Retaliation complaints have a deserved comeback
The first female building inspector in Hayward City Hall Margaret Dufresne had to leave the job in 2001 because male inspectors discriminated against her, and her superiors, most of whom were female, retaliated against her for raising discrimination complaints.
The trial resumed last week after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that makes it easier for employees to lodge discrimination complaints against employers.
The irony is that even after five years, the woman employee who should have received justice by now is trying to still defend her case. This time, also against allegations that she was a “whiner” at workplace! The reality is that the city is much less diverse in its workforce, with overwhelming majority being white males. This could be the case due to the city choosing to drop diversity training workshops in the early 1990s. City Manager Jesus Armas said that this needed to be done keeping in mind the economic recession and budgetary consideration. And amidst chuckles from the courtroom, he could not answer to Dufresne’s lawyer’s question: “why city leaders built a costly new City Hall in the mid-1990s when they were abandoning diversity training?”
As the trial goes on, one thing is certain: it’s a hearty respite that workers can now get their cases moving against the former or present bosses without a fear of any retaliation.
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