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20-1
The Legal & Regulatory
Environment of Business 19e
Chapter 20
Employment Discrimination
Laws
Pagnattaro Cahoy Magid
Shedd
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20-2
Learning Objectives
• To discuss the general provisions of Title VII,
enforcement procedures, and the differences
between disparate treatment and disparate
impact
• To understand the specific kinds of
discrimination prohibited by Title VII
• To discuss employment practices that may be
challenged
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20-3
Learning Objectives, II
• To apply other federal statutes protecting
against employment discrimination
• To realize that state laws may offer additional
protection against workplace discrimination
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Timeline Of Employment Discrimination
Laws
Civil Rights Act (1866)
Executive Order
(1941)
Equal Pay Act (1963)
Executive Order
(1943)
Civil Rights Act
(1964)
Equal Employment
Opportunity Act (1972)
Pregnancy Discrimination Act (1978)
Amended
(1991)
Americans With Disabilities Act (1990)
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20-5
Provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of
1964
• Apply to employers with 15 or more
employees, labor unions
• Purpose
– To eliminate job discrimination based on race,
color, religion, sex, or national origin
• Allow discrimination on the basis of bona fide
occupational qualifications
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20-6
Provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of
1964, II
• Discrimination is prohibited under:
–
–
–
–
–
Discharge
Refusal to hire
Compensation
Promotion
Terms, conditions, or privileges of employment
• Additional exemptions
– Preferential treatment for veterans
– Hiring based on professionally developed ability tests
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20-7
Pop Quiz
pop pop pop
QUIZQUIZQUIZ
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
prohibits what kind of conduct?
a. Discrimination in transportation
b. Discrimination in gov’t services
c. Discrimination in employment
d. Age discrimination
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20-8
Enforcement of Civil Rights
Act of 1964
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(EEOC)
– Possess authority to:
• Hold hearings
• Obtain evidence
• Subpoena and examine witnesses under oath
• 1991 Amendments - Allow the recovery of
compensatory and punitive damages
• EEOC must wait 60 days to act when state agencies begin
discrimination proceedings
– Employee must file charges of illegal discrimination
within 180 days
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20-9
Proof Under Title VII of Civil Rights Act of
1964
Disparate
Treatment
Disparate
Impact
Employer
Discriminatory
intentionally
effect
discriminates
Retaliation
Adverse
employment
actions
against
employee
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20-10
Case 20.1 - Retaliation
• Case
– Thompson v. North American Stainless, LP
– 562 U.S. 170 (2011)
– District court of Kentucky
• Issue
– Miriam Regalado filed a sex discrimination charge
with EEOC against employer North American Stainless
• NAS fired Thompson, Regalado’s fiancée
• Has NAS committed retaliation against Regalado for filing her
charge by sacking Thompson?
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20-11
Discrimination Based on
Race or Color
• Discriminatory practices based on race or
color that involve recruiting, hiring,
promotion, discharge, or application of the
terms and conditions are prohibited
– Intentional discrimination and policies with
disparate impact are illegal
– Law prohibits discrimination in employment
conditions and benefits
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20-12
Disparate Impact: Examples
Biased personnel tests
Denying
employment to
unwed mothers
Poor credit rating
Priority to present
employees
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20-13
Case 20.2 - Discrimination on the Basis of
Race or Color
• Case
– Ricci v. Destefano
– 557 U.S. 557 (2009)
– District court of New Haven, Connecticut
• Issue
– Promotional examination results of New Haven’s
Fire department showed that white candidates
had outperformed minority candidates
• The City decided to not use the examination results and
certain white and Hispanic firefighters sued the City
stating that the City had discriminated against them
based on race
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20-14
Pop Quiz, II
pop pop pop
QUIZQUIZQUIZ
Joe, a white man, and Jim, a black man, were
both caught stealing from the employer. Joe
was fired, and Jim was written up and
demoted. Has racial discrimination occurred?
