Binders Full of Women: Did Romney Mean 'Affirmative Action'?

Binders full of women.

The latest political gaffe of the 2012 presidential campaign was made this week, in response to a question on gender disparity in the workforce.

And no, it’s not as you might expect. It wasn’t Scranton’s own Joe Biden who said it.

In fact, it was Mitt Romney who made the statement. Romney was asked what he would do to remedy the fact that women still get paid less than men in the workforce. In response, he cited to the days when he served as Governor of Massachusetts. And…

As Governor, he was put to the task of hiring for his administration. And as he saw it, there were no qualified women presented for the positions. So, he set out on a campaign to find qualified women to fill the vacancies.

Let’s talk a bit about what Romney may have meant when he said that he sought out “binders full of women.” What he was trying to say (although it might not have come out that way) was that his administration had attempted to remedy the issue of gender disparity in the workforce through affirmative action.

Now, wouldn’t that have sounded a lot better than gathering “binders full of women”?

Affirmative action programs are designed to remedy discriminatory practices in hiring minority group members. The idea behind affirmative action is that an employer would seek out a set number or percentage of minority candidates to fill vacant roles. Affirmative action has been addressed recently by the courts in the context of university admissions.

Gender disparity is a huge issue in the workforce, even to this day. President Barack Obama’s administration made efforts to remedy gender disparity by signing into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

The Act makes it easier for employees to bring an equal pay lawsuit if they were harmed by employment discrimination. It resets the time for bringing the lawsuit to the day the last paycheck was paid, instead of to the day that the employer made the discriminatory decision.

Despite the passage of this law, pay disparity continues to be an issue. If you feel you’ve been wronged by your employer, have a look at our directory of employment attorneys.

We’ve got binders full of qualified attorneys.

Related Resources:

• Philadelphia Employment Lawyers (FindLaw)
• Illegal Interview Questions and Female Applicants (FindLaw)
• Employment Discrimination and Problem Interview Questions (FindLaw’s Philadelphia Employment Law Blog)