When we hear about gender discrimination, we often think about women and how they have suffered from thousands of years of discrimination at work, at home and in society in general. However, in the modern era, men can suffer from gender-based discrimination too.
Here are four real-world examples of gender discrimination against men that led to lawsuits:
Ventura Corporation, a beauty wholesaler
Ventura Corporation is a seller of beauty products. Allegedly, the wholesaler discriminated against men when it refused to hire them as sales representatives, support managers and zone managers. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) pursued a lawsuit against the company on these grounds. The suit claimed that Ventura agreed to promote a man to the Zone Manager because he complained about gender-based discrimination. However, in retaliation for his complaints, Ventura created a work situation in which the man was destined to fail. Ventura settled the suit in 2014 for a total of $354,250.
Lawry’s: A California-based restaurant
Lawry’s is a California-based restaurant chain with locations throughout the state, including additional out-of-state locations in Chicago and Dallas. The EEOC filed a sex-based discrimination class action lawsuit against Lawry’s because the restaurant refused to hire male waitstaff. The restaurant settled the lawsuit by paying $1,025,000.
Yahoo: A Silicon Valley tech company
The internet media company, Yahoo, had to defend itself against a gender discrimination lawsuit after it terminated a man who scored poorly on his performance review. In the man’s lawsuit, he alleged that when men and women receive equally low scores the women get preference over the men.
NBC Universal: A television company
The late-night television show owned by NBC Universal, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, allegedly discriminated against one of its employees by demoting him. Allegedly, the director of the television show told the employee that the reason for his demotion was that “Jimmy just prefers to take direction from a woman.” The employee did not prevail in his discrimination lawsuit.
If you feel that you were victimized by gender-based employment discrimination — whether you’re a man or a woman — fight the matter in court as best as you can. You may have the legal right to receive compensation for your losses.