Los Angeles Employment Attorney Blog

Despite earning a Ph.D. in Engineering from a prestigious U.S. University and a history of extremely competent work product, Shiri could not get a promotion. Her male counter-parts, with less education and experience, got all the breaks and promotions. Funny thing though, whenever they ran into a serious problem and couldn't solve it, she was the go-to person. Yes, she could work-out complicated and sophisticated problems, but the credit went to those who came to her for help. She would train other engineers who would then get promoted and get interesting assignments.

Shiri's requests for assignments were seen as a nuisance and ignored. In fact, outside of the small circle of those who turned to her for help, the rest of the organization thought she didn't pull her weight because she was never given credit for what she did. And, of course, she wasn't paid as much as her male co-workers. It was against company policy, but company policy was just some words on paper. Middle management with a little power, little judgment, and too much "this is a man's world" attitude, perpetually held Shiri down. Over a period of years, Shiri's requests for help were no more effective than echoes in a wasteland.

Shiri sat at her desk dazed. No tears anymore - they dried up after years of sobbing. Her hands uncontrollably shook, her head pounded, but she didn't move from her desk paralyzed by another unfair denial of promotion. Her desk seemed more like a prison than a place of freedom to be a problem-solver, be productive, and accomplish useful tasks for her employer. Thoughts raced through her mind "Why did I study engineering?", "Why didn't I leave years ago?" "What did I do wrong?"; "I can't believe this is happening."

Gender discrimination can profoundly degrade the victim's sense of well-being and self-esteem. This travesty is exacerbated by an unresponsive employer. In some cases, out of desperation, the victim of gender discrimination seeks legal counsel. But by then so much suffering, humiliation, and damage has occurred, none of which should have occurred if the employer had ensured a discrimination free workplace. This is where Human Resources Department came make a critical difference and impact on employee morale and minimize gender discrimination.

The challenge faced by Human Resource Departments is how to effective teach anti-discrimination. Of course, the law regarding anti-discrimination must be taught; however, that is merely the first step. Effective inculcation of anti-discrimination and the harm that discrimination causes must be done creatively and dramatically with believable or, better yet, actual cases of gender discrimination. By educating employees, supervisors, and all levels of management the serious and often lasting ramifications of gender discrimination, the employer has the best chance of complying with the law and alleviating gender discrimination.

Try presenting real life examples of gender discrimination including having prior victims of gender discrimination tell their story. This can make an indelible impression to help people be self motivated to treat woman and men with the same respect and dignity necessary to have a healthy workplace environment as well as reward employees who are responsible and productive, rather than giving all the perks to a employee based on gender.

In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln, as Commander and Chief of the Army and Navy, under Article II, section 2 of the U.S. Constitution issued two executive orders freeing slaves in the Confederate States. These executive orders are collectively referred to as the Emancipation Proclamation. On December 6, 1865, the U.S. added the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which abolished slavery.

In 1887 the U.S. added another amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the 15th amendment, which provides that suffrage can no longer be restricted by race. Then in 1964 the Civil Rights Act was passed guaranteeing civil rights and prohibiting racial discrimination. Most states have similar laws and expressed stated public policy that racial discrimination is unlawful.

Then why do we still have racial discrimination? People have fears and prejudices instilled at early ages while others develop those fears and prejudices as they move through life. But, it is a sad reality that racial discrimination exists and the victims of racial discrimination suffer severe emotional distress and economic disaster. The U.S. can do better. The U.S. needs to do better. Laws are not enough. We need a national push for education against hatred and racial prejudice. We need educational campaigns that tell the real story of those who fall victim to hatred and prejudice.

Don't think that racial discrimination is just happening in the dark corners of business. It isn't. Employers and companies engage in subtle, systematic racial discrimination. Sophisticated methods are devised to get around public policy and the common good which inevitably adversely target racial minorities. Recently the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals for the United States reversed a U.S. District Court ruling that would, in theory, have allowed an insurance company to use secret formulas to determine the cost of insurance which coincidentally and predictably resulted in higher premiums for racial minorities - African-Americans in particular than for Caucasians.

On May 12, 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit handed down it decision in Ojo v. Farmers Group, Inc. et al which involved an African-American insured who filed a class action against Farmers and others to remedy alleged racial discrimination in assessing higher premiums for homeowner's property and casualty insurance for African-Americans than the premiums that are charged to Caucasians. The United States District Court for the Central District of California dismissed the claim reasoning that the claim was reverse-pre-empted by McCarran-Ferguson Act.

Briefly, MacCarran-Ferguson Act is a federal law that establishes inverse preemption prohibiting a federal law of general applicability from pre-empting a state regulating the insurance business. The District Court adopted Farmers' argument that although their secret scoring and protocol may adversely impact African-Americans who are not necessarily higher risks to be charged more than Caucasians, it did not violate any state law regulating the insurance business.

The 9th Circuit decision discusses the laws in detail. But for purposes of understanding an ugly fact of present day life, it is sufficient to know that Farmers argued that it should be allowed to use its secret, propriety scoring system that resulted in higher premiums for African-American than it charged Caucasians. The 9th Circuit explained that allowing a company to use credit scoring that resulted in disparate discrimination against minorities was contrary to law and well established public policy prohibiting racial discrimination.

While the case has not been tried and the facts are yet to be disclosed, it is astounding that a company would advance theories that result in higher premiums for racial minorities than are charged Caucasians. And, it is even more astounding that a federal district court could selectively reason certain laws to allow the disparate racial discrimination. Fortunately, the 9th Circuit Court reversed the Central District Court's ruling and thereby advanced the progress of prohibiting discrimination by employers and companies.

Wake up America! Our workforce, our businesses, and our entrepreneurial success are hindered by racial discrimination.

Why Is It That The Most Important Jobs Pay So Little?

The United States is enamored with movie stars, models, athletes, musical talents, and entertainers. Those who are successful earn tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars to act, walk and smile, hit or throw a ball or tell a joke. I guess it is part of our capitalistic society and free enterprise, which I love; however, it does seem strange that the most important jobs to a country are paid so little in comparison.

For example, our men and women in uniform train to defend our country if there is a war. In war, they stand in harm's way. Some give their lives in service of their nation. Others suffer catastrophic injuries that impact the quality of life for life. Our nation enjoys its freedom because of the blood that has been spilt on battle fields. Freedom is not free.

There is no excuse for our men and women in uniform to struggle in any way financially. Their pay should out-strip any civilian job. No military family should be on food stamps. No military family should have anything less than the best medical care; and that includes returning veterans. Attention is being paid these problems, but it goes back to the saying from the movie Jerry Maguire, "Show Me The Money."

Let's give a stimulus package to our men and women who are performing the most important jobs. We have given hundreds of billions of dollars to bailout failed companies and yet we have only given our troops a 3.9% pay increase according to the National Defense Authorization Act which became effective January 2009. Our priorities are way out-of-whack. It is time for the people of our nation to not only recognize the sacrifices of those in our country's uniforms, but to also pay them the top wages they deserve.

Let's hear it America. Support major pay raises for our men and women in uniform. Write to your elected representatives and ask what can be done to make sure our men and women are paid what they really deserve. One private on the front lines of battle is worth more than a thousand basketball players, don't you think?