Woman Awarded $2.5 Million in Gender Discrimination Lawsuit
The Fresno city's fire department discriminated against one of its recruits because she was a woman and as a result a jury awarded Michelle Maher nearly $2.5 million in her gender discrimination lawsuit. Maher alleged she was a victim of gender discrimination and a hostile work environment when she was forced out of a Fresno fire department training class. A hostile work environment exists when an employee is treated different because of some discriminatory conduct and the treatment results in an adverse employment decision.
According to evidence presented during the federal trial Maher was intentionally forced out of the training class even though some male recruits with lower test scores remained in the training class. Many times gender discrimination is proved by comparing similarly situation males and females to see that one gender is not being fairly treated. It is rare that managers or executives come right out and send a memo not to hire females or to drop them from training because of their gender.
"It's just overwhelming to think that it's over," Maher said after the verdict.
The award of $2.5 million is for emotional distress and economic losses. My offices handle cases of gender discrimination and I am seeing an increase in the number of cases in Chicago and elsewhere in Illinois.
