In 2007, Alessandro, an economics graduate and highly qualified employee, informed his company that he had decided to become a woman. Since then, he has received no promotion (except for an automatic one). The bank denies it: "For us, only merit counts."«
Item Of Gianni Santucci e Elena Tebano, taken from corriere.it
On June 6, 2007, using every bureaucratic acronym imaginable, Banca Popolare dell'Emilia Romagna communicated its professional opinion to its employee, "Dear Mr. Alessandro Bernaroli." Nine years later, in December 2016, the same bank sent another letter to the same employee: "Dear Ms. Alessandra Bernaroli." Same person, same background, but in one case, it's "doctor," and an excellent one at that, while in the other, it's just a very kind "madam."«
From “Doctor” to “Madam”
Between the two communications, Bernaroli began her own transition process in 2007, eventually becoming female on her documents and changing her name to Alessandra in her registry office in November 2008. This process, needless to say, does not result in the loss of her degree. Yet, after the gender change, her company "forgets" her degree in almost all its communications. Many of these letters are also attached to the lengthy complaint the employee filed against Bper SpA for gender discrimination, failure to recognize her professional profile, and demotion. The bank denies these accusations, reiterating that "only merit, results achieved, and commitment to the organization have always guided the career paths of all employees without distinction." And adding that "with regards to the valorization of female talent, the Bank has launched various initiatives including the "A Pari Merito" project, which is based on the assumption that gender equality is a fundamental element within our organization.".
«Systematic discrimination against women»
Bernaroli, however, believes her story highlights the systematic discrimination against women in the workplace. The first hearing will be held in September at the Bologna Civil Court. Alessandra Bernaroli, 49, joined Bper as a man in 1999; in 2001, her contract was made permanent. "As a man, I had a good career path, the typical progression that could lead to branch management or deputy management. When I started working as a woman, everything changed," she says. She received only one career promotion, in 2008, which was effectively automatic (second-level employee in area three). According to the appeal filed by lawyer Domenico Tambasco, "Dr. Alessandra Bernaroli, after dedicating over twenty years to Bper's service, and despite her qualifications and her boasted high level of professionalism, found herself 'anchored to the post' of contractual classifications.".
He speaks English, French and Russian
A graduate in business administration with a focus on banking and markets, Bernaroli, while working on a second-level master's degree in industrial relations and human resources management, completed a training course for pension fund administrators, and other internal courses. She speaks English, French, and Russian. She put these skills to good use when, between 2013 and 2019, she moved to the bank's insurance division after five years of union activity. "It was a new office; I introduced improvements that have remained in place to this day," she says. However, according to the appeal, this role of "high functional responsibility," in which she performed the duties of a "managerial manager," did not receive adequate contractual recognition: she remained classified at the level of a counter clerk. "Not only did I not advance, but the manager never took me to meetings where he presented my work: he was the only one who took credit for it. On one occasion, I conducted an insurance risk analysis on my own initiative, which was then used by the acting deputy general manager. But they didn't have it displayed to me, but to a male colleague in the purchasing office" he says.
Overtaken even by the less titled
«"I told my manager it would be easier if I introduced her. He replied, 'What? Do you want to go talk to general management?' He almost laughed." During the same years, the complaint specifies, Bernaroli witnessed "the incessant career advancement of all his colleagues, even those with less qualifications." His lawyer's analysis of the career progression reports communicated by the bank to the unions for over 8,000 employees shows that "83 percent of the men hired with Bernaroli in 1999 had, as of March 2018, obtained a higher classification than themselves, and 59 percent even achieved a managerial or higher level." Women, on the other hand, "occupy the lowest level of corporate qualifications; compared to the men hired in 1999, as of March 2018, the majority of women are in the third area; women are clearly in the minority in management and among executives" (also for this reason the councilor for Equality of the Emilia Romagna Region, Sonia Alvisi, will take part in the trial in support of Bernaroli's requests).
«"Getting the promotion? He should have stayed a man."»
The choices An analysis regarding which lawyer Tambasco, who also attaches an expert report by the luminary in occupational medicine Harald Ege, allows himself a joke: "If she had wanted to advance her career and obtain the right and deserved promotion, Dr. Bernaroli should have maintained her original sex.".
