Chapter 18- FINAL

Discuss why retaliation is a violation of the discrimination laws.

-Because it happens to an employee who has brought up charges, testified, or participated in a Title VII investigation or proceeding. This happens a lot more then we think it does. It is the employer's way of punishing this person for what the employee did to them.

Discuss the difference in terms of potential employer liability between quid pro quo harassment and hostile environment harassment.

-For an employer to be held liable for a supervisor's sexual harassment, the supervisor must have taken a tangible employment action against the employee. This is a significant change in employment status like firing or demoting. On the other hand, an employer can be held liable for a supervisor's harassment of employees even though they were not aware of what was going on. There is strict liability for quid pro quo. With respect to hostile environment, the employer may have an affirmative defense if they had a good sexual harassment policy in place and the employee did not follow it. -If a case is brought up where an employer is being questioned about liability, there is certain guidelines they go by. This includes if they had taken reasonable care to prevent any sexual harassing behavior, and if the employees who sued for harassment failed to follow the polices and procedures. If they can establish that they did these things then they can be found not liable.

Discuss the defenses to employment discrimination.

-Business necessity- This is a defense where the employer demonstrates that an employment practices that discriminates against members of a protected class is related to their job performance. This happens in disparate-impact (unintentional) discriminatory cases. -Bona Fide Occupational Qualification- This is a defense where the business claims that an identifiable characteristic is reasonably necessary to the normal operation of a particular business. These can be gender, national origin, and religion. It cannot be race. EX: A men's clothing store only hires men to sale their products. This is allowed. -Seniority Systems- This is a defense where they would say their system in which those who have worked the longest for the employer are first in line for salary increases, promotions, and other benefits. If there are lay offs, these people would usually be the last to be laid off. They also use the after-acquired evidence defense. This is when they say that the evidence the plaintiff's party has was collected after the lawsuit was filed.

Discuss the obligation of employers to accommodate employees based on their religious practices and based on their disabilities.

-Employers must respect the religious beliefs of their employees. This means that if the employee's religion says that they must not work in a certain department or that they need a certain day off then the employer must try to accommodate for them. They must accommodate even if it isn't what they believe. The only requirement is that the belief has to be genuinely held by the employee. -If an employee has a disability that with reasonable accommodation can perform job function, then the employer must make the accommodation. For example, a man who cannot walk very well can be a greeter at the door. They need to accommodate him by providing him with a chair. Other accommodations might be more flexible working hours, creating or modifying job assignments, improving training materials, or even installing a wheelchair ramp -A good faith effort to accommodate is all that is required. And, there is no requirement to accommodate if it would impose an undue hardship on the employer.

Identify the various classes of employees protected against discrimination under federal law.

Employers are not allowed to discriminate any person on the basis of their national origin, race, color, religion, gender, age, military or disability. These are all protected classes.

Described the role of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission- is to monitor employers and make sure that each is following the federal employment discrimination laws. If a person wants to bring a suit against their employer for discrimination, they first have to file with the EEOC. The EEOC will then investigate these claims and attempt to settle with the employer if they volunteer to do so. If they do not settle, EEOC will file a claim against the employer on the employee's behalf. It is important to know that the EEOC does not investigate every single claim. They only investigate priority claims. This means that if they choose not to investigate a claim, a person is now then able to bring a suit against the employer themselves.

Disparate-treatment discrimination-

This is a form of employment discrimination that results when an employer intentionally discriminate against employees who are members of the protected classes I mentioned above. This is hard to prove in court, so they have established certain procedures for resolving this issue. If someone can prove this in court, then the burden shifts to the employer who then has to articulate a legal reason for doing this.

Hostile environment-

This is a harassment that occurs when the workplace is permeated with discriminatory intimidation, ridicule, and insult that is sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of the victim's employment and create an abusive working environment. One time is enough. It has to be severe though.

Define constructive discharge and give an example.

This is a termination of employment brought about by making the employee's working conditions so intolerable that the employee reasonably feels compelled to leave the workforce. EX: A manager schedules someone to work every closing shift of the week knowing that the person is unable to do this. The closing shift is known as the worst in this case, so the manager was trying to make this employee quit without having to fire him.

Disparate-impact discrimination-

This is another form of employment discrimination that is unintentional. It is when a certain employer practices procedures or tests that, although not discriminatory on their face, they have a discriminatory effect. For example, certain businesses ask different questions in interviews that may be discriminatory. If a person brings a case that has to deal with disparate-impact discrimination, the plaintiff must prove that their practices or procedures are discriminatory in effect. After, the burden shifts to the employer who has to show how these procedures are justifiable.

Quid pro quo-

This is when something is done in exchange for something else. For example, a sexual favor may be demanded in return for job opportunities, promotions, or even a salary increase.

Discuss the requirements for a claim of age discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

To prove age discrimination, certain requirements have to be met in court. These are that he or she was a member of a protected age group, that they were qualified for the position from which they were discharged, and that they were discharged under circumstances that give rise to an inference of discrimination. They have to establish a prima facie case. This is all under the ADEA. Age discrimination occurs for those 40 and older. Unlike title VII cases, age must be "the" reason the person was fired or not hired. With title VII, the discrimination only has to be a significant part of the decision.

Discuss the concept of undue hardship.

Undue hardship happens when an employer fails to accommodate to the needs of a person with disabilities. There is no strict guidelines that can establish what exactly undue hardship is, but they have to be able to prove that it created a significant expense on the employer. They look on the resources and circumstances of the particular employer in relation to the cost of providing a specific accommodation.