Employment Discrimination. Chapter 16 Meiners, Ringleb & Edwards The Legal Environment of Business, 12 th Edition. Origins of Discrimination Law. Historically, employers could discriminate on race, sex or other personal characteristics - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Historically, employers could discriminate on race, sex or other personal characteristics
Jim Crow laws supported segregation & labor market discrimination National Civil Rights Movements in the 1960s began the change 1963 Equal Pay Act (first employment discrimination legislation) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 1972 Equal Employment Opportunity Act (created the EEOC) 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act 1991 Civil Rights Act EEOC established to enforce all of them Discrimination in employment still exists – not as overt – more
May bring an action for more than one type of discrimination affecting an individual through certain actions by employers
Affirmative Action Programs designed to remedy past discriminatory practices (see later slides)
Reverse discrimination (preferential treatment to members of a protected class) is also illegal McDonald v. Santa Fe Trail: African-American employee reprimanded,
but kept job; the white employee was fired. Held: Illegal under Title VII. Some states have expanded Title VII protections
Some states prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation Some cities also have civil rights laws extending to discrimination
coverage Prohibition against discrimination based on sexual orientation San Francisco prohibits employment discrimination based on height or weight
Usually, e-mail sent on company computers are available for company inspection
CASE: Sports writer for Chicago newspaper was told to quit sending unwanted e-mail to female coworker
He didn’t quit Employer transferred to write to another department Federal Court HELD: Paper was within its rights
Employee cannot complain about interference with his e-mail Cannot claim sex discrimination Employer “was obviously trying to make the best of a difficult
situation” CASE: Chevron paid $2.2 million to settle sexual harassment
claims of women re: dirty jokes transmitted around the office.
PREGNANCY DISCRIMINATIONo Title VII was amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.o Cannot discriminate against women because of pregnancy, childbirth
or related medical conditions.o Women must be treated the same for all purposes including fringe
benefit programs.o Examples:
• Denying a woman a job, assignment or promotion because she is pregnant or has children
• Requiring a pregnant woman to go on leave, when she can still do her job
• Treating maternity differently than other leaves for temporary disabilities
• Discriminating re: fringe benefits, such as health insurance, that discourages women of childbearing age from working
o Teresa Harris was a rental manager; her boss, Charles Hardy, insulted her in front of others
o She is a target of sexual suggestionso “You’re a woman, what do you know?”o Called her a “dumb-ass woman”o “Go to the Holiday Inn to negotiate [her] raise”o “What did you do, promise the guy . . . [sex] Saturday night?”o Hardy asks women to get coins from his front pants pocketo Hardy throws things on the ground and asks women employees to pick them
up; makes sexual comments about clothingo Harris quits & sues, claiming a “hostile work environment”o Lower courts: Say there is no sexual harassmento U.S. Supreme Court Reverses: “Employee’s psychological well-being is
relevant to determine if the environment is abusive and has a discouraging effect on the employee’s staying on job.”
AGE DISCRIMINATIONo 1967 Age Discrimination In Employment Act (ADEA)o About 23% of discrimination claims are in this categoryo Prohibits discrimination in persons over 40o All employers with 20+ employees must complyo Applies to hiring, promoting, terminating o May not
• Force retirement• Require older works to pass physical exam as a condition of continued
employment• Indicate age preference in advertising such as “Young, Dynamic Person
Wanted”• Require a physical exam as condition of continued employment (unless
it is necessary for job performance)• Choose a younger worker because an older one will retire soon• Cut health-care benefits for workers over 65 because they are eligible for
o Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994
o Based on Person’s membership in or “obligation to perform service in a uniform service . . .” it is Illegal for employer to deny “employment, reemployment, retention in employment, promotion, or any benefit of employment”
o Straub v. Proctor Hospital
• Hostility to a member of the military was improper and is a tort under federal law
• Is a form of discrimination that does not follow EEOC process.
FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION o Imposing differential standards on employeeso Illegal compensation differentialso Harassment may result in constructive dischargeo Plaintiff must establish a Prima Facie Case
• Burden then shifts to defendant to present evidence that claim is untrue
• After employer offers non-discriminatory reason for employment decision, burden shifts back to plaintiff to show that defendant had illegal motives.
o Disparate treatment (intentional discrimination)o Disparate impact/adverse impact (unintentional
discrimination but the EFFECT is discriminatory. Proof of intent not required.)
