The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has been unrelenting in its pursuit to improve employment conditions and a recent Walmart discrimination lawsuit settlement is a testament to that. A Walmart store in Iowa was accused of engaging in discrimination in the workplace, for refusing to promote a female worker on the grounds of her having small children to look after. The case was a clear indication of preferential treatment for specific candidates, or rather, discriminatory treatment without consideration of the candidate’s qualifications.
It is not easy to prove that the promotions at a company are discriminatory, but the EEOC discrimination case was upheld, although Walmart chose to resolve the suit without admitting liability in the matter.
Image – Walmart Press Center
“Women with children deserve the opportunity to be judged fairly in the workplace based on their qualifications and abilities, not on assumptions about their commitment to their careers. The EEOC is pleased that the employee in this case has received a measure of justice for the opportunity that she was wrongfully denied.”
—Gregory Gochanour, the regional EEOC attorney at the Chicago District Office
Why Was the Walmart Discrimination Lawsuit Filed?
Back in 2021, a complaint was filed by a Walmart assistant manager who stated that the company had failed to promote her because of her sex, specifically due to her having recently given birth and in connection to stereotypes about having small children at home. The employee also noted racially motivated discriminatory actions against her for differential treatment from her white female colleagues. According to the filing, the employee had been an employee at Walmart since 2014. Following a brief break on maternity leave, the employee returned to the organization and was encouraged to apply for a department manager position. After the initial interview, the employee’s promotion was denied and an enquiry led to the finding that “decision-makers wanted to promote someone who they thought would stay with the company long-term and eventually seek a further promotion to assistant manager.”
The claim suggested that the reason for being denied promotion was not due to a lack of skills or experience but a result of the assumption that she would not stay at the company long enough to warrant it, despite the fact that she had three more years of experience than the person who was promoted in her stead. The person who did receive the promotion was reportedly also a woman but one who did not have children at home.
The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) took up the case, presenting that the defendant was in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in the workplace, requesting a jury trial with regard to the case. The EEOC first provided Walmart with an opportunity to engage in informal conciliation efforts and find a satisfactory resolution to the matter for the concerned party but this attempt was unsuccessful.
What Are the Results of the EEOC Discrimination Claims?
In response to the Walmart discrimination lawsuit, the company moved to end the case without a trial but a U.S. Supreme Court judge dismissed the motion, stating that the “‘pervasive presumption that women are mothers first, and workers second’ is among the sex stereotypes Congress has explicitly identified as impermissible,” according to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
According to the consent decree that was finally agreed on, Walmart will now have to pay the ex-employee $60,000 in compensation. In addition, the company will also have to provide training to management employees to follow the guidelines of federal law that prohibit sex in the workplace. For the decree’s duration, the company will have to report any similar complaints to the EEOC.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Refusing promotions for women falls under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which oversees the matter of equal employment conditions for all and emphasizes the guidelines for what may be considered as discriminatory. Defining sex-based discrimination, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission states, “Sex discrimination involves treating someone (an applicant or employee) unfavorably because of that person’s sex, including the person’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or pregnancy.”
The law forbids discrimination in the workplace in any form, regardless of whether it comes to hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoffs, training, fringe benefits, and any other employment terms. The guidelines include rules for employer practices, employment agencies, and labor organizations as well.
Additional acts like the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Civil Rights Act of 1991, etc. also oversee the enforcement of equal employment opportunities for all citizens and companies need to have a clear understanding of these laws to ensure they do not indulge in any form of discrimination in the workplace.