Chapter 19Chapter 19Employment Employment

Discrimination Discrimination and Affirmative and Affirmative

ActionAction

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Protected Groups

Protected groups

•Those who have federal-level legal protection from discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, or disability.

“Protected” groups are not protected from job loss: young minority men bore a disproportionate burden of the layoffs in the most recent recession.

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Federal Anti-Discrimination Laws

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Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Under Title VII, it is illegal to discriminate in:•Hiring and firing•Compensation, assignment, or classification of employees•Transfer, promotion, layoff, or recall•Job advertisements•Recruitment•Testing•Use of company facilities•Training and apprenticeship programs•Fringe benefits•Pay, retirement plans, and disability leave•Other terms and conditions of employment

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Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967

• Protects workers 40 years old and older from:• Arbitrary discrimination in hiring• Discharge• Pay• Promotions• Fringe benefits• Other aspects of employment

Does not apply where age is a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ)• When a company can legitimately argue that

younger age is necessary and related to the position.

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Equal Pay Act of 1963

• Prohibits sex discrimination in payment of wages to women and men who perform substantially equal work in the same establishment.

• Attention was revived in 2007 with the Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. case.• Lily Ledbetter alleged she had been paid less

than males for equal work.• In 2009, The Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

undid a Supreme Court decision that there is a 180 day statute of limitations on discriminatory pay charges.

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Americans with Disabilities Act

An individual with a disability:•Has a physical or mental impairment that limits one or more major life activities.•Has a record of such an impairment.•Or, is regarded as having such an impairment.Reasonable accommodation may include:Accessible facilities Job restructuring, work schedule modification, reassignmentAcquiring or modifying equipment or devices; making adjustments to examinations; providing training materials, readers, or interpreters

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Americans with Disabilities Act (continued)

The ADA is a work in progress•2003: The EEOC restricted the definition of a disability.

• An impairment is a disability only if it “substantially limits one or more of the employee’s major life activities (speaking and interacting with others, learning, thinking, concentrating, and working).

•2008: Amendment broadened the definition of disability again.• The existence of mitigating factors and a

disease being episodic or in remission are no longer exclusionary factors.

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Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC)•Has five commissioners and a general counsel• President appoints and Senate confirms

•Purpose:• Makes equal employment opportunity policy

• Investigates employment discrimination charges/complaints

• Enforces anti-discrimination laws through conciliation or federal lawsuits against employers

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Expanded Meaning of Employment Discrimination

Disparate treatment•Using race, color, religion, sex, or national origin as a basis for treating people differently or unequally.

Disparate impact•Fewer minorities are included in the outcome of testing, hiring, or promotion practices than would be expected by numerical proportion.

Four-fifths rule•If a member of a minority group does not have a success rate at least 80 percent that of the majority group, the practice may be considered to have an adverse impact.

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Issues of Sex Discrimination

Major issues for women1.Getting into professional and managerial positions and out of traditional female-dominated positions.2.Achieving pay commensurate with that of men.• Comparable worth: Workers doing different

jobs should receive the same pay if those different jobs have equal inherent worth.

3.Eliminating sexual harassment Quid pro quo harassment Hostile work environment

4.Being able to take maternity leave without losing jobs

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Pay Equity

Possible causes of pay discrepancy for women•Lost time and experience through extended maternity leave•Left the workplace for longer periods of time•Employed at lower paying jobs•Women’s hesitation to negotiate

Socialized not to negotiate from a young age Rewards for men can result in penalties for

women

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Sexual Harassment

Sexual Harassment

•Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when submission to or rejection of this conduct affects an individual’s employment, interferes with an individual’s work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.

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Types of Sexual Harassment

Quid pro quo

•Something is given or received for something else.

Hostile work environment

•The employee perceives a hostile or offensive work environment by virtue of uninvited sexually oriented behaviors or materials present in the workplace.

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Sexual Harassment

Can occur in a variety of circumstances•The victim/harasser may be a woman or a man. •The harasser can be the victim’s supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a coworker, or a nonemployee. •The victim does not have to be the person harassed, but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct. •Unlawful sexual harassment may occur without economic injury to or discharge of the victim. •The harasser’s conduct must be unwelcome.

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Examples of Sexual Harassment Complaints

• Subjected to sexually suggestive remarks and propositions

• Sent on unnecessary errands where men can stare• Subjected to sexual innuendo and joking• Touched by a boss while working• Co-workers “remarks” about a person sexually

cooperating with the boss• Suggestive looks and gestures• Deliberate touching and “cornering”• Suggestive body movements• Sexually oriented materials around the office• Pornographic materials in work areas• Pressure for dates and sexual favors• Boss’s cruelty after sexual advances are resisted• A boss rubbing employee’s back while she is typing

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Pregnancy Discrimination

Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978•Requires employers to treat pregnancy and pregnancy-related medical conditions the same as any other medical disability with respect to all terms and conditions of employment.

Fetal protection policies

Walmart class-action lawsuit

Pregnancy discrimination remains a significant issue for women in the workplace.

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Affirmative Action Postures

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Affirmative action•Taking positive steps to hire and promote people from groups previously discriminated against.

Affirmative Action in the Workplace

Preferential treatment

Reverse discrimination

The Adarand Decision and strict scrutiny The program must meet a compelling

government interest, and

Be tailored narrowly to meet program or policy objectives.

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The Future of Affirmative Action

• Buying power of minority groups is increasing rapidly.

• Growing business interest in diversity programs and affirmative action.

• Bottom-line considerations

• Diversity practices remain potentially controversial.

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