The 5 Most Outrageous Employment Lawsuits of 2012

It’s the new year and hopefully a fresh start for many employees. The job market seems to be picking up and people have a renewed fresh outlook once again, as the year starts.

We’ve covered many lawsuits in the employment arena over the last 12 months. Some of these were local and others were national. But here’s our roundup of the Top 5 most crazy and/or most interesting employment lawsuits:

1. Former Partner Sues Greenberg Traurig Over Gender Discrimination

The prize for the most large-scale and ambitious lawsuit goes to the Greenberg Traurig lawsuit. Only this time, instead of defending a lawsuit, the mega law firm is finding itself defending against a lawsuit, as it has been named as the defendant. The lawsuit was brought by a former partner who claims that women were treated differently than men on the job.

2. Ellen Pao: The Woman Who Shook Up the Big Boys Club

Coming in at a close second is the nationally infamous lawsuit against a venture capital law firm. Kleiner Perkins is being sued by Ellen Pao, who is making very similar claims as the partner in the Greenberg lawsuit.

3. Wet Seal Wants ‘Armani Look’, Gets Hit With Discrimination Suit

The Wet Seal lawsuit also has national implications. But it began with a local store in King of Prussia. In this lawsuit, the store manager is claiming that she was let go because she didn’t fit the store’s “Armani Code.” In short, she wasn’t skinny and Nordic-looking. This standard was allegedly openly embraced by store management, who said that in order to be successful, the retailer had to hire people who had the “Armani look.”

4. Woman Fired for Wearing Penis to Work

Now, moving on to straight-up salacious cases, a woman sued her employer after they fired her for wearing a prosthetic penis to work. The woman identifies as transgender, and was wearing the penis in contemplation of gender reassignment surgery. She brought a sex discrimination lawsuit against J&J Snack Foods in Moosic.

5. Does ‘Too Hot’ Woman Have an EEOC Claim in an ‘At Will’ Employment State?

Finally, we brought you the case of the woman who claims she was fired for being “too hot.” She alleged gender and religious discrimination. Of course, the crux of the lawsuit is that she wore inappropriate clothing to work. But it sounds much better to say you were fired for being “too hot,” doesn’t it?

Related Resources:

• Find a Discrimination Lawyer in Philadelphia (FindLaw)
• Filing an EEOC Complaint or Charge (FindLaw’s Philadelphia Employment Law News)
• Gender Discrimination (FindLaw)