Thursday, February 3, 2011

Toshiba faces $100 million gender bias lawsuit

Reuters

By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK Mon Jan 31, 2011 3:54pm EST

(Reuters) - A senior human resources manager at Toshiba Corp has filed a $100 million lawsuit accusing a U.S. unit of the Japanese technology company of gender bias against women in pay and promotions.
The plaintiff, Elaine Cyphers, contends Toshiba America Inc pays women lower salaries and bonuses than men who perform similar work. She also alleges the company steers women into lower-grade positions and favors men in promotions.
Cyphers said this results in an "astounding lack of women in leadership positions," despite Toshiba's creation six years ago of a "Gender Equality Office." The complaint said only 3.4 percent of Toshiba's 6,273 managers worldwide are women.
"The numbers are atrocious," said David Sanford, a partner at Sanford Wittels & Heisler LLP who represents Cyphers, in an interview. "We believe the class claims are significant, and will be substantiated in the litigation."

Full Story: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/31/idINIndia-54543920110131

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