Does anyone have experience with discrimination at work?

I am living in a very male dominated state, and it shows. Not just in very unequal pay based on gender alone, but in many areas. Not surprisingly, this creates a hostile and wide division based on racial and gender groups. I've even sadly seen retaliation groups where women have found a position of power of some kind, and won't hire men (and vocally saying as much). This is the only state where I go in to see the doctors...or dentist(!), and am told that the reason my tooth hurts or why I have been vomiting for a week is because I am pregnant. Keep in mind that I am on continuous Yaz for health problems as well as bc. X) The pay gap is not pleasant in this state, with another gap between single females and those who have had kids or are married. We won't even get into how other races are treated here. It's not pretty.

All the things you have seen have been present in every job I have worked here, including the men relaxing...or sleeping...on the job, with someone in a position of power assigning other workers' duties to the females to the point where they are not even taking their breaks. My husband has noted the same and more, and possibly has an even less favorable view of this state than I do. The good news is, you have a chance of winning a case on that alone, and the better news is you seem to have other complaints to back it up. Treating a worker differently than other workers based upon things like gender, race, etc. is discrimination. Recently, it became easier to both find out what your coworkers make and to file a complaint about unequal pay without retaliation. I would definitely try to find out if there is a noticeable gender gap in pay for the same experience/job levels. And as others have said, document everything, including specific comments that are made.

I would also go to another forum than this one to ask your question for several reasons!
 
Ok who is Chef Ramsey? lol
Well I do my job, but I don't think it is required of me to work for 13 hours straight without a single break and doing 2 other peoples jobs along with mine. I have been on strike once before, but them my friend gets yelled at because I have caused the problem and I don't want her to catch the heat for it, but they will not come to me to yell because they are cowards and I am quite outspoken.
I am looking for another job now, but I am working on buying a house and a job change would be terrible timing right now, but it may just have to happen anyways. I will give him a final warning in a couple weeks, since I need time off for a family function and down want to start a new job before then, but I first have to be sure that I have another job since I have to be able to support myself and 2 family members partially. Good idea about the written warning, I have not done that yet.
Hmm I'm sure I can rig something up to record on one of the shelves since no one every cleans them anyways lol
Ok so document everything in writing and also other media, give a deadline for things to change and I may or may not have a case. I will see my lawyer tomorrow anyways, maybe he can give me some more advice what my legal rights are.
Thank you all very much, I am just so angry that I could pop, but have never dealt with this sort of behavior before, so I needed a bit of advice and since I always get my chicken advice here and don't use any other forums I thought I would ask here for this too.
 
I am living in a very male dominated state, and it shows. Not just in very unequal pay based on gender alone, but in many areas. Not surprisingly, this creates a hostile and wide division based on racial and gender groups. I've even sadly seen retaliation groups where women have found a position of power of some kind, and won't hire men (and vocally saying as much). This is the only state where I go in to see the doctors...or dentist(!), and am told that the reason my tooth hurts or why I have been vomiting for a week is because I am pregnant. Keep in mind that I am on continuous Yaz for health problems as well as bc. X) The pay gap is not pleasant in this state, with another gap between single females and those who have had kids or are married. We won't even get into how other races are treated here. It's not pretty.
All the things you have seen have been present in every job I have worked here, including the men relaxing...or sleeping...on the job, with someone in a position of power assigning other workers' duties to the females to the point where they are not even taking their breaks. My husband has noted the same and more, and possibly has an even less favorable view of this state than I do. The good news is, you have a chance of winning a case on that alone, and the better news is you seem to have other complaints to back it up. Treating a worker differently than other workers based upon things like gender, race, etc. is discrimination. Recently, it became easier to both find out what your coworkers make and to file a complaint about unequal pay without retaliation. I would definitely try to find out if there is a noticeable gender gap in pay for the same experience/job levels. And as others have said, document everything, including specific comments that are made.
I would also go to another forum than this one to ask your question for several reasons!

Well as far as the pay goes we only have 7 employees, so it can be debated who is underpaid here, but the pay is not even important as long as I get paid, but rather the frustration.
I am very sorry about your situation and I am stunned that it seems so common from what you are saying. I have never encountered this anywhere else, most guys at previous jobs always gave me a lot of respect and I would treat them with respect in return.
What forum would you recommend? This is usually the only place I post anything online and I have gotten great chicken advice here and it seems poultry people in general have their heads on pretty straight
lol.png

I know I will be just fine going to a better job and probably making a lot more, but these owners need to be punished for their behavior so no one else has to go through this again.
I hope things will get better for you too, hang in there, don't put up with nonsense, put up a good fight because one person can change the world!
 
See, that is what I used to think about pay checks...but now I have a burning desire to get into sustainable farming for the health and happiness of my husband, myself, our pets, and our friends. All of a sudden, I am kicking myself over that 14,000 dollars less (5,000 shy of a down payment for a small farm) I am making a year simply because I have a different chromosome pairing. Truth is, I should have kicked myself and changed my situation at any point that happened on principal and self-respect alone. *insert kicking self icon here*

In your case, this sounds like a microcosm of horribleness, rather than a deeply ingrained state culture, which makes it likely that any report you file will be much more likely to succeed if you do go that route, plus means you are likely to be able to find a better work environment elsewhere. :). Trust me when I say that I've never seen such widespread sexism in any other state I've lived in, and I've lived in many states. The statistics for this state are honestly embarrassing to me as a US citizen when I look up things like pay gaps for gender and race.

I'd personally recommend a forum focused on worker's rights or legal help.

Heck don't worry about me, my husband and I are moving to a new state in just two months! It is the people I'm leaving behind who just break my heart. Many of them are at the frustration level you and I are at, but without enough funds to move or a good chance at a better work environment. :/
 
You should just go and get another job and let the restaurant close down as those people will not be able to run it on their own, then they will all be out of a job!

Even if you sort it out with the owner, it sound like your co workers are lazy and not nice people to be working with.
 
I wasn't really looking to get anything out of it other then the owners getting punished. I am very big on fairness and I can take a lot of crap, but when I see that someone treats someone else(in this case my best friend) very unfair, I will speak out and defend them.
Well I figured out yesterday that the documenting everything just takes way too long. I already don't take breaks on my 12 hour shifts and yesterday I had to stay longer because I didn't get everything done in time due to writing everything down, but maybe I go too much into detail just out of habit from working in the medical field. The 2 guys there yesterday put in a total amount of a stunning 3 minutes of actual work and that is both guys combined. The rest of their time there was spend on facebook, drawing superheros, going outside to smoke talking about comic books, talking on their cell phones and sleeping. Well the funny thing is I applied at a few places on my day off and have a good chance for an industrial job making twice what I am making now plus benefits, though it won't be available for a month or 2, but I think I can stick it out that long.
My friend may have a new job too and will probably leave right before I go out of town for a family event and the owners have plans that weekend too, which will leave them with no one qualified enough to work on their own for nearly a week. One guy from the old crew who is a little lazy, but is a good kid and will help us out if we ask him to, he has also applied at a few jobs. Well karma works in mysterious ways and these guys have some coming at them
smile.png
 
Glad to hear you are finding a better job. Hope it works out for you!

Hope they do close down.

Yeah lazy co-workers are no fun!
 
As the manager, can you send them home if they aren't working? Are you in charge of scheduling? Sounds like they are getting paid for nothing and it wouldn't change the amount of work you do if they were sent home. Perhaps if they missed a paycheck or tips they might take you a little more seriously.

Check and see if you are required to give two weeks notice. It would be a LOT more fun to just walk out the door one day and leave it to them.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom