Do I Have A Case For Gender Discrimination?

Location: California

Something happened to me that feels profoundly unfair. I’ve worked at this company for a little over a year and a half. During my time at the company I pursued responsibilities far beyond my job description because of my passion for our product and love of my team. I’ve always made it clear that I’m interested in pursuing a career in the industry I’m in and I’ve cultivated strong professional relationships. Everyone on the team likes me and I’ve received multiple glowing formal written reviews from my direct managers.

So in the last three months or so things have really gone downhill. The company isn’t doing well and went through a round of layoffs. Myself (F) and my coworker (M) were laid off but a position opened which I was “strongly encouraged” to apply for by both my manager (the hiring manager) and the regional manager. I continued to work extremely hard and put in a ton of effort to prove I was ready for this position. This goes on for months of them extending my end date and drawing out the final hiring decision.

Ultimately, my manager chose me for this position but was overruled by the regional manager. My manager says I did absolutely everything right and they tried their best to advocate for me but they lost the fight. I’ve stayed on to train the new hire (M) and he is struggling. It got to the point where he even asked why I wasn’t chosen for the position because I’m well liked and good at the job. He asked if I think it could be about gender. I think it’s a combination of gender and age as the new hire has more experience than me on paper. It’s so bad that my manager sent an email to HR documenting their lack of confidence in the new hires capabilities.

The person responsible for the decision is misogynistic to say the least. He’s made off handed comments before that revealed this but never in writing so I have no proof. It just feels like he has this impression of me that he wouldn’t allow me to grow past.

My last day is tomorrow. I’m receiving a severance payout but the contract I must sign to receive it waives my right to pursue any legal action against the company. So I guess my question is, is this worth pursuing or should I just take the payout and move on?

I think what makes me hesitant is the fact the company is losing significant money so they have cause for budget cuts in the form of layoffs and then on top of that on paper this new hire has more experience than me. It’s the on the job ability that he is lacking.