Yahoo fired Gregory Anderson from their media division in November 2014, claiming that he had performed poorly in his quarterly employee review. A year later, Anderson filed a California lawsuit against Yahoo, citing that he was a victim of gender discrimination.  While the majority of gender related lawsuits are filed on behalf of women, gender bias can affect men in the workplace as well.

Anderson claims that he was fired from Yahoo for his low performance score, but a female coworker who received the same score was allowed to appeal her low score and kept her job. Anderson now bears the burden of proving that his termination was directly related to his gender.

It is against the law to discriminate in the workplace because of a person’s gender.  Both Title VII of The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the NJ Law Against Discrimination include language making it illegal to treat people differently in the workplace because of his or her gender. Areas in which unlawful gender discrimination may be present in the workplace include:

• Salary — Men and women must be paid the same wage for comparable work.
• Promotions — Men and women must be promoted at the same rate within a company.
• Hiring/firing — neither gender can be refused employment or fired based on their gender.
• Employee benefits — Men and women must receive the same health, retirement and vacation benefits.

Though the Equal Pay Act of 1963 made it illegal to pay men and women different salaries for the same work, as of 2014 women still lagged behind men in pay for comparable work by an average of 21 percent.

Gregory Anderson claims there is evidence that women in positions of authority at Yahoo gave preference to women when hiring or promoting employees. While it may be tempting to see this as just desserts for centuries of gender-based discrimination in the workplace, the law does not see it that way.  It protects men from workplace gender discrimination as well as women.

This office has filed suit on behalf of men who claim reverse discrimination, and we have successfully litigated and settled significant claims against the federal government and private companies for that cause of action.

If you suspect you have been the victim of workplace gender, you need experienced and assertive legal representation.  We are “compassionate counsel and tough advocates”. Hanan M. Isaacs will help you with your workplace discrimination claims.  We will negotiate, mediate, arbitrate, and/or litigate these claims on your behalf. Call 609-683-7400 for a discounted initial consultation. Convenient Central NJ location.