The Two Sides of Discrimination at the Workplace

There is a constant argument made by both sides in regards to discrimination in the work place. One side may say it exists, and the other side may say it doesn’t. Both sides are right> discrimination does exist; and does happen, but not every discrimination claim is valid. In fact, there are many claims that are unwarranted. A case in which there was discrimination was when a very qualified, experienced, educated, female coworker was overlooked for a promotion because of her pregnancy A female coworker was told several times by senior management that she would be promoted next time a vacancy presented itself.

The next day, it was announced she would not be the new manager and a less experienced, less educated person would be taking the position. She is sure that it is because of her pregnancy and that her maternity leave starts in two months, Discrimination is defined as unfair or unequal treatment In this case she is being treated unfairly due to the fact that she will be missing work in the coming months to have a baby, which a male cannot have.

She should not be treated any differently than if she was not pregnant.

If she was the candidate if she was not pregnant then she should receive the promotion. There are multiple Laws and Acts in place to prevent this from happening. The first Act which can be argued was violated is Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act, Title Vlll prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender, or national origin (Fremgen, 2012) In this case she is being discriminated against because she is a female (the only gender of the two that can bear children) who is expecting.

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The second act protecting her is The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 and its amendments. Under this act employers must treat pregnant women the same as they would treat any other employee, providing they can still perform their job (USEEOC, n.d.). She can still perform her duties at the time the job was given to the other party. Other than 2 weeks of being out due to doctors‘ orders she had an excellent performance record, Which an amendment to the act covers by saying, “on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condition” (USEEOC, n.d.). I would advise her to do two things. First, I would contact a lawyer who specializes in these Acts.

Secondly, she should ask senior management why she was not promoted If there are legitimate reasons behind hiring a less qualified person then there may not be a case, but the way the case reads I would recommend pursuing justice. An employer is not allowed to make promotion decisions based on sex (gender, sexuality, or pregnancy) (USEEOC, n.d.), In most cases an employer does not bluntly tell you they did not promote you because you were pregnant, In these cases they will have to prove the action happened by providing circumstantial evidence such as behaviors changed, or the decision did not make sense from a business standpoint (Markarem, 2015). In this scenario I would recommend she has a case under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978. Circumstantial evidence would be easy to provide based on the facts that she is experience, educated, and a great employee who was told she would get the job. There are obviously other things that would be addressed it this was to go to court, and there are thousands of hypotheticals if that were to happen.

References

1. Fremgen, Bonnie F. Medical Law and Ethics, 4th Edition. Pearson, 2012. [MBS Direct]. Markarem. (2015), Filing a Pregnancy Discrimination Lawsuit: Here’s What You have to Prove.
2. Retrieved November 28, 2016, from http://www.makaremlaw.com/filing-pregnancy— discrimination-lawsuit-heres-prove/
3. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978. (n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2016, from https://www.eeocgov/laws/statutes/pregnancy.cfm