Companies are free to give all the special treatment they want so long as it isn't rooted in one of the protected classes. While gender is one of the protected

Companies are free to give all the special treatment they want so long as it isn't rooted in one of the protected classes. While gender is one of the protected classes, they never admitted she received said treatment because of her gender. It could have been because they thought she showed a great deal of potential, despite her less than impressive resume.