Federal law makes it illegal for an employer in Indiana to discriminate against employees based on gender. Unfortunately, this sometimes happens, causing employees to lose their jobs or preventing them from being able to climb the corporate ladder. One woman in another state recently filed a gender discrimination suit against her employer, claiming that she was denied a promotion simply because she was a woman.
The woman, a city police officer, said she hurt her leg one day while she was not on duty. She thus had to go on medical leave. After going back to work, she noticed a job opening in the city’s department for criminal investigators. However, the woman said she was not given the opportunity to appropriately apply for the job opening because of her gender. More specifically, she was not given the chance to complete an interview and was denied the job role even though she was qualified for it.
The woman said she had previously shown interest in these types of positions, but one supervisor encouraged her to avoid pursuing these positions since a position in the criminal investigation department would be made available to the woman instead. This is the position she ended up not receiving; she claims her medical leave situation was allegedly considered in the department’s decision not to give her the position. A man with no prior experience related to the department and with minimal police officer experience landed the job instead.
When employers in Indiana mistreat their employees on the basis of gender, this can cause the employees emotional scars and negatively impact their careers. Anyone who is a victim of gender discrimination in the workplace has the right to sue his or her employer. Remedies from a successfully fought suit may include compensation for emotional harm and coverage of claim-related out-of-pocket expenses.
Source: 5newsonline.com, “Officer Files Lawsuit Against Centerton, Claims Gender Discrimination”, Curt Lanning, July 6, 2015
