Chapter 3: Equal Employment Opportunity
Chapter 3:
Equal Employment Opportunity
Learning Outcomes
After reading this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Explain how Title VII of the Civil Rights act of 1964 the Civil Rights Act of 1991 protect
employees from discrimination and the exceptions that are allowed.
2. Outline the amendments, laws and executive orders that have expanded, limited and
clarified equal rights in the workplace.
3. Discuss the role of the Supreme Court in clarifying and enforcing employment law and
identify important cases decided by the court.
4. Explain how the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures and the concepts
of adverse impact , disparate treatment and affirmative action help employers identify and
prevent discriminatory practices.
5. Explain how equal employment laws are enforced including the complaint process.
6. Categorize the different types of sexual harassment and explain ways employers can
protect employees from intimidation and harassment in the workplace.
7. Review current issues in equal employment.
8. Identify legal issues faced when managing HR in a global environment.
Chapter Overview
Guessing how a court will rule on any employment case can be a real discussion starter. This
chapter opener provides three descriptions of sexual harassment cases that went to court. Survey
student opinions on how the court decided as a lecture opener. These cases are also referred to in
the HRM Workshop at the end of the chapter as “Evaluating Alternatives” activity 10. The
answers:
Fred Meyer’s Store: Yes and Yes. Employers may be liable if customers are permitted to
make lewd comments repeatedly.
Omaha Bank: Yes and Yes. Four days was a reasonable time to investigate the complaint
and act on it. The reprimand was an appropriate response for the single incident.
Avco Corp: No and Yes. Since supervisors are often harassers, there should have been
another way to file a complaint and Avco should not have told the women not to file a
complaint with the EEOC. Forcing the women to use sick leave and them making an
adverse reference in their file was illegal retaliation that occurred as a result of their
complaint.
Chapter content includes summarize major federal legislation relevant to equal employment
opportunity, including the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1991, the 1990 Americans with
Disabilities Act and the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act. Guidelines for determining
discriminatory practices and responding to an EEO charge are given. Selected Supreme Court
Cases relevant to discrimination and reverse discrimination are summarized, and the roles of the
federal regulatory agencies (the EEOC and OFCCP) are discussed. The current issues of sexual
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Chapter 3: Equal Employment Opportunity
harassment and the glass ceiling initiative are presented, and the chapter ends with a discussion
of HRM in a global environment focusing on China, Canada, Mexico, Australia, and Germany.
Additional features of this chapter:
Exhibits
3 – 1 Summary of Primary Federal Laws Affecting Discrimination
3 – 2 Ratio of Women’s to Men’s Earnings in Selected Occupations
3 – 3 Family and Medical Leave Act Poster
3 – 4 Summary of Selected Supreme Court Cases Affecting EEO
3 – 5 Applying the 4/5ths Rule
3 – 6 Equal Pay Issues
Boxed Features
These features are located within the text and address current issues in HRM within the context
of the relevant learning objectives. They are short and thought provoking with thought questions
at the end providing a great opportunity to provide a break in class lecture to check student
understanding. Questions may be posed to students individually, in small groups, as quick
cooperative learning assignments or as large group discussions.
Contemporary Connection – Discrimination Claims Going Up page 56 Claims of
discrimination files with the EEOC are up, but over 80 percent are dismissed because
they are without merit.
Contemporary Connection – EEOC Reaches Out to Young Workers page 68 Young
workers are easy and common targets for sexual harassment and employment
discrimination.
Ethical Issues in HRM – How Bad Does It Have to Be? Page 71 Recognizing and
preventing sexual harassment.
Ethical Issues in HRM – English-only Rules on page 74 presents arguments for such
rules, as well as, the counterpoint of potential discrimination in a diverse workforce. The
Central Station Casino EEOC case is highlighted in this discussion.
Making Concepts Relevant in Your Classroom
In addition to the activities provided in the lecture notes, these suggested activities help students
apply chapter 3 concepts:
New cases and legislation will come out after publication of the text and during the
course semester. Encourage students to pay attention to these and report on them in class.
The need to keep up, to obtain legal advice and to deal with the ambiguity of legal issues
can be emphasized, and suggestions on how to deal with these more challenging aspects
of HR can be discussed. The EEOC website is one resource to leverage.
