Stereotyped Statements As Discrimination Evidence.

Employment decisions based on stereotyping can be illegal.For example, comments suggesting that "women should be home with children instead of working", or that "Hispanics are lazy", or that "older workers can't adapt to change" -- can be used as proof in discrimination lawsuits and sometimes are.

I wrote recently about the case of Chadwick v. Wellpoint. In that case Laurie Chadwick, the mother of four -including a set of triplets -- was denied a promotion because she had "too much on her plate." It's an example of a fairly typical case in which we see gender stereotyping at play.

There was no evidence that Ms. Chadwick's family obligations were actually interfering with her work. Rather, her superiors simply assumed this would occur. The court in Chadwick v. Wellpoint stated: "the assumption that a woman will perform her job less well due to her presumed family obligations is a form of sex-stereotyping and ... adverse job actions on that basis constitute sex discrimination."

What we haven't seen much of -- in fact, haven't seen any of -- are cases in which evidence of gender stereotyping has been used to prove discrimination against a man - certainly not a man who has been accused of sexual harassment.

That's why the new case of Sassaman v. Gamache from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals is so interesting and important. Continue reading ...

Guest post by attorney Ellen Simon, who has been listed as one of The Best Lawyers in America for her landmark work representing individuals in precedent-setting cases. Ellen blogs at the Employee Rights Post.