This month the world’s biggest retailer will find out whether it is to face the world’s biggest sexual discrimination suit. If the case goes to trial, Wal-Mart will be accused of systematically discriminating against its female employees by denying them promotions and equal pay. The female employees in question could include all those who have worked at Wal-Mart since 1998 – some 1.5 mn in total. If the company loses, it could be forced to pay out compensation amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars.
Over 100 current and former Wal-Mart female employees provided sworn declarations in support of the motion, claiming their careers hit the proverbial glass ceiling. When the case was originally filed in June 2001, the percentage of women in management positions was not only far lower than at Wal-Mart’s competitors, it was lower than its rivals’ 1975 levels.
‘This lawsuit marks the D day assault that will shatter the glass ceiling for women at America’s largest private employer,’ announced Joseph Sellers, one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers. Fighting talk, but shattering the glass ceiling will take more than a hefty fine. Some of Wal-Mart’s female employees complained that managers repeatedly told them men ‘need to be paid more than women because they have families to support.’ One male manager at a South Carolina Wal-Mart store took this further by claiming, ‘God made Adam first, so women would always be second to men.’
If that wasn’t so objectionable it would be funny – funny because this Christian fundamentalist sounds like he could be a good buddy of Mahmoud Kharabsheh, a deputy of Jordan’s new parliament, who stated last month, ‘Women should remain at home to raise their children.’ His comment came after his government rejected temporary laws giving women the right to file for divorce and took away the power of courts to impose harsh punishments for ‘honor crimes’ – a man killing a female relative for bringing shame on the family (by, for example, being raped).
With divides and discrimination still so pervasive – in minds as well as in boardrooms – you have to wonder whether the term ‘glass ceiling’ is, in fact, somewhat optimistic. After all, it implies something above as opposed to something all around.
But, as illustrated by our cover story, Cracks in the ceiling, the situation isn’t entirely bleak. Investor relations is one profession without an evident gender divide. In this field people succeed on their merits.
That gives you a responsibility. And while leading by example is a quiet way to bring about transformation – after all it won’t make the headlines in the way a court case involving millions of dollars will – it can be just as effective. Remember what Gandhi said: ‘Be the change you want to see in the world.’
