I've witnessed it. Many times.

I used to be one of the folks who would just accept any offer. Ironically, perhaps, it was my sister (a godlike negotiator) who taught me not to do that, and how to negotiate the best terms when getting hired.

After her advice, and the advice and coaching of some other fine folks as well.... I had another job interview. I went in there, and half way through the job description (they're explaining their game plan and why they need someone with my skills on a whiteboard), I get up, seize control of the meeting, and explain to them why 25% of their plans won't work, and what they need to change to make them work.

Well, needless to say, they were impressed.

The guy doing the hiring asked at the end of the meeting how much I wanted. I said, without any hesitation, $55,000. He replied, "well, HR only gave me permission to hire someone on the spot for $40,000, so I'll have to talk to them and get back to you."

This would have been the point that I would normally have either accepted the 40k, or asked for 45k and gotten it. Instead, I said, "well, I'll just thank you for your time then, and be on my way. Get back to me with the results of your conversation with the HR people. And, just to let you know, in case it has any bearing on your decision.... I made $50k in my last job, and I'm more talented now, and will be taking on more responsibility in your position, so I deserve a raise from my last job. I know what I'm worth in this industry, and if you're not interested in hiring me for $55k, I can understand that completely, but will be unlikely to entertain that offer seriously. Of course, if you have another offer, I'm willing to listen, but like I said, won't be all that likely to accept it."

This, of course, was a total lie. I was telling the truth about my previous salary...but my responsibility level was only going up on paper...not in practice...and I'd actually be doing less work than before. Realistically, I would have accepted $45k if they came back and they said that's the best they could do. I really needed the job pretty bad to make ends meet.

So. I shake the guy's hand, and leave. I'm out the door, into the parking lot, and half way to my car when he comes running up behind me. "Evan! Wait. Hold up a minute." I stop. He comes over and says, "Screw HR. You're hired for $55k. Can you start on Monday?"

Now, while I was in this position, I hired a bunch of people, and was present for the hiring of many others. And what I noticed was that about 8 in 10 men attempted to negotiate a better deal than the initial offer, and only about 1 in 10 women did. This struck me as rather odd, seeing as the bulk of my salary negotiation skills came from my sister. Nevertheless...it is what it is...we could usually hire the women for our first offer. Some of the men we let walk cause we simply wouldn't accept anything close to their demands....

I can accept it may not be universal, I've yet to discover anything that really was, but I put a lot of effort into finding an environment that wasn't, and I never found one. So it can't be that RARE.

About the only consistent thing in some places were starting wages. After that women got the shaft.

Except for the one with very large breasts, who was dumb as a bat, but hey, she was the managers girlfriend.

Why didn't I file a lawsuit?

I didn't have the money and I'm not the personality type for a lawsuit. I just keep trying to prove myself. I'd rather win by merit than by attorney.
To use one company I worked for longest as example, the one with the big breasts actually. That company was owned by a very rich, judges son. It had been sued and sued and even invaded by SWAT once guns pointed at employees and everything. And it's attorneys beat everything.

You think I really stood a chance?