When the CEO of a leading real estate firm was passed over for a substantial promotion, the woman took offense. She decided to take the company to court. She is alleging that age discrimination is still rampant in a male-dominated world. The claimant who is 66 years old contends she was passed over by a 38-year-old outsourced from another company. She claims that she was booted from her job of tri-state president despite her 15 years of management experience, in favor of a younger 38-year-old hired from an outside party company. She will demonstrate to the court she has been victimized by a good old boy network.
The suit alleges that executives labeled older workers in derogatory fashion and expressed a need for new blood. The claimant disagrees and is seeking a settlement to the tune of $20 million in unpaid wages, damages and back pay.
The respondent company calls the allegations ridiculous and the plans to mount a strong defense in court. The firm postulates their priority is to bring dynamic leadership to the company and promote collaboration, taking its success to the next level of production.
Allegations abound in condemnations and marginalization of the oustedclaimant who believes she has been excluded from key decisions in the firm, as well as human resources, maintaining she has also been excluded from executive decisions. She claims her salary was well under the $100,000 of her male coworkers and informed her salary would be further clipped six years ago due to company-wide cuts. When she balked, she was given the option to quit or never mention it again.
Undoubtedly, this is just one story in one firm of one injustice in the form of gender discrimination. However, minor as cases like this may be, they help brighten the path for Ms. Justice to lead the way. Until that light shines as brightly for everyone, all workers continue to struggle in the dark, to deal with inequality, murkiness, and inconsistencies when it comes to fairness on the job.
Source:
nypost.com, “Cushman COO sues for discrimination” Lois Weiss, Oct. 21, 2013
