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LITIGATION ARTICLES

GLASS CEILINGS, PHONY RIF'S
AND IMPROPER STEREOTYPING

AN EMPLOYMENT LITIGATION CASE STUDY

In the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago, Mr. Caruso won an important appeal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, on behalf of a female manager who was the only person terminated in an alleged reduction in force (RIF).   

The Court of Appeals held that:

--        Where an alleged RIF is directed at a single employee, the employer is not entitled to the degree of deference to its business judgment that would ordinarily be due.   

--        Although the Company did not specifically replace this manager (because her job title was eliminated), she was nonetheless entitled to a trial on a claim that the Company discriminated against her by selecting her for the RIF, when she was performing better than other males who, in slightly different job categories, were not performing as well.   

--         Although the Company stated a business reason for the termination, the employee presented sufficient evidence of "gender stereotyping" to require trial.

Specifically, there was substantial evidence that a male supervisor routinely criticized the female manager for allegedly abrasive relations with her co-workers while tolerating far more abusive behavior by the male managers whose performance was inferior, but who were spared termination in the alleged RIF.     

In sum, the record on appeal showed that the Company arguably engaged in sex discrimination by impermissibly punishing a female manager for aggressive business behavior that was encouraged in male managers, and then concocting a phony RIF, as way of terminating her employment and thereby preserving an all male upper management team.

This case was decided in 2000 and remains widely cited. In particular, this case is an important precedent for female managers who are trying to smash the glass ceiling that limits their opportunities to advancement in traditional male fields.

The names are withheld to protect the identity of the client, who is continuing in her career.