Female Employee Allegedly Told to Stop “Playing the Victim” and is Terminated.

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Employee Files Lawsuit against Bimbo Bakeries for Gender Discrimination

Jessica accepted a position with Bimbo Bakeries in May 2015, and then, in February 2016, she was promoted to a production supervisor. Despite the promotion, she was concerned about unfair treatment that she’d been experiencing. When Jessica described the disparate treatment to supervisors, she was allegedly told to “handle her own problems” and to stop “playing the victim.”

According to Jessica, the unfair treatment was everywhere from training to colleague interaction. While similarly situated men were cross-trained on production lines, Jessica was not. She noted that during slow times she was often assigned menial tasks while the men were given more important assignments. Meanwhile, one of her team members was routinely rude and condescending to her but would speak respectfully to the men. Jessica continued to make complaints about the treatment to supervisors from February to August.

Again, in September, Jessica made a complaint to the acting HR manager, but she was told that it would have to be forwarded to the HR manager. Jessica suspects the complaint was never passed on because no meaningful investigation or response occurred.

Jessica dealt with comments from one coworker who told her that she “should not be a supervisor” and that she didn’t know what was going on.Jessica dealt with comments from one coworker who told her that she “should not be a supervisor” and that she didn’t know what was going on. In November, Jessica was placed on a disciplinary probationary period and told to make improvements on her leadership and communication skills. Once again, Jessica recognized this as disparate treatment. According to Jessica, she made those adjustments but at her follow-up meetings, she was given more areas to improve. At one point, Jessica shared that a comment was made that she was at fault for the unfair treatment that she was experiencing. Jessica was terminated.

Jessica believes that she experienced workplace discrimination due to her gender and was terminated because she complained about the unfair treatment. As a client of KM&A, Jessica is pursuing her rights under the law and challenging gender discrimination in the workplace. KM&A advocates for employees like Jessica who have suffered unfair treatment due to their gender.

 

Full text of this complaint, as filed with the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, is available at docket no: 5:17-cv-05694-EGS

Kraemer, Manes & Associates LLC is an employment law firm with principal offices in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, serving all counties in Pennsylvania, focusing on employment law, business law, litigation, and civil issues. KM&A clients include employees, small businesses, parties in litigation, and people with a variety of legal issues.

For more information about this case, contact Attorney Jonathan Chase at 215-475-3504 or at jwc@lawkm.com.

NOTICE: All information contained in this statement comes from the Complaint which has been filed as a public record with the court. As dedicated civil rights attorneys, we strongly believe in the public value of telling our clients’ stories: violators can be held accountable, and other silent victims can feel empowered to stand up for their legal rights. Although we make every attempt to verify our clients’ claims, note that the defendant is expected to oppose our client’s position, and the court has not ruled one way or the other as of the date of this statement.