Some women complain that they can't be priests, but the vast majority of men can't be priests either.
For one thing, the vast majority of men aren't Catholic. But even the vast majority of Catholic men cannot be priests. Why? Because they haven't been "called."
The priesthood is a vocation to which one is summoned, not an entitlement.
Likewise, some working women complain that they've been passed over for management positions, but the vast majority of men are passed over, too.
An employee who wants to pursue the management track has to be invited to do so. Mere desire does not suffice.
Executives consider many things when choosing candidates for management – a myriad of specific personality traits, skill sets and intangibles. Sometimes executives choose the right persons for advancement, sometimes the wrong ones. But it's their decision to make.
We don't know if Stephanie Odle is management material, but she wanted to be a manager. Unfortunately, her superiors at Wal-Mart did not see her management potential.
This made Odle mad. When a nationwide class action suit was filed on behalf of 1.5 million female Wal-Mart workers in 2001, Odle was in that number.
This past June, however, the U.S. Supreme Court sensibly ruled that female employees working different jobs under different supervisors at different stores have too little in common to constitute a single class. The issue seemed settled.
But the prospect of suing Wal-Mart, and squeezing out tens of millions in fees, proved too tempting for the trial bar.
Now Odle has initiated a statewide class action against Wal-Mart, filing suit in the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division -- with the hope of representing up to 45,000 female Texas employees.
This, too, is a patchwork class, but Odle presses on.
She's asking for back pay, front pay, general and special damages for lost compensation and job benefits, and exemplary and punitive damages.
To us, she just doesn't seem like management material.