Michael Shultz is a Kansas sex discrimination and sexual harassment attorney working with clients throughout Kansas, including Johnson County and Sedgwick, Douglas and Shawnee Counties, including the cities of Kansas City, Kansas, Overland Park, Olathe, Wichita, Topeka, Lawrence, Salina, Manhattan and Emporia. If you believe that you have been the victim of sex discrimination, whether the basic type of sex discrimination discussed on this page, or sexual harassment, you should consult with an attorney. A Kansas lawyer who knows Kansas employment laws can help you determine if you have been the victim of sex discrimination and if you want to pursue your employment rights. |
| The Law of Sexual Harassment and Sexual Discrimination |
| Kaup & Shultz, Attorneys at Law, LC |
| Kaup & Shultz, Attorneys at Law, LC Overland Park, KS 913-385-9955 and 901 Kentucky Suite 305 Lawrence, KS 785-838-4300 email us |
| The information in these pages is intended for Kansas employees who are interested in sexual harassment law and hostile work environment. The information is intended for educational purposes only and is not intended to establish an attorney client relationship with any person. If you have an actual legal problem concerning sexual harassment, you should contact a competent Kansas employee rights attorney. |
Forms of Sex Discrimination
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it unlawful to discriminate
in the terms and conditions of employment based upon gender.
Although sexual harassment gets the greatest amount of attention
when it comes to discrimination against women, the fact is that basic
discrimination against women is as common as sexual harassment
which is only one form of sex discrimination. Sex discrimination can be
thought about in these terms:
Sex discrimination is the broadest term that covers every type of
discrimination against women.
Sexual harassment is one form of sex discrimination.
Sexual harassment has traditionally been divided into two types:
hostile work environment
quid pro quo
In addition, two other areas of employment laws have been passed to
assist women: the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the Equal Pay Act.
The Family Medical Leave Act also assists women, but it is not a law
that deals so much with discrimination as it does with the ability of
men and women to take leave for certain reasons spelled out in the
statute, though one reason is for the birth or adoption of a child.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it unlawful to discriminate
in the terms and conditions of employment based upon gender.
Although sexual harassment gets the greatest amount of attention
when it comes to discrimination against women, the fact is that basic
discrimination against women is as common as sexual harassment
which is only one form of sex discrimination. Sex discrimination can be
thought about in these terms:
Sex discrimination is the broadest term that covers every type of
discrimination against women.
Sexual harassment is one form of sex discrimination.
Sexual harassment has traditionally been divided into two types:
hostile work environment
quid pro quo
In addition, two other areas of employment laws have been passed to
assist women: the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the Equal Pay Act.
The Family Medical Leave Act also assists women, but it is not a law
that deals so much with discrimination as it does with the ability of
men and women to take leave for certain reasons spelled out in the
statute, though one reason is for the birth or adoption of a child.
Basic Sex Discrimination
Basic sex discrimination is pretty easy to understand. A woman is
denied a job, promotion, pay raise, or valuable transfer because she is a
woman. She also might be disciplined more harshly than a man for the
violation of the same work rule. Of course, all of these acts are illegal if
gender is the basis for the decision.
There has been a lot of discussion of the "glass ceiling." This refers to
the fact that women can see that people are working at higher levels in
the organization than they are, but they cannot get hired into or
promoted to those jobs. However, as the picture at the top left of this
page shows, women also can see higher paying jobs at their own level of
employment which are denied to them.
Too often, women experience the sign to the left when they try to get a
better paying job, whether in an office, manufacturing plant or out in
the field. Traditionally, many jobs have been viewed as being for men,
whiles others have been viewed as jobs for women. These cultural
stereotypes are very slow to break down, though it is happening thanks
in large part to the great increase in the number of women in the work
force and federal and state employment laws.
Basic sex discrimination is pretty easy to understand. A woman is
denied a job, promotion, pay raise, or valuable transfer because she is a
woman. She also might be disciplined more harshly than a man for the
violation of the same work rule. Of course, all of these acts are illegal if
gender is the basis for the decision.
There has been a lot of discussion of the "glass ceiling." This refers to
the fact that women can see that people are working at higher levels in
the organization than they are, but they cannot get hired into or
promoted to those jobs. However, as the picture at the top left of this
page shows, women also can see higher paying jobs at their own level of
employment which are denied to them.
