The San Jose Fire Department is under fire for the second time in five years for gender discrimination. Two female firefighters, Chief Patricia Tapia and retired Battalion Chief Debra Ward, are suing the city “for gender discrimination, retaliation and harassment saying they were passed up for promotions because they are women.” Both women claim in the lawsuit that they are “fighting to change the culture of exclusion at the fire department.”
No one deserves to be discriminated against while on the job, whether its racial, age or gender discrimination. Unfortunately, many forms of discrimination still exist in the workplace. For example, the San Jose Fire Department is under fire for the second time in five years for gender discrimination. Two female firefighters, Chief Patricia Tapia and retired Battalion Chief Debra Ward, are suing the city “for gender discrimination, retaliation and harassment saying they were passed up for promotions because they are women.” Both women claim in the lawsuit that they are “fighting to change the culture of exclusion at the fire department.”
As of now, the women are seeking “wage compensation and pension benefits that would have been provided if they had been promoted,” and they don’t intend to back down until they get it. In a recent statement, Tapia said, “This fight is for every little girl that wants to be a firefighter.” She added that she’s “applied for 10 promotions in the past five years and has been denied each time…People have been selected with less experience, less training.”
Ward expressed similar frustration in recent statements, saying “No matter how high I come out on the test, I come out number one, they still find some reason not to promote.” It’s also important to note that over the last four years, “the fire department has hired only four women among more than 100 candidates.”
However, this isn’t the first time the two women have filed complaints against the department. Back in 2012, they settled a discrimination lawsuit over their treatment by department leaders. So why are they filing a new lawsuit? Well, according to the women, after the 2012 settlement, “the harassment from leaders in the department got even worse.”
So what does the city have to say about the allegations? For starters, City Attorney Rick Doyle said, “When you hear those allegations, it stings because we take this seriously.” He added, “In this case, we don’t think it exists, and we’ll defend this case.” Basically, the city is pushing back against the allegations. Doyle defended the department’s actions by saying, “The best-qualified candidates have been promoted.”
For now, it’s expected that this latest case will head to trial soon, and will probably last about a week. It will be interesting to see if this case, like the one in 2012, will be settled, and what the effects of the lawsuit will mean for future women wanting to join the San Jose Fire Department.
Sources:
San Jose Fire Department Faces Gender Discrimination and Retaliation Lawsuit
San Jose will pay $395,000 to two women fire captains to settle gender-bias suit
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