Should I pursue legal action for possible employment discrimination?
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Should I pursue legal action for possible employment discrimination?
I have been working at a company for well over a month getting regular hours,
however in the past few weeks my boss has hired 3 more females and since
then I went from an average of 20 hours a week to 0 hours. Yet, the new
girls are getting 30 hours a week. I am not the only one affected, there are 4
males working for this company and all of our hours have been cut short so that
the new girls can work. I can understand training and everything, but I have not
been on the schedule in 4 weeks, while the new girls are averaging 30 hours, is it
just me, or does this seem like discrimination. As I said previously, I am not the
only male worker affected.
Asked on August 29, 2016 under Employment Labor Law, West Virginia
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
If male employees have had their hours significantly cut in order to provide hours for female employees, that may well be sex-based employment discrimination. At the very least, you appear to have made out a "prima facie" (think: "on its face") case of discrimination, to which, if you bring it to your state's equal/civil rights agency or the federal EEOC, your employer will have to respond. It is possible that they can then show some non-discriminatory reason--for example, if the women have substantially better credentials, experience, and/or are getting better reviews from clients/customers, giving them the available hours may be defensible--but if they can't prove a non-discriminatory reason for the unequal treatment, then you very well may have a valid discrimination claim. Based on what you write, it would be worthwhile to contact the appropriate agency, since again, the conduct you describe appears on its face to be illegal discrimination.
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