The law states under Title VII that to fail or refuse to hire or fire anyone, or to discriminate anyone with respect to compensation, terms, or right to employment because of that person's sex (gender) is unlawful for an employer.
The Equal Pay Act also states that no employer shall discriminate between two employees on the basis of gender by paying wages at a rate less than the opposite sex for equal work on an equal job.
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act also states that discriminating on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or other related medical conditions is, in fact, considered gender discrimination, and is equally unlawful.
Closely related to the issue of pregnancy discrimination is protection of employees who take time off work to have a baby or to adopt.
The Family and Medical Leave Act guarantees employees (who have been on the job for at least a year) up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year for a birth, adoption, or care of sick children, spouses, or parents, and the same or an equivalent job upon their return. This applies to employers with 50 or more employees, and the employee must give the employer at least 30 days notice when practical (such as for a birth).
Research.
We decided to do our research on the company Mity-Lite Inc. The company is located in Orem and employs 250 people. This research has given us an insight to the company in regards to gender discrimination. On the surface there is no apparent discrimination against women at Mity-Lite Inc. We decided to focus in on the sales/marketing department which two of the members of the team work on. There are seven managers in the department and two of the managers are women for a percentage of 28.5%. There are 52 total employees in the department. There are 13 total women in the department for a percentage of 25% who are women. .
Relevant Cases.
Harper v. Blockbuster Entertainment Corporation- Four males formerly employed by Blockbuster filed suit against Blockbuster claiming that their Title VII rights were violated when they were subjected to a policy requiring male employees to wear short hair while allowing females to continue to wear long hair.
