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| Issue: |
Rhonda, a CPA at a mid-size accounting firm, mentioned to her boss that she had become the guardian of her niece and nephew, who were coming to live with her, so she would need a few days off to help them settle in. Rhonda’s boss expressed concern that she would be unable to balance her new family responsibilities with her demanding career, and he was worried that Rhonda would suffer from stress and exhaustion. Two weeks later, he moved her from her lead position on three of the firm’s biggest accounts and assigned her to supporting roles handling several smaller accounts. In doing so, the boss told Rhonda that he was transferring her so that she “would have more time to spend with her new family,” despite the fact that Rhonda never asked for additional leave and had been completing her work in a timely and satisfactory manner. At the end of the year, for the first time in her seven-year tenure with the firm, Rhonda was denied a pay raise, even though many other workers did receive raises. When she asked for an explanation, she was told she needs to be available to work on bigger accounts if she wants to receive raises. Now Rhonda is in your office, complaining she was discriminated against because she takes care of her niece and nephew. Is there such a thing as caregiver bias?
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Answer: |
Although the federal EEO laws do not prohibit discrimination against caregivers per se, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has described circumstances where discrimination against caregivers might constitute unlawful disparate treatment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or the Americans with Disabilities Act. Caregiver responsibilities encompass not only childcare but also eldercare or caring for individuals with disabilities. While women are still responsible for a disproportionate share of family caregiving responsibilities, men’s role has increased. According to the EEOC, the amount of time men spend on childcare nearly tripled between 1965 and 2003.
In this case, the employer has engaged in unlawful sex discrimination by taking adverse action against a female employee (Rhonda) based on stereotypical assumptions about women with caregiving responsibilities, even if the employer believed that it was acting in the employee's best interest. Of course, adverse actions that are based on sex stereotyping violate Title VII, even if the employer is not acting out of hostility.
Source: EEOC Guidance: “Unlawful Disparate Treatment of Workers with Caregiving Responsibilities,” reported in Employment Practices Guide, New Developments ¶5243.
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