Several Supreme Court cases related to sexual harassment were decided in the late 90’s.
These cases have implications for same-sex harassment, responsibilities of management,
and determination of harassment even when an implied threat is not carried out. Have
students research these on the Web and report to the class.
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Chapter 3: Equal Employment Opportunity
Invite your campus’ EEO/Affirmative Action coordinator to speak to the class about the
University’s EEO/AA responsibilities, especially as they relate to diversity on campus.
Have students research how discrimination claims would be handled in their state or
assign each student a state to research. Have this be a presentation assignment for one or
more students.
Hold an Affirmative Action debate in class. This can still be a very volatile topic, so set
some ground rules to keep the arguments as “rational” as possible. Require students to
back up their statements with facts, figures and expert opinion. (Be prepared for the
students to pose questions about AA in college admissions.)
Chapter Outline and Lecture Suggestions
Introduction Slide 3
Discrimination amounts of management decisions made on favoritism instead of factors
relevant to ability. Employment laws continue to evolve on federal, state and local levels.
The Importance of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Slide 4
Learning Outcome 1: Explain how Title VII of the Civil Rights act of 1964 the Civil
Rights Act of 1991 protect employees from discrimination and the exceptions that are
allowed.
The Civil Rights Act addressed and outlawed discrimination in voting, education, the
workplace and many other facets of American life. Its impact can’t be overstated.
The act outlawed workplace discrimination in hiring, promotion, dismissal, benefits,
compensation or any other terms, conditions or privileges of employment based on race,
religion, color, gender, or national origin.
Organizations with less than 15 employees are exempted, but many states have lowered
that number.
Exhibit 3 – 1 lists the Civil Rights Act and subsequent Equal Employment Laws and
Executive Orders.
Race and Color Discrimination Slide 5
Treating an employee or applicant differently because of personal characteristics
that is related to race such as:
hair texture
skin color
facial features
May also include:
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Chapter 3: Equal Employment Opportunity
Name
Attire
Accent
Marriage to minority
Caucasians working in a minority-owned business
Religious Discrimination Slide 6
Religious discrimination includes treatment of applicants or employees differently
because of religious beliefs and how they are practiced.
The U.S. is becoming more religiously diverse, requiring employers to understand
how work practices may be discriminatory.
HRM needs to establish policies that respect an employee’s religion and
protect employer and employee rights.
Reasonable accommodations must be made if possible.
Employer must be informed of beliefs of accommodations are required.
Beliefs must be “sincerely held”.
May include:
Religious head coverings
Facial hair
Apparel to be worn or not to be worn
Tattoos
Time off of work
National Origin Discrimination Slide 8
Involves issues of citizenship and permanent residence status, and is often related
to race or color discrimination.
May include:
Name
Dress
Accent
English proficiency if not relevant to position
Sex Based Discrimination Slide 9
In addition to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, sex and gender discrimination are
also defined and protected by other laws, including:
Equal Pay Act of 1963
Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009.
Discriminatory actions may include: Slide 10
Different standards or procedures for one sex.
Leaves of absence
Benefits
Dress codes
Training opportunities
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Chapter 3: Equal Employment Opportunity
Pay
May include lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered individuals if discriminated
against for not conforming to traditional roles.
Exhibit 3 – 2 Ration of Women’s to Men’s Earnings page 55 illustrates how
salaries for women compare to men’s salaries in selected occupations.
Exceptions That Are Permitted Slide 11
Employers should discontinue practices which cannot be defended, however,
three defenses can be used when confronted with an allegation:
Business Necessity – an organization has the right to operate safely
and efficiency, by having successful employees who possess the skills,
knowledge, and abilities to perform the essential elements of the job.
Bona Fide Occupational Qualifications (BFOQ) can defend
requirements which discriminate against some protected groups in
narrowly defined situations.
Seniority Systems: As long as employment decisions are based on
well-established and consistently applied seniority systems, decisions
that adversely affect protected group members may be permissible.
The Civil Rights Act of 1991 Slide 12
Passed after a series of Supreme Court decisions diminished effect of Griggs decision.
