Posted by Gia Leonardis.
The Title VII of the Civil Rights Acts prohibits an employer from treating you differently, or less favorably, because of your sex, which is defined to include pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity. This law was put in place to protect employees in the workplace. However, 3 women, who work for Amazon, filed a suit in Nov. 2023 accusing their employer of doing what the Act was supposed to protect them from.
According to the lawsuit, Amazon provided lower wages for women who held similar positions within the company to those of men who were paid more. Caroline Wilmuth, Katherine Schomer and Erin Combs raised their concerns to their managers and Amazon’s Human Resources Department. Wilmuth explained, “When I discovered that I was being paid significantly less than men on my team, it stunned and devastated me,…”. This shows the aggravation that the women faced due to the fact that they are being paid less because of their gender. After Wilmuth addressed her concerns, Amazon demoted her to a position that had “much less career advancement opportunity”. She was taken away from the team that she “founded and built from scratch”.
In March, an investigator looked in Wilmuth’s issues and as a result of this, Amazon disputed the lawsuit. Brad Glasser, an Amazon spokesperson, stated, “We believe these claims are false and will demonstrate that through the legal process”. Glasser also explained that Amazon “doesn’t tolerate discrimination in the workplace, and it investigates all reported incidents of such behavior.” However, Amazon has faced many allegations of gender and racial discrimination from their corporate and tech workers. In 2021, the company opened a review into its employee review system. It followed allegations of racial bias and an investigation into discrimination and bias. In conclusion , Amazon declared they were conducting a racial equity audit of their front-line employee workforce. This will be led by Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
Personally, after reading this information, I think it is unfair that women are paid less than the men. They both take on the same task and therefore should both be equally acknowledged. They both put in the hard work and should be paid the same as it is the same job.
Gia is a marketing major at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University, Class of 2027.