I'm 21, and I work a part time job at a small, family owned business in my town. It's run by the wife of the family (the father works at an army base).

This is my second year here, and since the beginning, I've taken careful mental notes about the difference between what she has the other guy and myself do vs. what she has the girls do. (There are 5 total employees).

It sounds silly, but it all started with hard ice cream (which requires you to hand dip it out), which turned into a boy only job because she didn't want the girls being injured. Then it became boys do deliveries on Tuesday and Thursday because girls cannot lift the ice cream tubs (which weigh 10-15 lbs).

Now, she created a closing list, which she segmented into boy/girl.

Boy jobs include doing all the closing work outside (wipe down tables, take out trash, take out recycling). I asked her why, and she said because AND I QUOTE "She doesn't want any of the girls getting attacked outside). She also bought all the girls in the store pepper spray to have with them at all times.

We have to sweep and mop, do the dishes, and the outside work mentioned before, plus all the lifting jobs (nothing over 20 lbs in the entire store).

The girls that work there are all 18-20, and are perfectly capable of doing any of the work.

Is this legal? I think I'm going to quit, but I'd like to confront her about it before I do.