James D. Sinegal, Costco Wholesale Corp.'s (COST) chief executive claims that more women than men choose not to take management positions prefering instead to be cashiers. According to this NYTimes.com article he is quoted as saying, “Our experience is that the women have a tendency to b
e the caretakers and have the responsibility for the children and for the family.”
Can anyone say open mouth insert foot? Apparently a federal judge thought there was enough strength to the lawsuit filed in behalf of 700 female workers at the mega-discount retailer, who claim to have been systematically discriminated against as women seeking jobs as managers.
The article states that the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit--a former assistant store manager who was upset about not being made a store manager--asserts that Cosco discriminated against women in promotions since 13 percent of the company's store managers were women, whereas almost half of its employees were women. The facts are these: Women make up only 12.9 percent of store managers and 16.6 percent of assistant managers although women represent 45 percent of the chain's employees. Do the math!
Costco, the nation's largest warehouse store chain, neither posts openings for such positions nor accepts applications for them. The company is not commenting on the law suit but in the past they have denied discrimination explaining that women have a lack of interest in jobs requiring early morning hours.
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