Turnabout is not always fair play. We often hear about the “glass ceiling” keeping women out of power positions but a federal lawsuit is alleging that a jewelry and beauty product wholesaler has been keeping the men on the bottom—discriminating against them and hiring only women as managers.
The Associated Press reports that Ventura Corporation Ltd., a mail-order company located in San Juan, Puerto Rico, “repeatedly discriminated against men from 2004 through at least 2008 by deterring them from applying for the management jobs,” according to a lawsuit filed this week by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Ventura’s general director German Ramirez said, basically, that it’s not their fault if men don’t opt for management jobs because the company deals with cosmetics and beauty supplies. Erick Zayas, who worked in the company’s collections department, tells a different story. Zayas wanted to apply for a sales management job but says he was told it was only available to women. After he filed a complaint, he claims he was put in charge of a “troublesome zone” and given different disciplinary standards and fewer resources then his female counterparts. When he spoke up, a female manager allegedly told him, “If you’re such a man you can do it without help.”
According to the AP, more than 700 sex-discrimination complaints from Puerto Rico were filed with the EEOC from 2000 to 2010. Of those, 102 were filed by men, including 14 last year.
Ramirez says Zayas didn’t meet company objectives and was treated no differently than women at the same level. Whether the suit holds up remains to be seen, but discrimination allegations ain’t pretty—cosmetics or not.
The Associated Press reports that Ventura Corporation Ltd., a mail-order company located in San Juan, Puerto Rico, “repeatedly discriminated against men from 2004 through at least 2008 by deterring them from applying for the management jobs,” according to a lawsuit filed this week by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Ventura’s general director German Ramirez said, basically, that it’s not their fault if men don’t opt for management jobs because the company deals with cosmetics and beauty supplies. Erick Zayas, who worked in the company’s collections department, tells a different story. Zayas wanted to apply for a sales management job but says he was told it was only available to women. After he filed a complaint, he claims he was put in charge of a “troublesome zone” and given different disciplinary standards and fewer resources then his female counterparts. When he spoke up, a female manager allegedly told him, “If you’re such a man you can do it without help.”
According to the AP, more than 700 sex-discrimination complaints from Puerto Rico were filed with the EEOC from 2000 to 2010. Of those, 102 were filed by men, including 14 last year.
Ramirez says Zayas didn’t meet company objectives and was treated no differently than women at the same level. Whether the suit holds up remains to be seen, but discrimination allegations ain’t pretty—cosmetics or not.
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