In a recent article posted today, I encountered a very interesting topic addressing issues currently being brought up by Bayer AG's U.S. health care branch. The article brings up a very significant problem regarding gender discrimination in the workplace. It is said that the branch filed a $100 million gender discrimination lawsuit today, claiming that the U.S. unit of Bayer discriminates against its female employees in terms of pay and promotion, as well as pregnancy leave. This lawsuit was filed through the Newark, NJ federal court and seeks "class-action status". Stated simply, the lawsuit is asking for $100 million in pay back, damages, and legal costs.
“Bayer engages in systemic discrimination against its female employees — particularly those with family responsibilities — by paying them less than their counterparts, denying them promotions into better and higher paying positions, limiting their employment opportunities to lower and less desirable job classifications, and exposing them to different treatment and a hostile work environment,” said Katherine Kimpel, a lawyer for the women suing. “To make matters worse, Bayer is often blatant about its disregard for its female employees.”
According to the same source, the defendants include Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals and its U.S. parent Bayer Corp. In addition, the lawsuit claims that the company's HR department has defined gender discrimination as being a "gray area" that should be handled by the employee, not the company. It is also important to note that a Bayer spokeswoman stated that the company had previously received administrative complaints before the EEOC by 6 current or former New Jersey based employees. Apparently, the company was prepared to cooperate with the EEOC and respond to said charges, but the plaintiffs elected to end the proceedings and file the current lawsuit.
This article brings up yet another ethical situation regarding women and leadership, along with the fact that a number of corporations who do business in the U.S. have faced discrimination suits on behalf of their female employees as well. In fact, last month Sanford Wittels & Heisler, which brought the Bayer suit, sued Toshiba Corp's U.S. business and French advertising company Publicis Group SA on behalf of female employees in the U.S. Several other situations exist as well, including a lawsuit on behalf of as many as 1.5 million female employees at Wal-Mart Stores.
This clearly relates to our class topic, Chapter 13 on Women and Leadership. It goes along quite well with the premise of the glass ceiling and how women have struggled to gain elite leadership positions due to instances such as this one where Bayer is apparently preventing women from promotions and higher paying positions. A useful tool to help navigate this issue is further understanding of the Leadership Labyrinth. According to our text, women's underrepresentation in high-level leadership positions generally revolve around three types of explanations. The first is differences in women and men's investment in human capital. The next category considers gender differences between women and men. Then, the final explanation focuses on prejudice and discrimination against female leaders. Therefore, if we relate the Labyrinth to the situation at Bayer, you can start by thinking about whether or not the employed women's educational level, work experience, developmental opportunities, and work-home conflict play a role in this discrimination by the company. Next, you can look into various prejudices regarding gender stereotypes, biased perception and evaluations, vulnerability & reactance, along with cross-pressures. Finally, it is important to think about gender differences in the workplace, including traits, negotiation, self-promotion, commitment & motivation, along with style & effectiveness. Many of these various elements that are a part of the Leadership Labyrinth can often give explanation as to how and why some of these women may be discriminated against in their workplace.
It will truly be interesting to see how this lawsuit, along with the many others relating to discrimination of women all pan out. This is clearly an ethical issue that must be dealt with and analyzed more deeply. See the link below to read the full article.
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