Ethics Newsline®

KOHLER, Wisconsin
A height requirement intended to ensure the physical capability of workers cost plumbing-fixture manufacturer Kohler Co. $886,500 last week in a settlement of sex-discrimination charges.

More than 2,000 women sued Kohler, complaining that the company refused to hire them because they failed to meet a height requirement set to make sure workers could handle heavy work.

The 5′ 4″ height requirement amounted to discrimination, the plaintiffs charged, because it kept women from securing positions, promotions, and Kohler’s higher-paying jobs, the Associated Press reported.

Kohler spokesman Ed Allman insisted that the company never meant to discriminate. “The height restriction was not gender-specific; it’s just that women tend to be shorter.”

But the Labor Department sided with the women, saying that the height requirement — no matter how good its intention might have been — was discriminatory.

Kohler’s settlement also requires the company to hire 111 of the rejected applicants, compensate workers not hired by the company, and fund a three-year study on women in the workplace, according to the AP report.