Employment Law - Exam 3 Practice Questions

Jason was being asked for sexual favors by his boss, Katrina. She would force him to meet her outside work and would touch him inappropriately. She even promised him a promotion if he agreed to be sexually intimate with her. Jason reluctantly succumbed to Katrina's demands and got a promotion. When he refused to engage in further sexual activity with Katrina, she fired him. Which of the following holds true in this scenario?

C) Jason can file a claim for quid pro quo sexual harassment.

Henry and Rochelle work in the claims department of an insurance company. On Rochelle's birthday, Henry stops by her cubicle and gives her a cupcake with a heart on the frosting and asks her out to dinner. Rochelle, having never spoken to Henry before, finds his actions strange and declines his offer. Henry does not make any more advances, but Rochelle finds him creepy whenever she sees him in the office. Which of the following holds true in this case?

C) Rochelle does not have a claim for sexual harassment because her claim would be based on one isolated incident that is not serious enough to warrant undue concern

Solid Security Systems hires both male and female sales representatives. However, the company mostly promotes male employees to the position of senior sales executive because the job involves a lot of traveling. The management of the company believes that male employees are more suitable than female employees for jobs that require traveling. Which of the following statements is true in this situation?

C) Solid Security Systems is liable for gender discrimination because it is unlawful to require one gender to work different hours or job positions for reasons not related to their ability.

Thomas hires an alien worker named Desai to work for his firm. Before being employed, Desai is required to produce the statutorily required documents demonstrating his right to work in the United States. However, because of Desai's qualifications and the cost benefits Thomas's company will incur if he is hired, Thomas decides to employ Desai without asking him to provide the necessary documents. Which of the following holds true in this case?

C) Thomas can be held liable under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 for employing an individual without verifying his or her employment eligibility

Chuntao, an employee of Chinese origin, works as a sales representative at Arcade Recyclers International. Her supervisor, Jim, persistently refers to her as "Charlene" instead of "Chuntao." Although she objects and asks to be called by her rightful name, Jim continues to call her "Charlene" for over a year and justifies his actions by saying that an Americansounding name would increase her chances of success and would be more acceptable to Arcade's clientele. Chuntao brings a complaint under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Which of the following holds true in this case?

B) Arcade Recyclers International will be liable to Chuntao because ethnic characteristics go beyond skin color and other physical traits and can include names.

Melanie, a white female employed at The Office Corner for three months, is married to Muhammad, who is of Middle Eastern descent. Melanie has been subjected to verbal abuse almost every day ever since her co-workers became aware of her husband's ethnicity. She has been called a "traitor" and a "terrorist." Her co-workers refuse to work with her, and her supervisor has condoned this behavior by assigning her tasks in the stockroom when previously, she assisted customers in the electronics department. Which of the following holds true in this scenario?

B) Melanie does have a national origin discrimination claim under Title VII of the Civil

Stephan was employed in the accounting department at UniLor Inc. He underwent sex reassignment surgery, after which he referred to himself as Stephanie. The company terminated Stephanie for being transgender. Which of the following statements is true in this situation?

B) Stephanie does not have a cause of action for gender discrimination because discriminating against transgendered individuals is not considered gender discrimination by courts.

Based on a case study that showed a jury would consider a female defense attorney as bolstering the credibility of a male defendant, John, a defendant in a case alleging sexual harassment and rape, insists that the law firm handling his case should assign a female attorney to defend him. However, one of the male attorneys is more qualified to handle the case, and he objects to assigning a female attorney based on John's request. If the law firm assigns a female attorney to John's case, it is:

B) a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 because it is based on customer preference

Smith, the manager of a manufacturing unit, issues a written workplace policy stating that any employee who is related to people of Latin American origin will be ineligible for a promotion to the supervisory level. This workplace policy issued by Smith:

B) violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 because it will result in discrimination against individuals who are married to or associated with people of a specific national origin.

Which of the following statements is true of quid pro quo sexual harassment?

A) It requires an employee to engage in sexual activity in exchange for workplace entitlements or benefits.

Which of the following statements is true of complaints about acts of sexual harassment?

C) They can be made by anyone who has observed the harassment in the workplace.

