TAMPA, Fla. (Legal Newsline) — The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced a lawsuit Oct. 2 against The Children’s Home Inc., a nonprofit children’s organization in Tampa, for allegations of refusing to consider a male employee for a promotion based on his sex.
According to the EEOC, Luis Vasquez was an employee at The Children’s Home and allegedly applied for a new position in the organization’s adolescent motherhood program. Although the program was new, the EEOC contends the position itself was similar to the position Vasquez held. Vasquez was purportedly denied the position because he was male, and the organization wanted only female employees for the program.
"Just as Title VII protects women in the workplace from the gender-based assumption that they always have to be familial caretakers, it also protects men from the stereotype that they cannot hold positions viewed to have such caretaking functions," said Evangeline Hawthorne, director for the Tampa Field Office.
When Vasquez complained about the refusal to consider him for the position, the company allegedly further discriminated against him by excluding him from applications for other positions in the organization.
"Employees must not be prevented from work opportunities based on outdated stereotypes of 'a man's role' in maternity and childcare matters,” said Robert E. Weisberg, regional attorney for the Miami District Office. “Employment decisions based on such stereotypes violate federal law and the EEOC will vigorously oppose them."