The recent ruling by the Supreme Court rerpesents yet another slap in the face of working women everywhere.
When the media reports that the average female pay is approximately 25% lower than the average male (and the actual spread may be even greater), a ruling such as this should either wake women up to the fact that they have only 180 days from yesterday to determine where they rank on the pay scale.
Unfortunately, if a woman has known about the inequity for years – and has been willing to suffer in muted silence – then she appears to be completely out of luck in terms of forcing her employer to raise her to the pay level of comparable male workers.
My wonderful wife has been working for a quasi-governmental agency for nearly 20 years, and each year through the Freedom of Information Act, all the salaries in her firm are published and disseminated. For many years she has known about the inequitable payment to men who both perform less, both qualitative AND quantitative. Yet each time she has brought this to her (male) bosses attention, she has been told that the status quo must remain, and that the decision is out of his hands.
I have been urging her to threaten legal action for many years now – for HER sake, not mine. She earned it. However, what woman wants to both jeopardize her future as well as her current position, especially when the average employment lawsuit takes seven – 7 – years to fully adjudicate?
This situation is significantly equal to the case of whistle blowers – where legislation had to be brought about so that the blower could not be threatened by their employer. Will women demand such protections as they have their previous rights taken away from them?
Probably not. But we married men, with managerial responsibility for married female employees, must wake up and realize that it is OUR collective responsibility to make sure that equal pay for equal work MUST be the rule. If we do not, we run the risk of being legislated into action.
Then, we can tackle the issues of unfair treatment in the workplace to all of our teams. But we need to start somewhere. The days of \”I gave at the office\” can be rekindled, with the warmth of our actions brought home by our spouses, etc.
Just remember, Justice Clarence Thomas worked at the EEOC before becoming a Supreme Court Justice! Remember the confirmation hearings? Remember Anita Hill? Thank you The Clarion for being so responsible and supportive of equality for women…. remember our daughters and their futures.
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The recent ruling by the Supreme Court rerpesents yet another slap in the face of working women everywhere.
When the media reports that the average female pay is approximately 25% lower than the average male (and the actual spread may be even greater), a ruling such as this should either wake women up to the fact that they have only 180 days from yesterday to determine where they rank on the pay scale.
Unfortunately, if a woman has known about the inequity for years – and has been willing to suffer in muted silence – then she appears to be completely out of luck in terms of forcing her employer to raise her to the pay level of comparable male workers.
My wonderful wife has been working for a quasi-governmental agency for nearly 20 years, and each year through the Freedom of Information Act, all the salaries in her firm are published and disseminated. For many years she has known about the inequitable payment to men who both perform less, both qualitative AND quantitative. Yet each time she has brought this to her (male) bosses attention, she has been told that the status quo must remain, and that the decision is out of his hands.
I have been urging her to threaten legal action for many years now – for HER sake, not mine. She earned it. However, what woman wants to both jeopardize her future as well as her current position, especially when the average employment lawsuit takes seven – 7 – years to fully adjudicate?
This situation is significantly equal to the case of whistle blowers – where legislation had to be brought about so that the blower could not be threatened by their employer. Will women demand such protections as they have their previous rights taken away from them?
Probably not. But we married men, with managerial responsibility for married female employees, must wake up and realize that it is OUR collective responsibility to make sure that equal pay for equal work MUST be the rule. If we do not, we run the risk of being legislated into action.
Then, we can tackle the issues of unfair treatment in the workplace to all of our teams. But we need to start somewhere. The days of \”I gave at the office\” can be rekindled, with the warmth of our actions brought home by our spouses, etc.
The EEOC is now a toothless tiger, might just as well fire everyone and shut the department down.
Just remember, Justice Clarence Thomas worked at the EEOC before becoming a Supreme Court Justice! Remember the confirmation hearings? Remember Anita Hill? Thank you The Clarion for being so responsible and supportive of equality for women…. remember our daughters and their futures.