Women of color in California have spoken about their experiences at tech industry giants in confronting the hydra of race and sex discrimination on the job. Far from being separate concerns, these forms of workplace discrimination have been pernicious for women of color, even those who have achieved success at some of the world’s largest companies.
A hearing in a California federal district court on July 26 regarding a class action age discrimination lawsuit against Google revealed that 269 plaintiffs have joined the lawsuit. Software engineers aged 40 and over are alleging that they were not hired by the company because of their age. One reported that a recruiter told her to include graduation dates on her resume so Google would know her age and that she was subsequently not hired as a result.
Residents of California who have shopped at Big 5 might be interested to know that the sporting goods company has had a lawsuit filed against it by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The lawsuit claims that an African-American employee suffered discrimination at the hands of the manager and other coworkers while he was training to become a manager himself at the establishment.
Employers in California and throughout the country are barred from discriminating against employees on religious grounds. This protection is afforded to workers by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Employers are generally required to accommodate an employee’s religious practices or beliefs unless doing so would create an undue hardship. Examples of accommodations include a flexible work schedule or allowing a worker to transfer elsewhere within the company.
Who hasn’t had a co-worker over the years that drove them crazy—constantly coming in late, avoiding work, foisting their assignments on someone else’s shoulders? Working with a co-worker who is disrespectful can take your job from okay to awful in no time. And with a third of our lives spent at work, that can start to feel like a very heavy burden.
California baseball fans know that umpires often endure angry protests over their calls, but now a Major League Baseball umpire has filed suit against the league for racial discrimination. According to his court filings, the 55-year-old Hispanic man asserts that the league has declined to give him a position umping for the World Series since 2005. Additionally, the league has not offered him a permanent position as a crew chief, instead choosing to designate him as a temporary chief.