Articles Posted in Gender Discrimination

Many residents of Tennessee as well as many people across the United States want to feel respected when we go to work each day. We want the pay we deserve the work we do and we want to be treated well like every other coworker. However, sometimes in many workplaces this is not the case. Sometimes certain employees get treated differently because of their gender, disability, race, or just because the company views them as a little different from all of their other employees. Whatever the reason, this is against the law and should not be happening. If you feel that you have been treated differently or not properly respected by your workplace, then you should talk to a Tennessee employment lawyer right away. They will help make sure you get the compensation and respect that everyone deserves when they are at work.

In this case, The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or EEOC filed a lawsuit against Maxwell House alleging that the coffee company discriminated against a female employee at a Jacksonville plant. The lawsuit claims that Francena Smith received harsher discipline than her male coworkers when they were involved in situations where coffee had been damaged. It also claims that Smith was fired in October 2008 because of her gender.

Smith was given her job back after union arbitration but this lawsuit seeks monetary damages. An attorney for the EEOC tried to settle with Maxwell House after an investigation, but had no success. Maxwell House’s discipline policy is an oral warning, a written warning, suspension and then termination. However, Smith was involved in an incident in June 2008 where coffee had been damaged and she was fired, while the male employee involved only received an oral warning. After the arbitration she received her job back but failed to receive any compensation.

The case is seeking both compensation and punitive damages. A Kraft Foods spokesman said, “We believe this complaint is without merit. I can assure you that Kraft Foods complies with all applicable employment laws. We will vigorously defend ourselves in this matter.”
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Every day many of us have to go to work to support ourselves and our families. When we are at work, we expect to be treated with respect by our coworkers, our bosses and the company we work for. Unfortunately in many places across the country and even right here in Tennessee that is not always the case. Many employees face discrimination and some of it may just be because of their gender.

A jury recently found the company Novartis Pharmaceuticals, guilty of gender discrimination in issues involving pay, promotions, and pregnancy. This was a nation wide class action suit of 5,600 female sales representatives making it the largest gender discrimination case to go to verdict.

The jury also awarded the twelve testifying witnesses 3.36 million in compensatory damages for the specific instances of discrimination that those witnesses testified to. That was also just the beginning of the money that will be awarded as a result of the verdict. Other punitive damage amounts are being decided on today, Tuesday May 18, 2010. Finally, in separate hearings, compensatory damages for each member of the class action that opts in will be decided on.
In this case, the judge, Judge McMahon, also gets to decide what orders to give to Novartis to change its policies and procedures to in order to help prevent more discrimination in the future. This case included female sales representatives that worked for Novartis between 2002 and 2007.

The jury stated that what they learned from this case is that you would not “want your wife, your mother, your sister or your daughter to work,” for this company.
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