Prohibits racial harassment
Returns burden of proof to employer
Reinforces illegality of making hiring, firing or promotion decisions on basis
of race, ethnicity, sex or religion
Permits women and religious minorities to seek punitive damages in
intentional discriminatory claims.
Included the Glass Ceiling Act with the intent of removing impediments for
women and minorities in moving into top management positions.
Laws Affecting Discriminatory Practices
Learning Outcome 2: Outline the amendments, laws and executive orders that have
expanded, limited and clarified equal rights in the workplace.
Class Activity: Contemporary Connection – Discrimination Claims Going Up on
page 56 explains that although claims filed with the EEOC are up sharply over the last 5
years, 80 percent are dismissed as without merit or duplicate claims. The questions to ask
your class include whether the process should be made more difficult to reduce claims
that are without merit and why retaliation claims have increased.
Equal Employment Opportunity Act (EEOA) amended Title VII. Slide 13
Created and gave enforcement powers to the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission.
Expanded Title VII coverage to include employees of state and local government,
educational institutions, and others.
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Chapter 3: Equal Employment Opportunity
Stipulates that organizations must actively recruit and give preference to minority
group members in employment decisions, which is more than merely stopping
discriminatory practices.
Relevant Executive Orders Slide 14
Executive Orders are issued by the president.
Executive Order 11246 prohibits federal agencies and their contractors, with
federal contracts of $10,000 or more, from discriminating on the basis of race,
religion, color, national origin
Executive Order 11375 added sex based discrimination.
Executive Order 11478 states employment practices of federal government must
be based on merit and prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex,
national origin, political affiliation, marital status or disability.
Organizations with 50 or more employees and/or $50,000 in federal grants require
a written affirmative action plan.
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) administers the
orders.
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) Slide 15
Protects those 40 and older and eliminates mandatory retirement.
Prohibits the arbitrary replacement of older workers with younger workers and
provides for oversight in pension and benefit issues.
Equal Pay Act Slide 16
The Act was enacted in 1963 with the intent of eliminating the practice of paying
women lower wages for the same or similar jobs held by men.
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was passed in 2009, allowing workers to file pay
discrimination claims within 180 days (300 days in some states) of any
discriminatory paycheck.
Pregnancy Discrimination Act Slide 17
Employment decisions may not be based on an individual’s pregnancy.
Must treat pregnancy as any other short-term disability.
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 Slide 18
Prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of disability.
To qualify for protection, an individual must meet certain qualifications:
Qualified individual with basic skill, education, experience and other job-related
requirements for the position.
Has or is perceived as having a physical or mental impairment that limits one or
more major life activity such as:
Seeing
Hearing
Eating
Walking
Standing
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Chapter 3: Equal Employment Opportunity
Lifting
Speaking
Breathing
And several others
Able to perform essential functions of a position (should be listed in job
description) with reasonable accommodations which are relative to the size of
the business and may include:
Modified work schedules
Adaptive equipment
Leaves of absence
Hiring readers or interpreters or using adaptive software
Installing ramps, hand rails or widening doorways
ADA Amendments Act of 2008 Slide 20
The ADA Amendment Act of 2008 (ADAAA) is intended to give broader
protections for disabled workers and “turn back the clock” on court rulings which
Congress deemed too restrictive.
Makes it easier for individuals to establish the existence of a disability, especially
regarding impairments such as cancer, diabetes, epilepsy, HIV infection and
bipolar disorder.
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) Slide 21
Employees in organizations employing 50 or more workers can take up to 12
weeks unpaid leave each year for childbirth, adoption, own illness or illness of a
family member.
Employees must meet eligibility requirements to be covered.
The act has created staffing, administrative, and illness qualification difficulties
for employers.
Exhibit 3-3 Family and Medical Leave Act Poster page 62 is required by the
DOL.
Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Slide 23
Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA)
Veterans have the right to return to their private sector jobs when they return from
military service, and they are entitled to the same seniority status and pay they
would have attained had they remained on the job.
b. Employers are prohibited from discriminating or retaliating against a job
applicant or employee based on prior military service.
Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) of 2008 Slide 24
Prohibits employers with fifteen or more employees from discriminating on the
basis on genetic information when making any employment related decisions,
including insurance covered participation in wellness programs.
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