When most people think about gender discrimination, they automatically think about a woman who is having to deal with the preferential treatment of males in the workplace. While this is the situation that makes the news most often, there are times when a male might be the person who is facing gender discrimination in the workplace.
Recently, the news of a male who is suing the City of Hialeah has made the news. While this is only one case of a man alleging gender discrimination, it is a good reminder that this does happen.
A promotion in question
The man, who is currently a police officer with the Hialeah Police Department, took a test and applied for a promotion to sergeant. He says that he did well on the test and that he was excited about getting a new position. Only, that position wasn't given to him. Instead, he was bypassed for the promotion in early 2016. The same thing happened this year.
A position dominated by men
According to a report, 86 percent of the Hialeigh Police Department sergeants are males. In fact, out of 49 sergeants, 42 of them are men. Since 2016, there have been two females promoted to this position. The man claims that both of those promotions were based on gender alone because the two women who were promoted were chosen over males who were better qualified.
The promotion process
A spokesperson for the agency notes that the promotion process for the department looks at the employee as a whole, not just the test scores. In his lawsuit against the city, the man claims that he and other males had higher test scores than the females who were promoted. The lawsuit asserts that the decision to promote the women was based only on their gender.
Questions have been raised
In a round of promotions that occurred in 2015, all eight promotions were handed to men without a single woman getting a promotion. Questions have been raised about whether there is actually gender discrimination going on because of the wide gap between men and women at the rank of sergeant in the department.
Despite this fact, the man who filed the lawsuit that seeks backpay and a change in department policy, notes that his performance, evaluations and tests score should have qualified him for the promotion. It has also been noted that the lawsuit will be amended to include a claim of discrimination based on his prior military service. That potential amendment to the claim is also raising questions. This will be an interesting case to follow as it moves through the legal process.