Literary Critique of “Getting Even: Why Women Don’t Get Paid Like Men”

Chapter 5 of “Getting Even: Why Women Don’t Get Paid Like Men” titled “Plain Old Discrimination” the authors examine the following areas where women experience discrimination: hiring, promotion, pay, pregnancy penalty, and lawsuits.
A prime example of inhibiting women to attain professional jobs occurred in 1952, when Sandra Day O’Connor applied for a lawyer job. The firm she applied to stated that they don’t hire female lawyers. Sandra Day O’Connor held an elite ranking in her law class, since she graduated third out of one – hundred and two of her 1952 Stanford Law Class. Many hiring professionals utilize illegal hiring policies called, “gut instincts,” which give men an unfair advantage in the hiring process. The biased reasoning for their hiring decisions is simply that men are more capable than women of doing a good job. In the hiring process, a man and a woman’s qualifications may be equal, but the job is given to the man based on sex biases. Another injustice women face is that after succeeding at an interview, they must pass an additional test, which is to prove their job competence. Many managers slot applicants according to their sex, regardless of their capabilities and credentials. For example, women were slotted as cashiers with low pay and promotion potential at Home Depot during the 1990’s. The men on the other hand, were slotted as sales associates with career paths to management positions. In addition, at Publix grocery stores women’s promotions and raises never occurred, since they were never offered. Like Home Depot, women were restricted to cashier job slots which paid less with little or no likelihood for promotion. Job promotions and advancements were biased in the men’s favor, since managers picked men who worked in the stocking isles. Moreover, the “tap – on – the shoulder method,” gave management unrestricted power / authority to chose men without explanation.
“When one woman, Genevieve Oney, complained that she had no chance to move up, she was actually told, you’re making good money for a woman. What is good money for a woman? Before the lawsuit, men working at Publix full-time made, on average, 35 percent more than women working there full-time. Apparently, good money for a woman is 65 cents to a man’s dollar.”

Another type of discrimination which workforce women experience is the pregnancy penalty. Women who become pregnant suffer repercussions for their pregnancy, namely: termination, demotion, and placed on unpaid leave. An example of the pregnancy penalty was when a woman detective experienced the penalty phase for the consequences of having a second child. Her police department’s employment policy in regard to pregnancy was that pregnancy is an, “off – the – job injury”. This woman detective experienced the following consequences due to her pregnancy: her overtime pay was rescinded, as well as her authorized use of an unmarked police car. The police departments’ action of rescinding her overtime pay placed her in a financial hardship, since her overtime pay accounted for one – third of her total gross earnings. When this woman detective refused to accept her departments penalty phase concerning pregnancy, she was penalized again by being sent out on unpaid leave, and stripped of her entire paycheck. This woman detective took her police department to court and won.
As a result from this discrimination lawsuit, she lost respect from her colleagues, family, and her husband, who divorced her.
“Worse, the lawsuit did not get this police officer’s paycheck even with what it should have been. In the end, this particular cop received $401,361 as part of her group’s jury award. Of her portion, $137,000 went to her lawyers. Another $132,000 went directly to state and federal taxes. That left her with $132,361 some of which had to be used to cover debts incurred while being unable to work overtime during the lawsuit.”
The monetary funds she received did not cover her loss of pay, as well as the following hardships: mental, emotional, and personal distresses. Ultimately, the case was categorized a success, since it forced the police department to change its policy in regard to pregnant police officers and detectives.
Written by Jeffrey P. Kidd