civil litigation blog

There’s something extremely disconcerting to California employment discrimination lawyers about gender or race discrimination at educational institutions. Two prominent educational institutions are battling allegations of workplace discrimination, and one of them is even the subject of a complaint by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

According to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint, Kaplan Higher Education Corporation engaged in unlawful discrimination by refusing to hire black job applicants around the country. The complaint claims that since at least 2008, Kaplan Higher Education has also rejected applicants based on credit history. This leads to further discrimination based on race. The EEOC complaint seeks lost wages, benefits and injunctive relief as well as offers of employment for people who were denied jobs at Kaplan Higher Education institutions because of their poor credit history.

There are other more serious allegations leveled at Chicago's DePaul University, where accusations about racial and other forms of discrimination are beginning to mount. Earlier this month, several staff members and students at the University protested the university's decision to deny tenure to two minority professors. More than 40 professors applied for tenure this year, and six were denied. All six conveniently happened to belong to minority groups.

The allegations of race discrimination couldn't come at a worse time for DePaul University. The University is embarking on an aggressive fundraising effort with a target of more than $250 million. There is a bond sales plan scheduled for January, and the University will soon unveil its “Vision twenty12” plan. There are fears among US officials that all this bad publicity about discrimination against minority groups on campus, could put off potential donors, especially women and minorities.

It is disconcerting to come across race discrimination at educational institutions, because these are the institutions we expect to instill ideas of diversity and tolerance.

It’s the second lawsuit accusing Sempra of improper spending, including paying bribes to Mexican officials that California employment lawyers have come across. The lawsuit filed by a former Sempra employee, alleges that he was fired because he asked questions about bribe payments and other unsavory business practices.

The former employee, Rodolfo Michelon was terminated in March after working five years for Sempra Global in Mexico. According to Michelon, during his time at the company, he was required to bribe government officials, approve unethical spending and engage in other unethical business practices. Michelon was a certified public accountant.

The lawsuit, which has been filed in San Diego County Superior Court, says that Sempra frequently transferred funds for alleged illegal purposes. Basically, these funds were meant to be bribes for Mexican government officials. When Michelon questioned these practices, and brought these to the attention of higher-ups at the company, his services were terminated.

There's another lawsuit that corroborates Michelon’s allegations. That lawsuit was filed by Sanchez Ritchie, a man who claims that Sempra conspired to evict him from his own property after he refused to sell his land in 2001. The land was for the company’s LNG plant. Sempra insists it is the rightful owner of the property, and calls Ritchie a squatter. Sempra says it legally evicted Richie from the property.

Sempra also denies Michelon’s allegations. According to the company, Michelon is just another disgruntled employee trying to cash in after being laid off during routine reorganization. The company is also denying there are any similarities between Michelon’s wrongful termination lawsuit and the lawsuit that Ritchie has filed.

The California city of Concord has agreed to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit for $750,000. The lawsuit was filed by a former police officer, Liza Capocci. Capocci had accused a supervisor of making sexual overtures to her. When Capocci filed a complaint, the supervisor and his colleagues retaliated against her by making her the subject of an internal affairs investigation. She was forced to quit her job in July. She filed a lawsuit against the city of Concord. The supervisor was later disciplined.

Capocci has now settled her lawsuit with the city for $250,000. Further, the city will also pay her attorney $500,000.

Under California's laws, sexual harassment in the workplace can be defined as unwanted sexual conduct. There can be two types of harassment:

• Harassment may occur when an employer bases employment on the condition that the victim submits to sexual overtures.
• Harassment may also occur when there's unwelcome sexual conduct which creates a hostile or abusive environment for the employee.

Under this definition, therefore, sexual harassment may not necessarily have to involve physical contact. Harassment may be present in a vast range of inappropriate behaviors. For instance, if you have been asked for sexual favors, been the subject of unwelcome sexual advances or overtures, been the subject of sexual propositions, slurs, and derogatory comments, you may have been the victim of harassment.

In fact, California's employment laws take the problem of sexual harassment very seriously. The harassment may not necessarily be verbal or physical. It can even be visual. For instance, a Los Angeles sexual harassment lawyer may even file lawsuit when a victim is subjected to leering looks or has been the subject of offensive drawings or cartoons in the workplace.

