Gender Discrimination Suit Filed by Former University of Chicago Researcher
A cell biologist is seeking tens of thousands of dollars in damages from the University of Chicago, her former employer, for gender discrimination. According to a recent article in the Chi-Town Daily News, the biologist lost her job in 2006, when she ran out of grant money. She claims that during the 10 years she spent at the university, she was given low-level tasks and experiments that could have been performed by students and non-technical personnel. Her complaint alleges that she was passed up for promotions and paid less than her male peers. The complaint also states that the university used $143,000 in grant money, that she procured for her own research, on a male colleague’s research.
Sex or gender discrimination occurs when an employer treats an employee or prospective employee differently solely based upon his or her gender. The law against sex or gender discrimination covers a number of issues that employees may face in the workplace, such as sexual harassment, difficulties with equal pay and the existence of a "glass ceiling" that prevents women from reaching the highest level positions in a company.