A. Yes
B. No
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20-15
Discrimination on the Basis of National Origin
• Title VII protects various ethnic groups in the
workplace
• Speaking of a native language cannot be
barred by an employer
– Policy must justify that speaking English is
business necessity
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20-16
Discrimination on the Basis of Religion
• Employers cannot discriminate on the basis of
religion in employment practices
– Religious corporations, associations, or societies
are an exception
• Reasonable accommodation to religious needs
of employees must be accepted by employers
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20-17
Discrimination on the Basis of Sex
• Statutes that are said to protect women are
not defenses to charges of illegal sex
discrimination under EEOC guidelines
– Do not provide an employer with a bona fide
occupational qualification in hiring standards
• EEOC forbids employers to:
– Classify jobs as male or female
– Advertise in help-wanted columns that are
designated male or female
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20-18
Sexual Harassment
Quid pro quo
Hostile work
environment
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20-19
Pregnancy Discrimination Act
• Employers with health or disability plans must
cover pregnancy and childbirth and related
medical conditions in the same manner as
other conditions
• Law covers unmarried and married women
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20-20
Equal Pay Act
• Prohibits an employer from discriminating on
the basis of sex in paying wages performing
the same work under similar working
conditions in the same establishment
– Discrimination is allowed if it arises from a
seniority or merit system
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20-21
Sexual Orientation Discrimination
• Title VII does not specifically prohibit
discrimination against employees based on
their sexual orientation
– However, in 2020 Bostock v. Clayton County,
Georgia found an employer who fires an individual
merely for being gay or transgender violates Title
VII
• Some states and cities forbid discrimination
based on sexual orientation
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20-22
Employment Practices That
May be Challenged
• Testing and educational requirements
– Employers must be extremely careful not to use
recruitment tools that are illegally discriminate
• Height and weight requirements
– Minimum or maximum job requirements must
apply equally to all applicants
• Appearance requirements
– No clarity with regard to its legality
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20-23
Employment Practices That
May be Challenged, II
• Affirmative action
– Federally contracting employers must recruit
members of minority groups being underused in the
workforce
– Private employers voluntarily adopt affirmative action
or agree to it with unions
• Can give rise to claims of reverse discrimination
• Seniority systems
– Giving priority to employees who have worked longer
for a particular employer
• Not unlawful if the differences are not the result of an
intention to discriminate
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20-24
Pop Quiz, III
pop pop pop
QUIZQUIZQUIZ
Your school’s security force is hiring. Their ad
reads, “must be 6 feet tall and 200 lbs.”
Is this ad discriminatory?
A. Yes
B. No
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20-25
Civil Rights Act of 1866
• Federal law that complements Title VII of the
1964 Civil Rights act
• Section 1981
– All persons shall have the same right to make and
enforce contracts as enjoyed by white citizens
– Bans racial discrimination in union memberships
and employment relationships
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20-26
Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
• Protects employees or applicants against
discrimination based on age
– Prohibits employment discrimination against
employees aged 40 and above
• Prohibits mandatory retirement
– Invalidates retirement plans and labor contracts that
violate the law
• Remedies
– Provides for back pay and recovery of attorney fees
– Victims of willful violations are awarded double
damages
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20-27
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Helps people with disabilities to get work
– Prohibits employers from:
• Requiring a preemployment medical examination
• Asking questions about the job applicant’s medical
history
• Disability: Any physical or mental impairment
that limits an individual’s major life activities
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20-28
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), II
• Reasonable accommodation: Adjusting a job
or work environment to fit the needs of
disabled employees
– Employer can plead undue hardship
– Applies to reasonable accommodation of
customers and others
• Remedies
– Hiring, reinstatement, back pay, front pay,
injunctive relief, and compensatory and punitive
damages
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20-29
Pop Quiz, IV
pop pop pop
QUIZQUIZQUIZ
ADA prohibits discrimination only
against the “qualified” disabled.
a. True
b. False
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20-30
Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act
(GINA)
• Prohibits covered employers from
discriminating against individuals on the basis
of their genetic information
– Genetic information includes:
• Information about an individual’s genetic tests
• Genetic tests of an individual’s family members
• Information about disorder in an individual’s family
history
• Genetic information of a fetus or embryo held by the
individual
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20-31
Discrimination in Health Insurance
• Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA)
– Prevents discrimination against individual
employees in small businesses
• Affordable Care Act
– Prohibits insurance companies from refusing to
cover individuals based on preexisting conditions
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20-32
Other Federal Legislation
• National Labor Relations Act of 1936
– Employers have an obligation to bargain with
certified unions over matters of discrimination
– National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
• Appeals to racial prejudice in a collective bargaining
representation election constitute an unfair labor
practice
• Other federal agencies prohibit discriminatory
employment practices under their authorizing
statutes
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20-33
State Antidiscrimination Laws
• Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Act
– Permits state laws imposing additional duties and
liabilities
• Protect categories of persons not protected
under federal law
• Supplement Title VII by offering remedies to
victims of sexual harassment
• Torts, discrimination plaintiffs can sue
employers under state laws
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20-34
Trends in Employment Discrimination and
Litigation
Increase in private lawsuits
Arbitration in employment
discrimination disputes
Insuring against employment
discrimination claims
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20-35