L.L.C. o Brenda Lewis began working for Heartland Inns in July 2005. Successfully
filled several positions. Was promoted; received two merit pay increases; mangers praised her work and the “good impression” she made on customers.
o After promoted in December 2006, Director of Operations, Barbara Cullinan, saw Lewis for the first time. Told Lewis’s supervisor she didn’t think Lewis was a “good fit” for front desk – lacked “Midwestern girl look.” Said front desk girl should be “pretty” and Lewis was not.
o January 2007, Lewis’s supervisor refused to remove Lewis from front desk. That supervisor was fired. Cullinan then met with Lewis to interview her for position she already held, and told here there must be a 2nd interview – never happened.
o Lewis was fired. She sued for violation of Title VII.o Contended she was terminated for not conforming to sex stereotypes & in
retaliation for opposing discriminatory practices. District court granted summary judgment for Heartland Inns. Lewis appealed.
HELD: Reversed and remanded for further proceedings. Lewis presented sufficient evidence to make a prima facie case on her
claims for sex discrimination and retaliation. S. Ct. has said that cases of sex discrimination do not compel a women to prove that men were not subjected to same challenged discriminatory conduct. For instance: “employer who discriminates against a women because they won’t wear dresses, or make-up, engages in sex discrimination, because it has to do with victim’s sex.”
Heartland procured video equipment so Cullinan could inspect a front desk applicant “look” before any hiring.
Termination letter to Lewis relied on January 23 meeting with Cullinan. Later then Heartland alleged poor job performance to justify the termination.
Heartland did not follow its own written termination procedure – conducting investigation, looking at previous disciplinary record (Lewis had none), etc.
Ellerth worked for 15 months in sales for Burlington. She claimed that Slovik, a manager, made sexually offensive remarks, asked for liberties, & made threats to deny her of job benefits. She refused his advances. There was no retaliation against her. She never told anyone about the problem until lawsuit was filed.
District Court granted summary judgment for Burlington. Appeals Court reversed. Burlington appealed.
HELD: Reversed & case remanded back to District Court. Ellerth focused her lawsuit on quid pro quo claims. The District Court
may decide if it is appropriate to allow Ellerth to amend her pleading to claims of a hostile work environment.
Employer may then raise defense that includes 1) That Employer exercised reasonable care to prevent or correct
harassing behavior and 2) The Employee unreasonably failed to take advantage of those
Workers at Dial plant needed to lift 35 lbs. of sausage at a time to a height from 30 to 60 inches. Doing this over and over meant injuries to some workers.
Company began a Work Tolerance Screen (WTS) test for potential employees. Candidates had to demonstrate strength ability.
Usual work force was ½ men and ½ women. After WTS introduced, number of women hired dropped to 15%. One applicant took test, passed it, but wasn’t hired.
She complained to EEOC. EEOC brought suit on behalf of 54 women who applied at Dial and
were rejected despite passing WTS. Trial Court said Dial did not demonstrate that WTS was a business
necessity. Awarded back pay to women ranging from $920 to $120,000. Dial appealed.
HELD: Affirmed. Expert testimony indicated that WTS was more difficult than the
sausage-lifting jobs. In WTS, the applicants had to perform 4x as many lifts as the
current employees were doing and had no rest breaks. Dial claimed WTS resulted in decreased injuries. HOWEVER, sausage plant injuries started decreasing before WTS
was implemented. AND the injury rate for women employers was lower than that for
men in 2 of the 3 years BEFORE Dial implemented the WTS. Defense did not prove that WTS was related to the specific job and
the required skills and physical requirements of the position.
