How To Prove Gender Discrimination at Work

Your employer has a responsibility to treat you fairly regardless of your gender, sex, or any other protected characteristic. However, many California employees experience gender discrimination at work. Proving this unlawful behavior may sometimes be challenging due to a lack of concrete evidence. 

Knowing how to prove gender discrimination at work can help you begin collecting evidence that might support your efforts to seek legal recourse. If you believe you have experienced gender discrimination, an experienced employment attorney in Glendale, CA, can help you assess your legal options. 

What Is Gender Discrimination?

Gender discrimination occurs when an employer treats a worker unfairly in response to their gender, gender identity, biological sex, or sexual orientation. California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibits gender discrimination in the workplace, as well as retaliation for reporting such behavior. Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 also protects employees from disparate treatment based on gender. 

Discrimination might affect hiring or promotion decisions. It might also involve paying employees different wages based on gender or making unwanted comments that create a hostile work environment. 

Potential Examples of Gender Discrimination at Work

Understanding what gender discrimination might look like in the workplace is an important first step in identifying and proving such behavior. These are a few examples that may indicate gender discrimination. 

• Making hiring decisions based on gender, such as refusing to hire a man in a woman-dominated field or vice versa
• Making employment decisions based on gender, such as targeting pregnant workers for layoffs or moving employees into teams based on gender
• Treating transgender employees negatively, such as choosing not to promote a qualified worker who identifies as transgender
• Making inappropriate comments or assigning duties based on gender stereotypes 
• Paying employees of different genders different wages, even though they perform the same job duties and have the same qualifications
• Disciplining one gender more harshly than the other
• Creating a hostile work environment for a certain gender

How Do You Prove Gender Discrimination at Work? 

Workers sometimes struggle to prove this type of discrimination at work because they do not have direct evidence of this behavior. Employers are allowed to make hiring and termination decisions at will, and passing someone up for employment does not necessarily mean their gender was a factor.

An experienced employment lawyer can assess the circumstances of your potential case and help you determine whether you might have enough evidence to prove a violation of employment discrimination laws. Generally, the evidence would need to show that your employer acted negatively against you because of your gender or another protected characteristic and not for a legitimate reason. 

These are a few types of gender discrimination evidence that may be helpful in your case:

• Admissions of it in writing, such as in email or text communications with an employer
• References to a comparator employee, or a worker used for comparison, who is in a similar situation to you but does not share the same protected characteristic. For example, your employer may have laid you off instead of a comparator employee of a different gender who was less qualified than you.
• Documentation showing unequal pay compared to an employee of another gender in the same position
• Testimony from coworkers who have witnessed your employer telling offensive jokes or otherwise creating a hostile work environment 
• Statistics showing the gender makeup of your workplace, which may show that your employer tends to hire a certain gender or assign a specific gender to certain job duties
• Copies of internal complaints or claims made to HR about gender discrimination or any other discriminatory behavior against a protected class
• Your employment contract, job description, and relevant documentation detailing your specific position, which may act as supporting evidence 

Your attorney can help you evaluate and organize the evidence you have gathered to determine its relevancy. Having multiple types of evidence may help you build a stronger claim. 

Mistakes To Avoid When Preparing a Gender Discrimination Claim 

As you collect evidence to prove gender discrimination at work, avoid these common mistakes that might negatively impact your claim:

• Saving documentation and evidence only on work devices, where that evidence could become compromised
• Deleting seemingly minor communications that may prove helpful later on
• Discussing your case openly at work, as discussions might be shared with management, which could complicate your claim
• Communicating about discrimination with coworkers through work channels, where management might see your discussion 
• Posting on social media about the claim before its completion

Potential Legal Remedies for Gender Discrimination in California 

If you experienced gender discrimination at work, an employment attorney can help you explore filing a claim with the Civil Rights Department or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. These organizations can investigate your claim and enforce remedies. 

If either organization finds probable cause, they may file a lawsuit on your behalf or issue a “right to sue” notice, giving you the right to pursue legal action against your employer. Employees might seek any of these remedies after experiencing gender discrimination at work:

• Lost wages: If the discriminatory action resulted in a loss of pay, the employee may seek back pay and front pay to compensate for this loss.
• Emotional distress damages: Some employees might seek compensation for emotional distress that arose due to their employer’s discriminatory behavior.
• Reinstatement: If an employer terminated a worker’s employment due to a discriminatory reason or in retaliation against a gender discrimination claim, the worker might seek reinstatement of their position. 
• Promotion: If a worker was denied a promotion due to their gender, they might seek that promotion or a comparable pay raise as a legal remedy
• Gender discrimination training requirements: In some cases, employers may be required to implement anti-discrimination training.

Seek Legal Assistance for Gender Discrimination at Work 

If you are wondering how to prove workplace gender discrimination, contacting an attorney is often a good first step. D.Law exclusively handles employment law cases in California. Contact us today at (818) 275-5799 to request a consultation.