Employment Law Attorney in California

Gender/Sex Discrimination

Gender/Sex discrimination at work can be blatant and come in the form of sexual misconduct, whether physical or verbal. But more often, discrimination based on your gender/sex takes less overt forms. Some examples include women being treated adversely because of their gender, a man or woman being treated differently because of their sexual orientation or gender expression, getting passed over for a promotion in favor of a less qualified male or straight employee, receiving poor performance reviews because of your gender or sexual orientation which leads to wrongful termination, unequal pay, and additional scrutiny/comments over appearance.

While these things occur most often among employers with a traditionally male workforce or in circumstances involving a woman who requires a pregnancy disability leave or who simply becomes pregnant, they are not limited to these circumstances and can occur at any job, even at the hands of a female co-worker or supervisor.

The most important thing to know about gender/sex discrimination, is that it requires an “adverse employment action” to be considered discrimination under the law. Therefore, actions like termination, demotion, failure to promote, etc. – things that adversely affect your job – need to have occurred as a result of the discriminatory treatment.

Contact our Law Firm (858) 365-9722