Economic of Race and Gender - Term Paper Example

Economic of Race and Gender Introduction: Today’s world boasts of equal rights for men and woman. But still there are instances of gender based discrimination in work places. Women have been on the receiving side in most number of cases. Most of the discriminations occur in work places. Gender discrimination is a serious issue. It cannot be ignored silently. It is a serious form of employee discrimination at the work place. It is considered as a serous form of prejudice and is illegal in certain circumstances in most of the countries (Gender Discrimination at Workplace). Instances of gender discriminatory behaviors at work places: As per the report published by the Science daily, dated August 5, 2010, gender harassment includes verbal as well as nonverbal behaviors that would convey insulting, degrading and hostile attitudes to women. These actions are causes of distress for women at work places. Such type of harassments leads to negative personal and professional outcomes. It is a serious form of sex discrimination. Therefore it is at most important to frame and implement efficient and effective laws that would curtail such evil and anti social practices (Redefining Sexual Discrimination). According to a press release released on February 24, 2010 by EEOC that appeared in the Wall street journal, a woman employee employed in Old castle SW group was awarded $498000 as damages against sex discrimination. Moreover a three year decree was also instituted that keeps the company from gender based discrimination and retaliation. According to the Title VII of the civil rights act 1964, it is totally illegal to harass and discriminate employees based on their gender as well as to retaliate against any employee who complaints against it(Howard&Nassiri). In another press release by the EEOC (Equal employment opportunity commission); a woman in Philadelphia was given a favorable verdict against sex discrimination by the employers. The employer on the receiving side was shipping giant Fed express. The woman was awarded $350000 as emotional compensation and a further $250000 as punitive damages. The employee was employed in the male dominated tractor division where she encountered many sexual based discriminatory actions and retaliations after making complaints to the authorities. The EEOC commission found that actions at the work place were violations of the Title VII of the civil rights act 1964(Longley). On September 9, 2009, ABC news reported the story of a sexual discrimination case against a transgender. The transgender, named Diane Schroer was offered a job by the library of congress. But as soon as they found that she was a transgender, they withdrew their offer to recruit Diane. The party filed a complaint against the company. The federal district judge remarked that this act is purely a case of sexual discrimination at the work place and ruled in favor of the complainant. The ruling by the Judge, James Robertson was first in such a case. The judge held that this act is violation of Title VII of the 1964 civil rights act and also applies to transgender people (Diamond). The latest among the lot is the largest company in America, the Wal -Mart. According to reports by the Wal-Mart watch, the largest company in the US is now facing the biggest lawsuit in the history of US against sexual discrimination. This complaint was filed by the American-African truck drivers association. Previously the company had to face different law suits pertaining to gender based discrimination cases. In June 2004, US district court judge Martin Jenkins awarded in favor of woman employees of the company. The judge granted class action status to the 1.6 million woman employees of the company. The woman employees were paid less and were denied promotion (Issues | Discrimination). In a report that was published by the Miami Herald in June 27, 2008, A record number of lawmakers in Florida are thinking about forcing for a legislation to prohibit discrimination of gays and lesbians in public, private, and others forms of accommodations. They are also seriously thinking about prohibiting such discriminatory behaviors in employment places. Florida is all set to join other states that have enacted laws against sexual discrimination against gays and lesbians in public places including places of employment (Palm Beach County Human Rights Council). Gender based discriminatory practices is widely practiced by organizations irrespective of their size. In one instance that was reported by a leading daily, a woman employees at the Goldman Sachs, was forced to quit the job on the ground that she became pregnant and worked part time instead of full time. The employee was demoted and later fired. A law suit was filed at the court and the company agreed to settle the case in favor of the woman employee. This decision was given by the US district court