The American Civil Liberties Union is taking the first step in a lawsuit against Facebook and ten other employers.
The ACLU has filed charges against the social media website, as well as the city of Greensboro. They claim that the Greensboro Police Department violated federal and state discrimination laws through Facebook advertising.
ACLU’s senior attorney, Galen Sherwin said she hopes that by filing charges, it will begin to put an end to gender discrimination in advertising.
“It is shocking that it is still taking place today,” she said. "It is a problem that I think folks thought was solved.”
A recruitment ad on Facebook for the police department appeared only to men between the ages of 25 and 35. The ACLU claims the city of Greensboro unlawfully discriminated against women and non-binary users of Facebook through their ad.
A statement by the city said “the Greensboro Police Department uses multipile techniques to broaden opportunites for applying and encourages diversity within our workforce" and the city rejects the charges.
Sherwin said gender discrimination in advertising should have ended a long time ago.
“It's shocking that it's being given a life in the digital age and that's what we're hoping to put a stop to,” she said.
Greensboro officials said the city hasn't received any type of legal paperwork on the matter.