Believe it or not, you have a lot of workplace protections. If your employer violates your rights, then you can be subjected to severe adverse employment actions such as demotion, assignment to less favorable duties, decreased pay, and even termination.
Although it can feel like a punch to the gut to suffer from one of these employment decisions, the matter isn’t going to be corrected unless you take legal action. That’s why you should be on the lookout for signs that you’ve been discriminated against, which can be tricky to do when that discrimination is gender-based.
By being diligent, you can catch indications of discriminatory actions, which you can then use to support a legal claim. If you’re successful in doing so, then you might be able to bring the discrimination to a stop, protect other employees, and recover compensation for any harm that’s befallen you.
What are the signs of gender discrimination?
You don’t want to make the mistake of writing off gender discrimination as something less severe. So, if you experience any of the following, then you should recognize them as signs of gender discrimination and consider using them to support legal action:
- Job postings infer a gender preference: Men and women should enjoy equal employment opportunities. Sometimes, though, they’re denied opportunities on the front end when employers express a preference for a preferred gender. Oftentimes this preference is implicit, but you should be on the lookout for desired characteristics identified in the job posting that are gender specific. For example, using terms like “aggressive” and “strong” are often used to describe male applicants rather than women.
- Job positions seem to be gendered: Even though it may not seem like it, many jobs are still implicitly considered gender specific. Unfortunately, this means that women are often passed over for higher level positions with higher pay for positions that have been traditionally considered more suitable for women, such as assistant and clerical positions. If your employer has gendered positions, then you can use that against them in a discrimination case.
- Consistent promotional practices: When your employer promotes, they should do so based on merit. All too often, though, employers act based on gender rather than on each applicant’s ability to do the work. If you notice that people of one gender are often promoted over equally or more qualified individuals of the other gender, then discrimination may be occurring.
- Gender-related jokes: You might be tempted to write off off-color humor as nothing more than a poor attempt to get you to laugh, but they can actually be indicative of gender discrimination or sexual harassment. So, be sure to pay attention to how your supervisor and your employer speak to you.
How can you build your gender discrimination case?
To prove your workplace discrimination case, you need evidence demonstrating that your employer treated similarly positioned individuals who are outside of your protected class differently. Your own personal accounts can be helpful here, but you should try to gather other evidence, too. You can subpoena your employer’s records, talk to your co-workers, and use statistics to help you paint a compelling picture for the judge and jury in your case.