The woman probably made these arrangements with the employer when she was hired - if it was a single father, the same allowance would be made. But, someone who comes in late, male or female, who has no legitimate reason, can be written up for it. No discrimination here.

let me guess your a SWM (single white and male)?
this is not what the law lists as discrimination, get used to getting it in the back side for a while my freind untill your married and have a child or two this is how the world works. first you'll be working late for your co-workers who have "other" things that need to be done- i.e my kid is sick and my kid has a school thing. this is normal so get used to it. the reson your former boss chewed you out is not that they were so upset with you as more to the fact that they had to vent over another one of your co-workers. the SWM is an easy target to vent at- just work hard and you will over come- and in the future never speak of this incident with your boss untill they bring it up (If their male they will remember) but if their female they will talk to you about it and they may (as if by magic) remove it from your employee file while giving you that time honored "I'm sorry I did that speach". it's the way of the world just start getting to work at least five minutes before shift start and all is good, untill the boss needs to vent again. as a SWM like it or not you will work harder in the work place then anybody else, this is as it has always been so know that the bullseye on your butt will one day go away and another SWM will take your place. so be nice to your replacement.

A ... minute?? I think I would have been tempted to do a John Cleese. His God dam watch could have been wrong! I really don't see this as anything But discrimination. Maybe worth finding this woman in order to see whether she had an arrangement, or one of her colleagues. A Minute late is a bit strong to say the least, perhaps you should have told him that the days of Hitler were over. Sounds like a bad clash of personalities to me that someone could actually suspend you for this - advise you to find an employment lawyer, there are some who do legal aid online if this applies. This is unfairness in the extreme especially when it is so difficult to find another job these days, I wonder what exactly he has put down as a reason for suspending you?? Surely Not one whole minute late? I would be tempted to ask him how many seconds were involved..