Actual and compensatory damages Equitable remedies, Injunction Place the plaintiff in the position he/she would have enjoyed but for
the discrimination Back Pay – to the date the discrimination
Employees must mitigate damages by seeking other work Front pay – if employee was unlawfully fired Compensatory damages Such as: Emotional distress/medical treatment, job-hunting costs,
loss of reputation Reinstatement/promotion/hiring Attorneys fees, filing fees, expert witness fees, etc. Punitive damages (capped from $50,000 to $300,000 depending on
DISABILITY DISCRIMINATIONo 1990 Americans With Disabilities
Act (ADA) and the 1973 Rehabilitation Act
o Compliance is in the same way discrimination suits are brought under Title VII – file with EEOC
o Applies to all employers with 15+ employees
o Prima Facie Case:• 1) Individual has disability within
meaning of the statute• 2) Employer had notice of
disability• 3) Could perform essential
function of job with reasonable accommodation
• 4) Employer refused to accommodate
o Cannot discriminate against a person with a disability that “limits a major life activity,” or has a record of or regarded to have ”an impairment” Examples: Major manual tasks; Walking/seeing; Hearing/speaking; Breathing/learning; Working
o Examples of disabilities• History of cancer; Severe
disfigurements; Have had heart attacks/cancer; Must use a wheelchair; Are hearing- or vision-impaired; Fear of heights not covered; Being left-handed not covered
LEVEL OF DISABILITYo ADA cases involve individual evaluation of circumstances of what
constitutes a disability in relationship to particular employment.o Disabilities are major life condition.o Tough standard to meet.o Partially impaired, need not mean person is considered disabled.o For those disabled, employers need only make a reasonable
accommodation.o Employers need not retain employees who can no longer perform
their jobs.o Ex: One dock worker over 400 lbs. was dismissed – morbid
obesity is not an impairment.• He couldn’t go up and down ladders as needed.• Could not perform the job.
REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION Employers must make a “reasonable accommodation” BUT need not
take on an “undue hardship” Making existing facilities accessible? Yes Job restructuring? Yes, if no undue hardship on employer or other
workers Special equipment & training for the disabled? Yes Changing test, training materials or policies? Usually yes Part-time or modified work schedules? Yes Acquiring or modify equipment? Yes, if reasonable expense Redesign the entire assembly line to accommodate wheelchair
employees? No Redesigning one work station for several thousand dollars? Yes Readers or interpreters? Yes Completely revamp a computer system? No Reassignment to a vacant position? Yes, if person is qualified
Nicholas Keith has been deaf since birth; cannot speak verbally but can communicate using American Sign Language (ASL). Applied for employment as lifeguard.
Took and passed all portions of county’s lifeguard training. Head of hiring, Stavale, approved employment subject to accommodation that Keith requested, the presence of an ASL interpreter at staff meetings
Keith passed a physical exam, but physician said Keith would require constant accommodation.
Matters delayed – consultant was called Consultant was dubious about Keith’s ability to perform, but had no
experience regard ability of deaf people to work as lifeguards Stavale was sure Keith could do the job. Gave accommodation plan. Consultant was concerned the plan might not work. Offer of employment was withdrawn. Keith sued for disability discrimination. Trial Court: Summary judgment to County. Keith appealed.
HELD: Reversed and remanded Keith is disabled under the ADA. Issues: Whether Oakland County made an individualized inquiry. Whether
Keith is otherwise “qualified for the position with or without reasonable accommodation.” Whether Oakland County engaged in interactive process
People with disabilities “ought to be judged on basis of their abilities . . . not judged . . . based on unfounded fear, prejudice, ignorance or mythologies . . . .”
ADA requires employers to make decisions that are NOT based on stereotypes & generalizations.
There is evidence that jury could find he can communicate effectively despite his deafness. He can adhere to 10/20 standard of zone protection – scanning technique. Scan in 10 seconds; reach a part of their zone in 20 seconds.
Ability to hear is unnecessary to perform essential lifeguard functions. He is “otherwise qualified” to perform the job. World record for most lives saved (900) – Leroy Colombo -- a deaf man
PRE-EMPLOYMENT GUIDANCE ADA Enforcement Guidance: Preemployment Disability-Related Questions
and Medical Examinations ADA prohibits employers asking disability-related questions or requiring
medical exams before the job is offered. What you may and may not ask of applicants must relate to the job. If disability is obvious or applicant volunteers information, questions may be
asked about reasonable accommodations. Once a job offer is made, an employer may ask 1) for documentation of a
disability and 2) more questions about reasonable accommodations. If physical exam is given to new employees, similar exams must be given to
all employees in same job category. Results must be kept confidential. Exams must be related to ability to do the job – not to screen out employees
with potential health problems. When applicant is qualified for employment, may need a professional