Questions to answer in peer response:
Discuss the how management development programs, career planning assistance and mentoring can remove the obstacle to receive higher positions.
Can less traditional paths and backgrounds for women or person of color remove the obstacle of promotion for these candidates?
PEER CASE:
Case Summary
EEOC v. Sterling Jewelers, Inc., No. 14-1782
A case was raised by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against Appellee Sterling Jewelers Inc. (“Sterling”) who was involved in practicing sex-based pay and promotion discrimination. Several female Sterling employees (19), through nine states (California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, New York, and Texas) reported to the EEOC that a pattern within Sterling showed discrimination towards giving women promotions. (EEOC, 2008) In 2006, both the demandant and the plaintiff entered mediation, and the EEOC joined them by signing a Mediation and Confidentiality Agreement (the “Agreement”). An analyst hired by the Charging Parties, Dr. Louis Lanier, discovered that indeed, female employees were paid less, and their promotion rates were slower than those employees who were males. The was an agreement by the EEOC to “not rely on, or introduce as evidence in any court, arbitration, judicial, or other proceedings” information disclosed during the mediation unless the mediation was unsuccessful, and in 2007 it was unsuccessful, and documents from the mediation were disclosed to the EEOC’s investigator David Ging, followed by a Letter of Determination (“LOD”) in 2008, where Sterling “subjected Charging Parties and a class of female employees with retail sales responsibilities nationwide to a pattern of practice of sex discrimination in regards to promotion and compensation”. (EEOC, 2008) Later that in 2008, the EEOC filed suit in the Western District of New York similar charges against Sterling. However, prior to this, Sterling had provided statistical analysis of pay and promotion data which revealed male employees were promoted at a higher rate than females with similar responsibilities. Several years (7) after the investigation was closed, the two assigned investigators to the first 19 charges were deposed and when questioned about the case, they opted out from answering any questions. A district court judge granted summary judgment to Sterling on the count of no evidence that the EEOC had investigated a nationwide class and the case was dismissed. (EEOC, 2008)
A Primary Pipeline Problem – Glass Ceiling
Decades have passed and situations like this continue to happen. Situations like this one will not end in the near future and fear that will only get worse for people of color. Some people still believe that they are better than others and use their influences to get away with things that make others miserable; especially towards people of color and/or people of different backgrounds. There are laws that protect people from being discriminated against, but there are times when even the law is not enough, the case I presented above proves it.
Personal Opinion
Glass ceiling is a barrier to many people, especially to woman, people of color and that come from different backgrounds. Many times, even when they demonstrate their full potential and the abilities they poses is still not enough to employers and promote someone else. It feels like, it’s not what you know, but who you know.
References
EEOC. (2008, September). EEOC v. Sterling Jewelers, Inc., No. 14-1782 . Home. https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/default/files/migrated_files/eeoc/litigation/briefs/sterling.html.
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