she is qualified for and does well.

Yes, she makes less than the man she sits next to, but they do the same job. Her questioning about this disparity is met with jokes or, worse, disdain for thinking she should earn the same as a man who has to provide for his family. Being a single mom still is not the same as a man who has to provide for his family.

Why do we have equal pay for equal work laws? Simple - without the laws it would be worse than it is. Gender discrimination is real and it is still happening. Women, like men, need to work to take care of their families. And, it is only right that employees are paid fairly without regard to gender.

If you have questions about equal pay for equal work or gender discrimination, please feel free to contact Abel Law Offices to schedule a confidential consultation.

One might think gender discrimination is immediately obvious. But that is not always the case. Gender discrimination is the result of deep seeded held beliefs. And, these beliefs form a part of people's personalities which, in turn, make up the consciousness of a nation. These beliefs are embedded in the workplace. We all know discrimination is wrong. At least, we should know that. If that is true, and I submit to you that it is, then why do we need laws prohibiting gender discrimination?

Really, if you think about it, in the 21st century, gender discrimination shouldn't be happening in the United States of America. We are an informed people. We have free press, radio, television, the internet, and don't forget bookstores. We live in the information age. The people of the United States, as a whole, are taught to do right, to be fair. The exceptions to this are aberrations not even worthy of discussion. So, to answer the question "why do we need laws prohibiting gender discrimination?", we need laws prohibiting gender discrimination because gender discrimination is an ugly reality.

At the federal level we have the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to investigate claims of discrimination including gender discrimination. California has the Department of Fair Employment and Housing which functions in a similar manner and with the same purpose - to investigate discrimination; and, if it can be established to be occurring, work to remedy it.

Women are not being given a fair shake in our country's workplace. Recently, I received an email from California's U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer which noted that only 3% of America's CEOs are women. She, rightfully, is urging support for a woman jurist to replace Justice Souter when he retires from the U.S. Supreme Court. It makes sense that a woman be considered. Women make up 51% of our population; and, yet, of nine justices on the Supreme Court, there is only one woman.

There was a time, when we had two female justices; but there has never been a time in our nation's history when half of the Supreme Court justices were women. Looks like subtle but undeniable gender discrimination to me. Certainly, the ranks of attorneys are being filled with wonderfully talented, educated, and competent women. It is wrong that half our population does not have its rightful representation in our workforce, government, and judicial system.

Gender discrimination may be unintentional or intentional. But, for those who are suffering discrimination, the feeling is the same. It hurts when one is denied equal opportunity despite being qualified for a position. And, it hurts to be paid less than one's counter-part because of discrimination.

Gender discrimination is recognized by opening one's eye and thinking about it. If it is happening in your company, take steps to remedy it. Education is always a positive step forward. Employers should have educational seminars on gender discrimination as well as all types of unlawful discrimination in the workplace.

The remedy for gender discrimination is to have the guts to fix it. If you do remedy unlawful gender discrimination, you will improve your company immeasurably. Eliminating gender discrimination in the workplace is an investment with guaranteed quality return. Try it, you'll see the difference.

Almost 50 years ago, President John F. Kennedy signed groundbreaking legislation known as the Equal Pay Act (EPA) into law. The EPA prohibits unequal pay to women and men who do the same job. But, today, women still get paid less than men for doing the same job, National Women's Law Center. Now there is new legislation pending which passed the U.S. House of Representatives on January 9, 2009 known as H.R. 12: Paycheck Fairness Act and is going on to the Senate.

HR 12: Paycheck Fairness Act would put teeth into the EPA. It would add compensatory and punitive damages and allow class action lawsuits, which is, apparently, why the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has fought against the bill. (The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the largest business federation in the world which represents more than 3 million businesses). The concern is frivolous lawsuits.

That is total hogwash, baloney, scare tactics. No employer needs to worry about punitive damages if the employer complies with the law. Generally, for punitive damages, the plaintiff has to show that an employer acted in conscious disregard of the plaintiff's rights,  with coercion or fraud. Punitive damages and class action lawsuits should help keep employers in-line and encourage them to pay equal pay to women and men. People who are treated fairly aren't after their employer to sue. From my 26 years of employment law practice in Los Angeles, California, it is the abused employee, the employee who has been or is being unlawfully treated, not the happy, well treated employee that wants to sue.

