B. Sex Discrimination

Sex discrimination, also called gender discrimination, is legislated by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as well as the revised Civil Rights Act of 1991. Gender discrimination covers a variety of subjects and is protected by many laws, including the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which makes it illegal to discriminate against women concerning salary or wages, and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions and health benefits. For more information on these subjects, please consult Chapter Four.

You may be the victim of sex discrimination when you:

• are receiving disparate treatment (i.e., being treated differently from other employees);
• are being denied employment opportunities primarily because you are a woman; or
• the effect of a company policy or rule has a disproportionally negative effect on women in your company, causing an adverse impact.

The various acts described in the first page of this chapter identify common areas of sex discrimination. It is also illegal for companies to use advertising that denies women a chance to apply for a job or screening procedures that eliminate female applicants because the requirements are too demanding (i.e., requiring a college degree for secretarial work.). No longer can women not be considered for physical jobs, nor is it lawful for employers to refuse jobs to women because they think that their turnover rate is higher, they take more sick leave, or they may become pregnant. As mentioned in Chapter One, any questions to women regarding their families or childbearing plans are also illegal. In certain cases the law is also making it easier for women to claim the reason they were passed over for a promotion, such as not being made a partner in an accounting firm, was their sex and not their work performance (which is sometimes offered by employers as a pretext). Speak to a lawyer for more details where applicable.