The proverbial “glass ceiling” still exists in the United States, including in Detroit, Michigan. The term describes the barrier that exists in the advancement of a career because of employment discrimination, such as gender discrimination. The “good old boys” mentality unfortunately still exists in some places and there have been attempts to stop women from advancing in business. The glass ceiling impact is very subtle and it often compels women to resign from a job. However, before doing so, the woman employee may want to consider the available legal options.
A few examples of the glass ceiling cases are: exclusion of a woman from a meeting, the gradual change of a job role or reassigning a woman’s tasks to a man. A sudden transfer of the woman to a different territory and denying a promotion to a woman despite an excellent job performance are all examples of gender discrimination.
The law forbids discrimination, including any kind of subtle, derogatory comment against a woman. Also, assigning stereotypical duties to a woman is another example of workplace discrimination. If a woman faces any kind of workplace discrimination, she may want to explore the potential legal options to hold an employer responsible for this type of gender discrimination.
If the employer creates conditions that are not suitable, forcing the woman to leave the company, that woman may have a constructive discharge claim. Such a claim occurs when there is an intolerable change in the workplace and any reasonable, like-minded employee would quit under those conditions.