Labor Court in Berlin finds SONY Germany Guilty of Sex Discrimination

On Tuesday, a labor court in Berlin found Sony Music Entertainment Germany guilty of sexual discrimination for promoting a man over a woman who was expecting a child.

The women worked in the area of international marketing for Sony Music Entertainment, a joint venture at the time between Germany's Bertelsmann and the Japanese Sony label. She and two male colleagues were in the running for the job as a manager. After one of her male colleagues got the promotion, she sued against Sony in 2005. When she asked for the reason of the decision, the Sony management told her it was related to her family situation and that she should be pleased she was getting a baby.

The court in Berlin twice denied her claims because a sexual discrimination could not be proven. Finally, the court granted the woman's appeal and decided Sony had failed to prove that there had been no sexual discrimination by denying her the promotion. The court has allowed an appeal of its decision to the Federal Labor Court in Erfurt.

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(c) Picture: Sony