Toshiba faces $100 million gender bias lawsuit

[somebozo]

No wonder american business is shifting to India and other less developed but business friendly countries. One cannot achieve a perfect 1:1 parity everywhere and suing to get rich fast seems a common culture now! I am really surprised at the guts these people have. They want to be paid equal to men but have excuses for everything from montly pms to 90 days maternity leave. Are the corporates expected to shell out money for nothing?

Toshiba faces $100 million gender bias lawsuit
By Jonathan Stempel Jonathan Stempel
1 hr 41 mins ago

.NEW YORK (Reuters) – A senior human resources manager at Toshiba Corp has filed a $100 million lawsuit accusing a U.S. unit of the Japanese technology company of gender bias against women in pay and promotions.

The plaintiff, Elaine Cyphers, contends Toshiba America Inc pays women lower salaries and bonuses than men who perform similar work. She also alleges the company steers women into lower-grade positions and favors men in promotions.

Cyphers said this results in an "astounding lack of women in leadership positions," despite Toshiba's creation six years ago of a "Gender Equality Office." The complaint said only 3.4 percent of Toshiba's 6,273 managers worldwide are women.

"The numbers are atrocious," said David Sanford, a partner at Sanford Wittels & Heisler LLP who represents Cyphers, in an interview. "We believe the class claims are significant, and will be substantiated in the litigation."

Toshiba spokesman Tom Gallatin said in an email the company generally does not discuss pending litigation.

Cyphers said she has been human resources manager at Toshiba America Nuclear Energy Corp and the highest-ranking U.S. human resources employee at that unit. She said she was paid $90,000 to $91,800 a year between 2008 and 2010, while men in similar jobs at Toshiba were paid about $120,000 annually.

The lawsuit is the latest of many accusing companies of favoring men over women in the workplace. It seeks class-action status on behalf of all current and former Toshiba female employees in the United States. Cyphers said she also filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Last July, Novartis AG agreed to pay $175 million to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing the Swiss drugmaker of discriminating against 5,600 women sales representatives in pay and promotions.

Sanford was co-lead counsel for the sales representatives.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide by June whether Wal-Mart Stores Inc must continue to defend against the largest U.S. class-action gender bias lawsuit in history, brought on behalf of as many as 1.5 million current and former female employees.

Cyphers said she had worked in human resources for a quarter century before Toshiba hired her in June 2008 and moved about 110 miles to Falls Church, Virginia, for the job.

She said Toshiba soon promoted a less experienced man to a new position above her and later sought to force her from the company in retaliation for complaints about discrimination.

When Cyphers returned last month from medical leave, a supervisor told her to leave and not to return "until further notice," so she "promptly collected her belongings" and left, the complaint said.

Cyphers now lives in North Carolina and "technically" remains a Toshiba employee but is on leave, her lawyer said.

The case is Cyphers v. Toshiba America Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 11-00642.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; editing by Gerald E. McCormick, John Wallace and Andre Grenon)


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[H2O3C4Nitrogen]

This is what happens when you have a real smart woman in your company...!

 

[somebozo]

This is what happens when you have a real smart woman in your company...!

Its called feminist troll !

 

[twoplustwoisfour]

No wonder american business is shifting to India and other less developed but business friendly countries. One cannot achieve a perfect 1:1 parity everywhere and suing to get rich fast seems a common culture now! I am really surprised at the guts these people have. They want to be paid equal to men but have excuses for everything from montly pms to 90 days maternity leave. Are the corporates expected to shell out money for nothing?

See this is what happens when you have an inherent gender bias and can't even verify your believes from the internet before posting:

Parental leave - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The US provides NO paid maternity leave while India, Pakistan give 12 weeks paid maternity leaves.

And oh, I won't even comment on your disgusting PMS comment. Get a life.

 

[SMC]

So since there are few women in managerial positions, it must be due to gender discrimination? There's a whole study published by US labour department showing why women make less. There's things that women do that results in them making less money and less promotions.

 

[twoplustwoisfour]

So since there are few women in managerial positions, it must be due to gender discrimination?

No, but if for the same amount of work under the same conditions, if a woman is paid less than a man or vice versa, it is gender discrimination.

If a person thinks that one gender is better than the other, then that is gender discrimination.

Look, I'd be the first one to criticize feminists, but there is no doubt that gender discrimination exists in our societies.

 

[SMC]

No, but if for the same amount of work under the same conditions, if a woman is paid less than a man or vice versa, it is gender discrimination.

If a person thinks that one gender is better than the other, then that is gender discrimination.

Look, I'd be the first one to criticize feminists, but there is no doubt that gender discrimination exists in our societies.

Well remember that we're talking about US here. Feminists are known to create issues out of nowhere or talk about ones that don't exist to keep themselves afloat. Discrimination at work is one of those things that feminists have created to keep themselves afloat. There is no gender discrimination in pay, that has been confirmed by US government department of labour and various independent studies. I also have done a lot of research in this area (so-called gender discrimination against women in a lot of areas, including pay). When women are getting paid less for the same job, there are other factors to explain the disparity. Less experience, less number of hours (women want things such as flex and easy schedules), etc. Look, if Toshiba had been discriminating, you'd have seen lawsuits long before today. Feminists and women would love to latch on to these kinds of opportunities.

 

[twoplustwoisfour]

The argument that "if Toshiba had been discriminating, you'd have seen lawsuits long before today" doesn't hold any substance because, as the article says, Novartis was also convicted last year, and god knows it is an old company as well.

I never denied that feminists love to take advantage of the US legal system. But lets wait for the court judgment before coming to any conclusions, shall we?

 

[MastanKhan]

Hi,

Just because it has not happened, doesnot mean that it didnot exist. Discrimination happens.