Men may also suffer gender/sex discrimination at work

WE often hear about women being denied a job, a promotion, or higher pay because the employer preferred to give the job, promotion or more money to a man. In the Los Angeles Police Department’s (LAPD) an opposite scenario unfolded.
Peter Bakotich, Michael Fanning and Debbie Guerrero worked as senior detectives assigned to LAPD’s Fugitive Warrants Section (FWS). In early 2009, Lieutenant Natalie Cortez became supervisor of the division.
According to court documents, Cortez arrived in the FWS with a plan to replace the male supervisors, like Bakotich and Fanning, with female supervisors.  Shortly after her arrival, Cortez told Guerrero, “Gosh, I wish I could have females working for me.”  Cortez also said that “she liked to mentor females and she wanted to get the girls to go out to lunch” without the male officers in the squad.  In another conversation in the women’s restroom, Cortez stated that she wanted all females working for her on the night watch, and she told Guerrero to “keep an eye” on Fanning and Bakotich and tell her what they “were up to.”  Cortez told another supervisor, Detective Ramona Findley, that if she had her “way basically [she] would have all female supervisors,” and that she “believed that females in general were better employees and worked better than males.”  Cortez also told Findley that she liked to “mentor women and take care of women” and focus her energy on women.
Bakotich at first “got along pretty well” with Cortez, but after Guerrero told Bakotich that Cortez “wanted to replace the male supervisors at [night] watch with females,” he found it “difficult to form a strong harmonious relationship with someone who wants to get rid of you.”  Fanning too learned that Cortez had told other female supervisors that “she wanted to replace the men supervisors on night [shift] with females.”
Cortez successfully implemented her discriminatory plan.  Bakotich was “benched” because “Bakotich was [not] supporting Lieutenant Cortez or following her lawful directions.”  He was stripped of his command, supervisory and field duties, and was assigned to a desk job.  Fanning was demoted for being “disrespectful to Lieutenant Cortez,” and that “it was only business.”   Prior to this time, however, Cortez never told Fanning that he had been discourteous to her.  When Guerrero refused to spy on Bakotich and Fanning for Cortez, she incurred Cortez’s wrath. Guerrero was then relieved of her duties and lost her position at the section.
When the detectives filed formal complaints of discrimination within the department, the department’s internal affairs declined to investigate their claims. All three detectives then filed a lawsuit under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. Bakotich and Fanning alleged causes of action for sex discrimination and retaliation, and Guerrero alleged retaliation.
In September 2011, the case went to trial. After about three hours of deliberation, the jury found in favor of the detectives and awarded Bakotich $502,523 in total damages, Fanning $880,000, and Guerrero $1,085,000, for a total sum of $2,467,523. The trial court entered judgment on December 7, 2011. In February 2012, the City appealed. In December 2013, the appellate court found in favor of the detectives but modified the judgment to reflect an award of $1,085,800 in damages to Guerrero, and to subtract $50,000 from Bakotich’s damages.
California law prohibits discrimination on the basis of “sex,” defined to include a person’s “gender”; and “gender” includes a person’s “gender identity” and “gender expression”—meaning a person’s “gender-related appearance and behavior whether or not stereotypically associated with the person’s assigned sex at birth.”  It also unlawful to engage in discrimination against any person because of his or her sexual orientation, which means “heterosexuality, homosexuality and bisexuality.” When a worker is rejected for employment, fired, or otherwise harmed in employment because of her or his sex or gender, he or she may be a victim of sex discrimination.
Victims of sex discrimination can recover remedies such as back pay, reinstatement, front pay, compensatory damages including emotional pain and suffering, and punitive damages. Discriminated workers may also be entitled to recover attorneys’ fees and litigation costs.
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The Law Offices of C. Joe Sayas, Jr. welcomes inquiries about this topic. All inquiries are confidential and at no-cost.  Atty. Sayas’ Law Office is located at 500 N. Brand Blvd. Suite 980, Glendale, CA 91203. You can contact the office at (818) 291-0088 or visit  www.joesayaslaw.com.

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C. Joe Sayas, Jr., Esq. is trial attorney who has obtained several million dollar recoveries for his clients against employers and insurance companies. He has been selected as a Super Lawyer by the Los Angeles Magazine, featured in the cover of Los Angeles Daily Journal’s Verdicts and Settlements, and is a member of the Million Dollar-Advocates Forum.