Sexual Stereotyping and Gender Identity in the Workplace

Why Should You Attend:

More and more individuals are becoming comfortable with expressing their sexual orientation or their gender identity issues. On a federal level, neither sexual orientation nor gender identity is a protected class (although this is expected to change). Courts haven’t let this fact stop them from using current case law to find employer liability by finding that stereotyping individuals can be discrimination on the basis of prohibited classes such as race, gender, etc. and in violation of Title VII. Stereotyping is hard to recognize sometimes and much harder to control – almost all of us have preconceived notions of how men and women should act in public and in the workplace. Why are courts using Title VII to find liability when stereotyping leads to adverse consequences in the workplace?

This webinar will provide an overview of gender discrimination laws, same sex harassment cases, pregnancy based stereotypes and homosexual stereotype cases. It will also explain the difference between transgender and sexual orientation.

Areas Covered in the Webinar:

• Overview of federal gender discrimination laws
• Why early decisions found that Title VII didn’t cover transgender plaintiffs
• Why the Supreme Court decision of Price Waterhouse changed the playing field
• Overview of same sex harassment cases
• Sex stereotyping to prove same sex harassment
• Stereotyping and “feminine men” cases
• Stereotyping and “women who too much like a man” cases
• Pregnancy based stereotypes
• Homosexual stereotype cases
• What is the difference between transgender and sexual orientation?

Who Will Benefit:

• HR Managers
• Supervisors
• Labor department
• Employee Relations department
• HR professionals

Instructor Profile:

Susan Fahey Desmond, is a partner in the New Orleans office of Jackson Lewis, a national labor and employment law firm with offices in 59 cities across the country. Ms. Desmond has been representing management in all areas of labor and employment law for over 25 years. She is listed in Best Lawyers in America for labor and employment law and has been named by U.S. Chambers as one of America’s leading business lawyers. She is a frequent speaker and author in many topics of labor and employment law.

Topic Background:

When we think of how individuals act normal, what is truly “normal”? Men should act like men and women should act like women? Do employers have a right to require such a standard? What if a male employee who acts “too feminine” is working in a construction field is teased by his co-workers for being “gay” when he’s not? Can an employer tell a female employee that she should dress more femininely (i.e., wear more dresses or makeup, wear more jewelry) if she wants to move up in the company? And, in the age of “gender identity” issues, what are employer responsibilities when an employee is going through a sex change operation and is told to begin dressing as a member of the opposite sex or begin using the restroom facilities of the opposite gender?

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