Women were some of the biggest victims of the Wall Street collapse of 2008 and still continue to face gender discrimination in pay.  According to Bloomberg, the number of women who lost jobs in the three years after 2007 was five times higher than the men who lost their jobs during those financially turbulent years.  Further, between 2000 and 2007, pay for full-time female managers actually deteriorated compared to male managers. 

According to the Government Accountability Office, in 2000, female managers in the finance industry, earned just 63.9 cents for every dollar earned by a male manager.  That scenario actually got worse as the years passed.  In 2007, which is the last year for which confirmed figures are available, female finance managers were paid 58.8 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts.  That is a gap of $.41, and it is the biggest gap in almost any industry in the country.

California employment lawyers understand why there is such a wide gap in pay in the finance industry based on gender.  This is an industry that is largely dominated by men, and compensation is extremely high.  In situations like this, it's common to find wide differences of pay.  That does not mean however, that the situation is fair to women, and women are fighting back.  Last month, three former female employees of Goldman Sachs filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging lower pay as well as fewer opportunities for promotion at the firm for women compared to men.  One of the women who filed the lawsuit, alleges sexual harassment at Goldman Sachs too.

Women do face challenges as they ease into to business leadership roles in any industry, but in the finance industry or on the trading floor, the situation can be vastly different, and even hostile.  There may be more women working in the finance industry but the atmosphere on the trading floor hasn't changed.  It is still testosterone driven, and the discrimination that female employees face is not just severe, but also blatantly open.

A lawsuit filed in Alameda County Superior Court claims that a California man was fired by his employer because he was gay.  The lawsuit alleges that the employer, Seaside Refrigerated Transport Inc., terminated the employee’s services after he inquired about whether the company provided health coverage for same-sex partners. 

The man began working for the company in 2007.  Soon after he made that inquiry, the man found a markedly different workplace.  He contends his colleagues began making fun of him, taunting him and harassing him.   He claims there were plenty of comments about God hating homosexuals, and at least one manager refused to allow him to use the men's restroom because he might contaminate it.

The discrimination and harassment came to a head when California voted “yes” to Proposition 8 in 2008.  Just before the vote, the man came to the office with a “No to Proposition 8” poster on his truck.  The manager called him inside the office, and allegedly told him that gays would not be permitted to work in the office.  The next day, the man was fired.

According to a study, California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing comes across an average of 675 employment discrimination complaints that are related to a person's sexual orientation.  The focus on discrimination against homosexuals in American society has been extra strong this past month after a spate of gay teenager suicides.  Unfortunately, even when teenagers grow up and enter the American workforce, they may still find that the discrimination and harassment that plagued their teen years, continues to exist in subtle and not-so-subtle forms in the office. Los Angeles employment discrimination lawyers know that gay men and lesbians continue to face discrimination that includes sexual harassment, taunting, and physical, verbal and mental abuse due to their sexual orientation.

ABM Industries Inc. one of the largest janitorial companies in the US, has agreed to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit with 21 former female employees.  As part of the settlement, ABM Industries will pay $5.8 million, but will admit no wrongdoing.

The lawsuit brought by the federal government, was filed in 2007.  It alleges that female employees at several ABM facilities were subjected to groping and indecent exposure.  Supervisors allegedly asked female subordinates for sex, and suggested trading sex for promotions.  The lawsuit also alleges that in at least one instance, an employee was raped by a supervisor.  The harassment allegedly took place at the Fresno, Bakersfield and Visalia facilities. 

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is all set to announce a settlement later this week.  A judge is yet to approve the settlement, but the settlement has been approved by both the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the company.  ABM now says it's working with the agency to ensure a safe and inclusive workplace for all its employees.

Laws against harassment in the workplace in California define sexual harassment as “unwelcome, verbal, visual or physical conduct of a sexual nature.”  For any kind of conduct to be considered sexual harassment, it must also be severe and pervasive.  That means that the harassment should create a hostile work environment, and affect the victim’s ability to work in such an environment. 

Some factors can pose a challenge to a sexual harassment lawsuit.  For instance, if the victim was seen to have encouraged or welcomed these advances, it could jeopardize a harassment claim.  That’s the reason why California employment lawyers suggest that if you are being subjected to any kind of sexual harassment in the workplace, you should make it clear to the harasser that you do not like such behavior, that it's uncomfortable and that he/she should stop.

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