in November 2010 (Voris). The laws prevailing in the US has given gains to some women employees in the area of equal income levels with men. However these gains were limited to higher income levels. On the basis of a report published by the federal government accountability office, parity in salary between women and men has not been reached so far. These reports have grabbed the attention of the media also. A bill called the Paycheck fairness act was to be introduced in the US senate very shortly. This bill is aimed to toughen steps related to gender discrimination (US Gender Pay Gap Still Exists). A new report by the Catalyst, an American research and advisory organization that is dedicated towards advancing women at work places has placed an argument that gender based stereotyping will definitely cause devastating effects on the individual. Such types of behaviors and attitudes by male counterparts will definitely undermine the potentiality of women to lead an organization. Moreover such behaviors would pose serious challenges to women’s advancement in her career. In our society we regard women as caring and men as taking. Women are cast by both men and women as stereotypically feminine. I.e., she is possessed with caretaking skill s like supporting and rewarding. Both these genders also agree that men outperform women in potentially in masculine skills like taking charge, influencing, and delegation. However it is important to note that women have their role in a work place. She has the potential to take over most of the jobs that are purely assigned to men. Only very few jobs are truly reserved for men because of their masculine nature. In such circumstances, it is inevitable to make women participate in all the organizations jobs and assignments. Therefore all such discriminations that would sideline women from joining the mainstream actions in an organization should be legally curtailed (Gender stereotypes block womens advancement). The other side: The fight towards gender based discrimination has also found some setbacks. In a court ruling by the US Supreme Court in May 2007, the court sharply curtailed the right of the workers to sue employers against difference in pay structures. While reinterpreting the workplace discriminatory provisions of the 1964 Civil rights act, the court opinioned that the provisions should not be used unnecessarily to choke the employers. This ruling was a reversal for the case involving a woman employee and the Goodyear tyre company, in which the high court issued a favorable ruling for the employee to claim damages from the company (Grey). Conclusions: In spite of various acts and statutes that have formed and introduced as well as in-depth information related to the issue, gender based discrimination at work places continue alarmingly. Each and every day new instances of violations occur at work places. To curb this menace new laws bearing strict penalties should be introduced. Moreover serious commitment from the authorities is also necessary for curbing such instances. It is also necessary for ensuring the participation of the community to solve this problem along with strong education criteria’s (Gender stereotypes block womens advancement). Works cited: Diamond,Geoffrey. Transgendered Woman Wins Sex Discrimination Case.(2008). November 11, 2010 < http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/Health/story?id=5843396&page=1> Grey,Barry. US Supreme Court curbs workers’ ability to sue for pay discrimination.(2007). November 11, 2010 Gender stereotypes block womens advancement. (2005). November 11, 2010 < http://www.management-issues.com/display_page.asp?section=research&id=2684> Gender Discrimination at Workplace. (2009). November 11, 2010 Howard&Nassiri. Gender-based Discrimination and Retaliation Lawsuit Settlement-- Gravel Company to Pay nearly $500K (2010). November 11, 2010 < http://www.californiaemploymentlawyersblog.com/2010/03/gender-based-discrimination-and-retaliation-lawsuit-settlement---gravel-company-to-pay-nearly-500k.html> Issues | Discrimination. (2009). November 11, 2010 < http://walmartwatch.com/issues/discrimination/> Longley,Robert. FedEx Pays $3.2 Million in Sex Discrimination Case. (2010) November 11, 2010. Palm Beach County Human Rights Council: Record number sponsor Florida gay rights legislation. (2008). November 11, 2010 < http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2008/03/palm-beach-coun.html#ixzz14wzhpilx> Redefining Sexual Discrimination. (2010). November 11, 2010 US Gender Pay Gap Still Exists. (2010). November 11, 2010 < http://www.voanews.com/english/news/usa/US-Gender-Pay-Gap-Still-Exists-104502164.html> Voris,Bob. Goldman Settles Lawsuit Over Pregnancy Bias With Former Vice President. (2010). November 11, 2010 < http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-05/goldman-settles-lawsuit-over-pregnancy-bias-with-former-vice-president.html> Read More