Economic equity news is a weekly round-up of articles by Donna Seymour of AAUW-NYS that features our core values of poverty solutions, opportunity and access, workplace fairness, healthy lives, equal pay and representation at all tables. Sign up for our mailing list to receive this directly to your inbox.

• 1 in 4 Americans Work for Companies With No Women in Management via NYMag

Think for a second about the way your organization is structured. You’ve got your colleagues, your bosses, their bosses, their bosses’ bosses, and the people at the top who are in charge of how the money gets moved and the sausage gets made. How many women are higher up the ladder? As you get closer to the top, are there fewer women at every rung? Are there any women at all?

• ‘Motherhood Penalty’ Can Affect Women Who Never Even Have a Child via NBC News

As women fight what has been an uphill battle for equal pay, they continue to face another exacerbating factor: being penalized for the fact that they could — regardless of whether they will — have children. While much of the public discussion of the “wage gap” has focused around women getting equal pay for the same work as their male peers, this quiet “pregnancy penalty” has gotten less attention, in part because it’s so much more difficult to measure. But some experts argue that even the mere possibility that a woman can have a baby can be enough for employers to push her to the back of the line.

• Bank of America accused of running a ‘bros club’ that underpaid female executives via The Washington Post

When Megan Messina, a long-time Bank of America executive, learned that she would receive an $1.6 million bonus for her work in 2015, she should have been thrilled. The average bonus on Wall Street last year was just $146,000. But Messina, 42, is suing for gender discrimination after learning that a male colleague with the same job title and similar responsibilities allegedly received a $5.5 million bonus that year. “As the only woman in a sea of men …  Messina never stood a chance to be included and therefore never stood a chance to succeed,” according to a lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court of Manhattan.

• Gender Equality In Silicon Valley Will Take A Generation, Say Women Founders And Funders via Forbes

Women are making progress in Silicon Valley, securing more funding and leading more companies than ever before. Still, men unequivocally run the show, despite efforts by women founders and funders to level the playing field. “On an absolute basis, the number of successful women entrepreneurs in the valley is on the rise,” said Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, founder and CEO of shoppable video startup Joyus and online database of women board candidates the Boardlist.

• Family caregivers seek fair treatment in the workplace via A Better Balance

Mothers, fathers, grown children caring for aging parents, and others too often face stigma and bias in the workplace because of their dual roles as employees and caregivers.  While no federal law explicitly protects these family members from job discrimination based on their responsibilities at home, a growing patchwork of protections exists under federal, state, and local laws relating to discrimination and leave.  Many workers have sought redress under these laws, framing their cases as impermissible sex-role stereotyping, retaliation for taking protected leave, or other forms of unfair treatment.