Shopkeeper in Spain's Barcelona fined over $8,000. Here's why

Javier Marcos, a shopkeeper in Spain's Barcelona has been fined $8,027 (around €7,501) for posting an online advertisement for a shop assistant stating that the applicant should be a woman above the age of 40. Marcos runs a curtain-making shop in Barcelona's Fort Pienc area. According to a report by the Guardian on Friday (February 10), Marcos posted the advertisement to replace his only female employee, who is retiring, with someone with a similar profile.

Earlier, Marcos was warned by the labour inspectorate that he could be fined over the advertisement and hence removed it. However, the inspectors went ahead with the fine with the reason that the advertisement discriminated against others on the grounds of both sex and age.

“I have no intention of discriminating against anyone. In fact, I wanted to offer an opportunity to a group of people for whom it is difficult to find work,” Marcos said. He also said that the majority of his clients were women, adding, the fine is a lot of money for a small business. The Guardian report said consolation which Marcoshad was that the fine would be reduced to €4,500 if it was paid within 30 days.

Agreeing to pay the fine, the Barcelona shopkeeper mentioned the Catalan government's campaign that encouraged more women to become firefighters. Only two per cent of firefighters are women and the government launched a recruitment video with the slogan- FemEquip – a play on words meaning both “we’re making a team” and “women’s team”.

Javier Marcos said, “What’s the difference between my advertisement and theirs?”

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