Too often, women experience the sign to the left when they try to get a
better paying job, whether in an office, manufacturing plant or out in
the field. Traditionally, many jobs have been viewed as being for men,
whiles others have been viewed as jobs for women. These cultural
stereotypes are very slow to break down, though it is happening thanks
in large part to the great increase in the number of women in the work
force and federal and state employment laws.
Proving Sex Discrimination
It is often difficult to prove discrimination of any kind, and
proving sex discrimination is no different. In this area of
basic sex discrimination, there are two types of cases:
disparate treatment and disparate impact.
Disparate treatment means that an adverse employment
decision is made specifically because the employee is a
woman. In other words, the decision is made on account of
or because of gender. If the boss picks you out for demotion
because he dislikes women in his work unit, that is
disparate treatment. Disparate treatment is often simply
called what it is--intentional discrimination.
Disparate impact occurs when a rule or policy appears
neutral on its face, but it has a greater impact on women
than it does on men. Not many years ago, these were some
of the most significant cases of sex discrimination. For
example, many employers had requirements that
employees had to be of a certain minimum height, and this
rule disproportionately affected women. In other words,
out of the applicants for the jobs with such requirements, a
greater percentage of women were denied jobs than were
men.
The legal rules on how to prove intentional discrimination
have gotten to be complex. And even though it is difficult to
prove intentional discrimination without that smoking gun,
it can still be done and is so every day.
If you believe you have been the victim of sex
discrimination, you need to discuss you situation with a
competent Kansas attorney if you want to pursue your legal
rights. Getting advice from your accountant or
brother-in-law is not the way to go when complicated legal
issues are involved--not to mention--your rights as an
employee.
It is often difficult to prove discrimination of any kind, and
proving sex discrimination is no different. In this area of
basic sex discrimination, there are two types of cases:
disparate treatment and disparate impact.
Disparate treatment means that an adverse employment
decision is made specifically because the employee is a
woman. In other words, the decision is made on account of
or because of gender. If the boss picks you out for demotion
because he dislikes women in his work unit, that is
disparate treatment. Disparate treatment is often simply
called what it is--intentional discrimination.
Disparate impact occurs when a rule or policy appears
neutral on its face, but it has a greater impact on women
than it does on men. Not many years ago, these were some
of the most significant cases of sex discrimination. For
example, many employers had requirements that
employees had to be of a certain minimum height, and this
rule disproportionately affected women. In other words,
out of the applicants for the jobs with such requirements, a
greater percentage of women were denied jobs than were
men.
The legal rules on how to prove intentional discrimination
have gotten to be complex. And even though it is difficult to
prove intentional discrimination without that smoking gun,
it can still be done and is so every day.
If you believe you have been the victim of sex
discrimination, you need to discuss you situation with a
competent Kansas attorney if you want to pursue your legal
rights. Getting advice from your accountant or
brother-in-law is not the way to go when complicated legal
issues are involved--not to mention--your rights as an
employee.
Often times, your employment
problem can be solved through the
administrative process at the EEOC
or the Kansas Human Rights
Commission. But if it cannot, then
you have the option of taking your
case to court to prove that your
employment rights were violated.
problem can be solved through the
administrative process at the EEOC
or the Kansas Human Rights
Commission. But if it cannot, then
you have the option of taking your
case to court to prove that your
employment rights were violated.
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Retaliation and the Law
Every employment discrimination
law makes it illegal to retaliate
against a person who reasonably
and in good faith protests
discrimination or participates in any
government process that is looking
into discrimination.
In a very significant United States
Supreme Court case, the Court held
that retaliation includes all
activities that could reasonably
deter others from protesting
discrimination. Thus, even if the
retaliation is in the form of creating
a hostile environment, the
retaliation is illegal.
The laws against retaliation apply to
all forms of discrimination against
women, including complaints of
sexual harassment.
Every employment discrimination
law makes it illegal to retaliate
against a person who reasonably
and in good faith protests
discrimination or participates in any
government process that is looking
into discrimination.
In a very significant United States
Supreme Court case, the Court held
that retaliation includes all
activities that could reasonably
deter others from protesting
discrimination. Thus, even if the
retaliation is in the form of creating
a hostile environment, the
retaliation is illegal.
The laws against retaliation apply to
all forms of discrimination against
women, including complaints of
sexual harassment.