William Kritsonis, Law, Ch 4 Discrimination Employment

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Discrimination in Employment

• William Allan Kritsonis, PhD

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Introductory Reflection

• "My knowledge of my years in Ecuador was not
  enough to prepare myself to understand who I will
  become in the United States a minority in a
  country full of laws and contradictions. I
  married a good man who alleviated the inevitable
  consequences of my heavy accent and skin color.
  How? My husband is what you will call Hispanic by
  race, but white by skin and appearance. As a
  result, I found myself in a dilemma when a doctor
  let me choose if I wanted my child to be label
  Hispanic or White
• 
  

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What is Discrimination?

• In plain English, to "discriminate" means to
  distinguish, single out, or make a distinction.
  In everyday life, when faced with more than one
  option, we discriminate in arriving at almost
  every decision we make. But in the context of
  civil rights law, unlawful discrimination refers
  to unfair or unequal treatment of an individual
  (or group) based on certain characteristics.
  There are two types of discrimination Direct and
  Indirect.

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Types of Discrimination

• Direct discrimination
• An example of direct discrimination is a job
  advert, which says "no disabled people need
  apply." However, in reality discrimination often
  takes more subtle forms. Thats why indirect
  discrimination is also covered.
• Indirect discrimination
• An example of indirect discrimination is
  requiring all people who apply for a certain job
  to sit a test in a particular language, even
  though that language is not necessary for the
  job. The test might exclude more people who have
  a different mother tongue.

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Title VII, 1964 Civil Rights Act

• This law prohibits employment discrimination
  based on
• Race
• Color
• Religion
• Sex
• National Origin

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Age Discrimination In Employment Act of 1967
(ADEA)

• Protects employees or applicants 40 years of
  age or older
• Cannot discriminate based on age with respect to
  any term, condition or privilege of employment
• Punitive compensatory damages

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Civil Rights Act 1972 Amendment

• Sexual harassment is a
• Form of sex discrimination
• Violation of federal law

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Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978

• Amendment to Civil Rights Act
• Unlawful to discriminate on the basis of
  pregnancy, childbirth or related medical
  conditions

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Americans with Disabilities Act

• Prohibits discrimination on the basis of
  disability in all employment practices
• Employer must make accommodation to known
  disability of qualified applicant or employee
  unless it imposes undue hardship

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Affirmative Action

• The intended purpose of Affirmative Action is
  to increase the opportunity for minority groups
• You do not take a person bring him up to the
  starting line of a race and say, 'you are free to
  compete with all the others,' and still justly
  believe that you have been completely fair.
  President Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965

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Employment Discrimination U.S. Supreme Court
Cases

• Below is a list of U.S. Supreme Court cases
  involving employees' rights and employment
  discrimination, including links to the full text
  of the U.S. Supreme Court decisions.
• Griggs v. Duke Power Co. (1971)In this case, the
  Court decided that certain education requirements
  and intelligence tests used as conditions of
  employment acted to exclude African-American job
  applicants, did not relate to job performance,
  and were prohibited.

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Employment Discrimination U.S. Supreme Court
Cases

• Cleveland Bd. of Ed. V. LaFleur (1974)Found that
  Ohio public school mandatory maternity leave
  rules for pregnant teachers violate
  constitutional guarantees of due process.
• Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson (1986)Found that
  a claim of "hostile environment" sexual
  harassment is a form of sex discrimination that
  may be brought under Title VII of the Civil
  Rights Act of 1964.

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Employment Discrimination U.S. Supreme Court
Cases

• Johnson v. Transportation Agency (1987)The Court
  decides that a county transportation agency
  appropriately took into account an employee's sex
  as one factor in determining whether she should
  be promoted.
• Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Serv., Inc.
  (1987)In this case, the Court held that sex
  discrimination consisting of same-sex sexual
  harassment can form the basis for a valid claim
  under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

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Employment Discrimination U.S. Supreme Court
Cases

• Burlington Industries, Inc. Ellerth
  (1998)Holding that an employee who refuses
  unwelcome and threatening sexual advances of a
  supervisor (but suffers no real job consequences)
  may recover against the employer without showing
  the employer is at fault for the supervisor's
  actions.
• Faragher v. City of Boca Raton (1998)The Court
  decides that an employer may be liable for sexual
  discrimination caused by a supervisor, but
  liability depends on the reasonableness of the
  employer's conduct, as well as the reasonableness
  of the plaintiff victim's conduct.

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The Necessity of Continued Enforcement of the Laws

• Many people in this country still, unfortunately,
  are opposed to the ideal of equality
• Any lack of enforcement of these laws gives more
  power to such people
• Although progress in achieving equality has been
  made due to the laws, true equality has not yet
  been reached, and can only be attained through
  further diligence.

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Civil Rights Act of 1991

• The Civil Rights Act of 1991 made major changes
  in the federal laws against employment
  discrimination enforced by EEOC. Enacted in part
  to reverse several Supreme Court decisions that
  limited the rights of persons protected by these
  laws, the Act also provides additional
  protections. The Act authorizes compensatory and
  punitive damages in cases of intentional
  discrimination, and provides for obtaining
  attorneys' fees and the possibility of jury
  trials. It also directs the EEOC to expand its
  technical assistance and outreach activities.

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What Is EEOC and How Does It Operate?

• EEOC is an independent federal agency originally
  created by Congress in 1964 to enforce Title VII
  of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Commission
  is composed of five Commissioners and a General
  Counsel appointed by the President and confirmed
  by the Senate. Commissioners are appointed for
  five-year staggered terms the General Counsel's
  term is four years. The President designates a
  Chair and a Vice-Chair. The Chair is the chief
  executive officer of the Commission. The
  Commission has authority to establish equal
  employment policy and to approve litigation. The
  General Counsel is responsible for conducting
  litigation.
• EEOC carries out its enforcement, education and
  technical assistance activities through 50 field
  offices serving every part of the nation.
• The nearest EEOC field office may be contacted by
  calling 1-800-669-4000 (voice) or 1-800-669-6820
  (TTY).

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The answer

• I chose the Hispanic label for my children. I
  realized that labels are merely justifications to
  our own fears.
• "An individual has not started living until he
  can rise above the narrow confines of his
  individualistic concerns to the broader concerns
  of all humanity.
• Martin Luther King, Jr.