State and federal laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of specific protected statuses including gender.  Discrimination based on gender (or sex) is a common civil rights violation that takes many forms, including sexual harassment, pregnancy discrimination, and unequal pay for women who do the same jobs as men.  When an individual is treated differently in the terms and conditions of employment because of their gender, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, and fringe benefits, gender discrimination may have occurred.

 

The attorneys at Burr & Smith have experience protecting the rights of those who have faced gender discrimination.  For example, Sam J. Smith has teamed with co-counsel to obtain class certification for more than 160,000 female current and former employees of Publix Super Markets suing for discrimination against female employees in various job benefits, including promotions, allocation of hours, job assignments, job advancement, pay, and employment opportunities.  In 1997, the court approved Publix’s settlement of the case for $81.5 million in monetary relief and extensive injunctive relief.  Currently, Burr & Smith with co-counsel represent thousands of women in a class action for gender discrimination for failure to fairly pay and promote female employees against one of the world’s largest jewelry chains, Sterling Jewelers Inc.

 

Read about Jock v. Sterling Jewelers Inc. here