If you consider a “protected class” to be a classification of persons that has historically suffered from adverse discriminatory treatment, there is no doubt that the class consists of persons of the female gender. Females have historically been accorded “second-class citizen” status in areas of life other than the workplace, as evidenced by their inability to vote for candidates for public office in the United States prior to the twentieth century and their inability to legally own property in earlier days. Even today, we see in many organized religions, gender plays a significant role in whether a person may or may not function in certain leadership positions.
As with race discrimination, there are many people today who believe that gender discrimination in employment is primarily a thing of the past. But this is not the case. Fiscal Year 2007, EEOC received 28,372 charges of sex-based discrimination. EEOC resolved 24,018 sex discrimination charges in FY 2008 and recovered $109.3 million in monetary benefits for charging parties and other aggrieved individuals (not including monetary benefits obtained through litigation).
The following site will provide you with the statistical information on the number of cases filed with the EEOC from 1992–to present:
http://www.eeoc.gov/types/sex.html
http://www.eeoc.gov/stats/sex.html
Statutory Prohibitions against Gender Discrimination in Employment
Under federal law, gender discrimination in employment is most directly prohibited under three statutes: (1) Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964; (2) the Equal Pay Act (EPA), which was enacted in 1963; and (3) the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) which was enacted in 1978.
On the state level, gender discrimination is primarily prohibited under state statutes that parallel the protections provided to employees by Title VII.