Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Babewatch is over, SD

Female lifeguard sues city for discrimination

A female lifeguard is suing the City of San Diego for gender discrimination — the fifth such lawsuit filed by female lifeguards over the past ten years.

The suit, filed on February 9 by lifeguard Amanda Scarski, accuses the city of refusing to promote her from a seasonal to a full-time position due to her gender.

The complaint was filed nearly one year to the day since the city agreed to pay $976,000 to settle a similar claim from lifeguard Allison Terry, who also charged the city with refusing to promote her from part-time to a full-time position in 2009.

In May 2015, San Diego's city auditor recommended that the lifeguard division strive to be more diverse in regards to gender and pointed out that only 16 percent of lifeguards in the City of San Diego were females.

Sponsored
Sponsored

"Historically, Lifeguard Services is a predominately Caucasian male workforce," reads the audit. "We found that the Lifeguard Services can better strategize ways to improve its conformance with the labor force availability by recruiting more Hispanic and female individuals."

In the Sarski case, documents note that she was hired as a seasonal lifeguard in March 2009. She first began applying for a full-time position in 2013 and continued to do so for two consecutive years; each time, her applications were rejected.

"Scarski's gender was a substantially motivating reason for the City's failure to promote her to the position of Lifeguard II," reads the complaint.

According to the complaint, the city is aware of the gender gap, despite the million-plus dollars in legal settlements against it.

The city's inaction is seen in its appeal of Allison Terry's lawsuit. On April 10, 2014, a judge asked deputy city attorney Kristin Zlotnik whether the city had addressed its discriminatory employment practices.

According to court transcripts, Zlotnik responded that she did not know. The admission, writes Scarski's attorney Michael Conger in the complaint, shows "the city's utter indifference to correcting its discriminatory employment conduct."

Conger has represented all five of the women lifeguards who have brought suit against the city in the past decade.

The lawsuit will make its way through San Diego Superior Court.

(corrected/revised 2/14, 12:45 p.m.)

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Live Five: Rebecca Jade, Stoney B. Blues, Manzanita Blues, Blame Betty, Marujah

Holiday music, blues, rockabilly, and record releases in Carlsbad, San Carlos, Little Italy, downtown
Next Article

San Diego beaches not that nice to dogs

Bacteria and seawater itself not that great

A female lifeguard is suing the City of San Diego for gender discrimination — the fifth such lawsuit filed by female lifeguards over the past ten years.

The suit, filed on February 9 by lifeguard Amanda Scarski, accuses the city of refusing to promote her from a seasonal to a full-time position due to her gender.

The complaint was filed nearly one year to the day since the city agreed to pay $976,000 to settle a similar claim from lifeguard Allison Terry, who also charged the city with refusing to promote her from part-time to a full-time position in 2009.

In May 2015, San Diego's city auditor recommended that the lifeguard division strive to be more diverse in regards to gender and pointed out that only 16 percent of lifeguards in the City of San Diego were females.

Sponsored
Sponsored

"Historically, Lifeguard Services is a predominately Caucasian male workforce," reads the audit. "We found that the Lifeguard Services can better strategize ways to improve its conformance with the labor force availability by recruiting more Hispanic and female individuals."

In the Sarski case, documents note that she was hired as a seasonal lifeguard in March 2009. She first began applying for a full-time position in 2013 and continued to do so for two consecutive years; each time, her applications were rejected.

"Scarski's gender was a substantially motivating reason for the City's failure to promote her to the position of Lifeguard II," reads the complaint.

According to the complaint, the city is aware of the gender gap, despite the million-plus dollars in legal settlements against it.

The city's inaction is seen in its appeal of Allison Terry's lawsuit. On April 10, 2014, a judge asked deputy city attorney Kristin Zlotnik whether the city had addressed its discriminatory employment practices.

According to court transcripts, Zlotnik responded that she did not know. The admission, writes Scarski's attorney Michael Conger in the complaint, shows "the city's utter indifference to correcting its discriminatory employment conduct."

Conger has represented all five of the women lifeguards who have brought suit against the city in the past decade.

The lawsuit will make its way through San Diego Superior Court.

(corrected/revised 2/14, 12:45 p.m.)

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Reader writer Chris Ahrens tells the story of Windansea

The shack is a landmark declaring, “The best break in the area is out there.”
Next Article

Mary Catherine Swanson wants every San Diego student going to college

Where busing from Southeast San Diego to University City has led
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader