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Discrimination in the Workplace - Non-pregnant Women

July 2, 2007 Most US workers are well aware of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) guidelines regarding pregnant women. In a nutshell, discriminating against pregnant women is illegal. This was familiar territory to me as a former HR Director but a few recent conversations with some female friends and former colleagues got me thinking about another side of this topic. Is there a bias towards women who are happily married and have decided not to have children or those who have waited until later in life to start a family? Consider these two examples:

1.  A 38 year old, married woman named Susan is conducting an interview (she is 3 months pregnant and not “showing”). Upon viewing a family photograph on the Susan’s desk, the female job candidate volunteers that she has two children she had “just under the wire”. The interviewer asks, “What do you mean?” The job candidate explains she is 35 years old and does not believe women should have children past the age of 35. 

2.  A 34 year old, married woman named Ariel is celebrating her birthday having some cake & ice cream with her office mates. A female co-worker approaches Ariel saying, “When are you going to get started?” “Started on what?” she replies. “Having children!” was the response.

Talk about a pregnant pause! Much to my surprise - women were the culprits in both of these examples. Is there some kind of female/female reproductive harassment going on out there?
OK, perhaps I’m overreaching on the harassment angle but I can assure you both of the women in those examples were horrified. Putting temporary embarrassment aside – both of these accomplished women were left to wonder why their personal choices or circumstances were being dragged into focus during the workday.

Clearly, no one has the ability to stop another person from saying or doing anything, but once it happens it’s out there. In these two examples, it seems there are two choices - ignore it or confront it. What do you think Susan and Ariel did? Better yet – what should they have done? Respond to this blog and let me know what you think. Watch this space tomorrow and I’ll share what really happened.

Posted by Gretchen Miller on July 2, 2007 | Comments (4)