Shame on you U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Compensatory damages, punitive damages, and class actions are just what we need to get equal pay for equal work.  The law hasn't worked without it. Women workers are vital and dynamic contributors to the U.S. workforce. If they aren't paid fairly, they should have the right to powerful legal redress. I vote for the Paycheck Fairness Act. Got carried away there for a moment, my vote doesn't count. I forgot. It isn't necessarily about fairness, it is about politics.

The Abel Law Office Offices, Los Angeles employment law attorneys, counsel employees and employers on equal pay for women and gender discrimination.

The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) tracks charges of employment discrimination. Recently, the EEOC released charge statistics reflecting the individual charge filings for the time period covering 1997 through 2008. Well, with the laws in place and government enforcement of violations of the law, wouldn't you think there would be less discrimination? Despite the laws and the on-going efforts to enforce the law by EEOC, the number of charges in all categories have increased.

Individual employment discrimination charges increased almost 20% from 2007 to 2008. In 2007 there were 82,792 discrimination charges compared to 95,402 in 2008. Of the 9 categories of discrimination tracked, each and every category reflected an increase of filings from 2007 to 2008. For example, race discrimination filings increase from 30,510 race discrimination charges in 2007 compared to 33,937 in 2008. And there was almost a 20% increase in sex discrimination charges from 2007 to 2008. There were 11,000 more individual filings in 2008 than there were in 2007 (approximately a 20% increase) alleging retaliation for engaging in protected activities or some other type of retaliation.

Having laws isn't enough. Then, what is the solution? We need to educate employers, supervisors, and employees on the importance of diversity in the workplace and providing a discrimination free work environment. We need to train our employers, supervisors, and employees on effective and efficient methods to redress employee grievances and minimize discrimination in the workplace. Sexual harassment training is already a mandate, but it obviously that is not enough.

Employers could save tens of thousands of dollars or even millions of dollars by implementing effective training and educational programs to ensure their employees know, understand, and implement the laws mandating discrimination free workplaces. For example, a Phoenix, Arizona company, Wheeler Construction, agreed to settle claims by two individuals who alleged both had been the victims of natinoal origin harassment and then had been retaliated against for complainting about about the national origin harassment. Wheeler Construction will pay $325,000.00 to settle the EEOC lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.  Chester V. Bailey, the director of the Phoenix EEOC office said "These victims attempted to speak out and address their unlawful treatment, and their comlaints were ignored."

Employers should spend more resources on preventing and promptly addressing employee greivances alleging discrimination in the workplace instead of marshaling assets to fight claims. A discrimination free workplace means a more productive workforce and high morale. It's time to get smart.  Educate against hate.

Bruce Abel, Attorney-At-Law, is a 26 year veteran handling employment discrimination cases for employers and employees. Mr. Abel has offices in Los Angeles, Orange, and Ventura Counties. He is available to consult with businesses on effective training methods and resolution protocols regarding employment discrimination laws.

In 2007 the United States Supreme Court decided Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company 550 U.S. 618 (2007). Lilly Ledbetter sued Goodyear because she had been paid less then men doing the same job. The Court held that an employee could not sue an employer because she had not received equal pay if the first unlawful act of unequal pay occurred more than 180 days before a charge of discrimination had been filed. Over the course of her working career, Lilly Ledbetter had been paid $200,000.00 less than men doing the same job.

Although Lilly Ledbetter did not prevail in her lawsuit, her name and the new law named after her are beacons of hope.The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act signed by President Obama on January 29, 2009, nullified the U.S. Supreme Court's holding in the Ledbetter case.  Now, a person has 180 days to file a charge of discrimination after each and every paycheck in which the person is paid less for the same work.

Finally, an elected official keeps an important campaign promise. Equal pay for equal work. Thank you Lilly Ledbetter and thank you President Obama.