A GE employment lawyer sues her employer

General Electric is a very successful company that has over 300,000 employees, yet female employees still seem to be discriminated against. Lorene Schaefer, who was the general counsel of GE's transportation division, decided to sue GE after she was demoted without any prior warning. "The complaint accuses GE of "systemic, company wide discriminatory treatment" of more than 1,000 female attorneys and executives. It alleges that they make less than their male counterparts. It also alleges that GE doesn't promote women at the same rate as men." Although this company does hire women, they do not give them fair and equal opportunities. Even if a woman has the same title as a man, the man may still earn more money. This case proves that even in today's workforce, gender discrimination is still present. Wages continue to be unequal and it is still very common that males get promoted more often than women. This demonstrates that women still need to take their cases to court, in order to try to gain equality in the workforce. Schaefer was demoted, even though she had a positive performance analysis. This showed me that in reality, women may be excellent at their job, but in the end, they may not be given equal opportunities due to their gender. This idea is very sad, but unfortunately, true. Even today, many women take their cases to court in order to show that they are going to do whatever it takes to gain equality for women in the workplace. I believe that there is still so much more that needs to be done to ensure these equal opportunities, but if women like Schaefer continue to fight, then one day, all women will be treated equally in the workforce.

Reisinger, Sue. "Inside knowledge: a GE employment lawyer sues her employer." American Lawyer. 29. 8 (August 2007): 30(1). Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Deerfield High School. 7 Feb. 2010 http://find.galegroup.com/.