Legal Question in Employment Law in Tennessee
Discrimination or What??
First of all, I am FEMALE. I was hired in as a Paint Line Technician. After hiring in and working for about a month-they promote from within and train 2 other men(company has 2 facilities)I was paid 10.00 hr. one trainee was given 12.50(male) the other kept his linelead pay at 11.67hr. I was onjob for 7 months(didn't get a 3month reveiw or 6 month review)as handbook says-I take a volunteer lay-off(to help the company out financially?)I signed a paper that states that I was to return tosame job duties same shift in 4-8 weeks if not sooner-I called company after 9 weeks to find out when I was coming back to work..they said give them a week so after 10 weeks I was called and informed that
I could come back in production and fill in on Paint line as needed..(the question arose from fellow workers when I was coming back-supervisor told them that if it was left up to him he would never call me back(I did not receive any complaints about the job I did on the line)spervisor said that there was no place for a woman in his department.When called back and going into production-I find out they have hired someone to train on the Paint Line (a Man)duh! If this is not sexual discrimination, what is? Please tell me, was I discriminated against?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Employment discrimination law
As luck would have it, I teach a 7-hour Continuing Legal Education course on employment discrimination law. You can read about the law yourself on the web page for this course: http://riskmgmt.biz/cle.htm
In theory, you have a prima facie case of gender discrimination. In practice, it is going to be hard to prove your case. You will find the courts are hostile to civil rights claims, unless you can show a widespread pattern. That would mean you would have a high burden to show that this employer discriminates against women in general, not just you. Otherwise, the employer can advance a dozen valid reason why it kept you at lower pay and on layoff longer that you expected.
The bottom line in all employement related cases is that Tennessee is an employment at will state. Any employee can be discharged at will with or without cause; the employee can also leave and quit a job at will -- unless a signed employment contract says otherwise.
Your best "justice" is to spend your time finding a new employer and better job, rather than fighting this one in court. If you read my CLE course, you will see the Supreme Court has made it fairly easy for employers to defend against discrimination lawsuits.
http://riskmgmt.biz
Mike Guth
Re: Discrimination or What??
It is possible that you were discriminated against on the basis of your sex, but one of the questions that you need to ask is what are your damages from that discrimination? It seems that you may have some pay losses because of possible discrimination in the pay scale. It also may be that you have some losses in not being recalled sooner.
You may want to consult with an attorney to determine if you have a viable legal claim. If you would like to consult with us, I can be reached at [email protected].
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
