Columbus, Ohio Workplace Discrimination Attorney

Gender Discrimination in the Workplace is Prohibited Under Federal and Ohio Law.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Chapter 4112 of the Ohio Revised Code prohibit employment discrimination based on gender. Men and women are to be afforded the same treatment in the workplace. Failure to do so is illegal and can appear in many different forms. Some examples include:

• Paying men more than women for the same or similar positions
• Failing to hire or firing an individual solely because she is a woman
• Paying a women at a lower rate or salary than a man even though she possesses similar or greater skills in a similar position
• Failing to promote an employee because she is a woman
• Filing to promote or hire a woman, firing a woman, or paying a woman at a lower pay rate or salary because she is pregnant is a form of gender discrimination

Such actions by an employer are illegal and give rise to a claim for illegal employment discrimination. Women deserve equal treatment in the workplace as men, and a failure to provide this is unacceptable and must be corrected.

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace is a Form of Gender Discrimination

Sexual harassment (both opposite sex and same sex) constitutes gender discrimination. No individual should be forced to endure a harassing work environment, and any workplace that permits this to exist must be set right. There are 2 recognized forms of sexual harassment under federal and Ohio law: quid pro quo and hostile work environment.

Quid pro quo sexual harassment generally occurs when a supervisor or manager seeks sexual favors from a worker in exchange for some type of job benefit—a raise, a promotion, better hours, etc.—or to avoid some type of job detriment, lack a negative performance review, a demotion, or a pay cut. To prove the elements of a quid pro quo sexual harassment claim, the employee must generally show:

• That the harassment the employee endured was based upon the employee’s sex;
• That the employee was subject to unwelcome sexual advances or requests for sexual favors;
• Conditional job opportunities or detriments based on the harasser’s sexual requests;
• The employee’s reaction to the sexual advances to requests impacted his or her employment; and
• The alleged harasser had authority over the employee, either as their direct supervisor or manager, or the alleged harasser was in a position to influence the employee’s terms of employment (this is known as the legal principle of respondeat superior liability)

Hostile work environment sexual harassment exists when an employee is subject to sexual advances, comments, touches, jokes, or any other conduct that unreasonably interferes with the employee’s work performance. The elements to prove a hostile work environment sexual harassment claim are:

• The harassment was based on the employee’s sex;
• The employee was subject to unwelcome sexual harassment in the form of sexual advances, comments, touches, requests, jokes, or other physical or verbal conduct of a sexual nature;
• The harassment unreasonably interfered with the employee’s work performance and therefore created a hostile or offensive work environment; and
• The employer failed to take any reasonable care to prevent and correct any sexually harassing behavior (the existence of respondeat superior liability).

Employees should not have to endure sexual harassment in any form at work. If you or a loved one is experiencing or has experienced any conduct that amounts to a form of sexual harassment, please contact our workplace harassment attorneys today.