In the latest of a recent influx of gender discrimination lawsuits filed against large corporations, a senior human resources manager at California-based Toshiba America Inc. has filed a $100 million employment law suit against the company, alleging that it engages in gender bias against women in pay and promotions.

Toshiba America, the U.S. arm of Japanese technology corporation Toshiba Corp., has found itself on the defensive after human resources manager Elaine Cyphers alleged that she received a lower salary than similarly situated male co-workers. Cyphers says that her case is just one example of a company-wide trend of paying women lower salaries and bonuses than men who have similar backgrounds and who perform similar work.

Cyphers also alleged that Toshiba places women in lower-grade positions and that it disproportionately offers promotions to men. She says that after coming to Toshiba with 25 years of human resources experience, she watched as a less experienced man was promoted to a new position above her, which ultimately motivated her to bring the employment suit against her employer.

Despite Toshiba's creation six years ago of a "Gender Equality Office", there is a significant lack of women in leadership roles, Cypher claims. According to the complaint filed in court, women make up only three percent of the company's over 6,000 managers worldwide.

The lawsuit against Toshiba is one of several similar gender discrimination suits of recent years. In July, pharmaceutical company Novartis AG settled a class-action lawsuit to the tune of $175 million after a class of 5,600 female employees alleged discrimination in pay and promotions. Also, the Supreme Court will likely soon rule on a historically large Wal-Mart class action suit, which was brought on behalf of up to 1.5 million past and present female Wal-Mart employees.

Source: Reuters, "Toshiba faces $100 million gender bias lawsuit", Jonathan Stempel, 31 January 2011