Alabama Justices OK Gender-Based Firing
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MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Supreme Court has ruled that state law allows people to be fired because of their sex, a decision that upheld the dismissal of a radio disc jockey fired because she is female.
The justices ruled unanimously Wednesday that gender-based firings do not violate state law and said only the Legislature could pass a law barring such dismissals.
Patricia Williams Howard filed a lawsuit after her Jan. 26, 1988, firing from a job as a disc jockey and advertising saleswoman at WEGN. The station is now WPGG.
The station manager told Howard that she was being dismissed because the station owner’s wife did not want women on the air, the court said. Howard said the manager signed a letter stating that was the reason she was fired.
State law allows employers to fire workers at any time without cause. The Legislature has passed exceptions that bar firings of workers for filing worker compensation claims or for serving on juries.
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