Marlene, an employee at Coral Holidays Inc., informs her manager that she is pregnant. After a few weeks, Marlene is terminated. Pregnant employees like Marlene have no legal recourse against such adverse employment actions.

False

Quid pro quo sexual harassment occurs when a harasser merely creates an abusive or intimidating work environment but does not engage in sexual activity.

False

Jin, an Asian male, is fired after being late for work three times. His employer has a rule that employees may be fired after being late for work twice. However, the rule has only been enforced against Asian workers while employees of other national origins have been retained with only a warning. In this scenario, Jin:

B) has a national origin discrimination claim based on disparate treatment

Fetal protection policies are:

B) prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 if the policy applies only to women.

An employee must prove discriminatory intent in order to be successful with a national origin discrimination claim under:

B) the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

Nesbitt hires Francois, an alien working in the United States with the legal authority to do so. One month later, Francois loses his right to work in the United States. Which of the following holds true in this case?

C) Nesbitt's continued employment of Francois will constitute a violation of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) if Nesbitt knows that Francois has become an unauthorized alien.

When an employee alleges sexual harassment based on a hostile work environment, the:

A) harassment should be sufficiently severe or pervasive to create an abusive working environment.

Carlos, a Mexican-American, is five feet five inches tall, which is the average height for Mexican-American men. He applies for a job as a mechanic with Moto Soul but is not hired as he does not meet the minimum height requirement for the position, which is five feet eight inches. If the height requirement cannot be justified by business necessity, which of the following will hold true in this scenario?

A) Carlos has a national origin discrimination claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 if he can show that the height requirement adversely impacts Mexican-Americans.

Harry and Sandra work on the same team for Chemvo Chemical Supply Company. They were both busy over the weekend for different reasons and failed to show up to work the next day. When they returned to work, Harry was only given a verbal warning but Sandra was terminated. Which of the following statements is true in this situation?

A) Sandra has a claim for gender discrimination as it is illegal to discipline one gender for an act for which the other gender is not disciplined.

Henri, who runs a French restaurant, wants his diners to have an authentic culinary experience. Thus, he wants to recruit qualified individuals of French origin for his restaurant. Henri can avoid a claim of national origin discrimination and still limit the job to individuals of French origin by showing that:

A) an applicant's ability to speak fluent French and understand French cuisine are bona fide occupational qualifications.

To claim a prima facie case for national origin discrimination, an employee needs to prove that:

A) his or her employer's employment decision caused an adverse employment action to him or her

Once an employee has articulated a prima facie case of discrimination based on national origin, the burden falls on his or her employer to:

A) identify a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ).

Mr. Tompkins of Lawlor & Tompkins Law Firm was conducting an interview for a junior associate attorney. He asked Macy, an applicant, if she was married and when she intended, if ever, to have children. His second interview was with Scott. He did not ask Scott either of these questions. Which of the following is true in this situation?

A) Macy has a claim for gender discrimination as it is illegal to ask questions in a job interview that are only asked of one gender

Under the Equal Pay Act, the content of the job, rather than the job title or description, determines the comparison of whether two jobs are substantially the same.

True

Hecton Computers Inc., a U.S.-based company, has its operations in United Limvia, a developing country. The culture of the country does not permit women to deal with men professionally, though there is no law limiting women to jobs that do not require much interaction with men. Zara, a U.S. citizen working for Hecton Computers in United Limvia, is denied a promotion to the position of senior client manager because the job would require Zara to interact with men inside and outside the company, and this would violate the cultural norms of United Limvia. Zara believes this to be gender discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Is she correct?

C) Yes, because Hecton Computers is required to comply with Title VII unless doing so would cause the company to actually violate the law of the country in which the business is located.

Marcus, a prolific shoe buyer, refuses to be assisted by male store clerks. The owner of Your Shoe Town, therefore, informs his staff that only female employees should attend to Marcus because he does not want to anger a patron of his store. One of the male clerks, Austen, believes that this is illegal gender discrimination. Also, since part of his incentive pay is based on meeting the monthly sales target, he feels that this policy illegally denies him the opportunity to earn incentives because of his gender. Is Austen correct?

C) Yes, because customer preference is not a legitimate and protected reason to treat otherwise qualified employees differently based on gender.

Under the Immigration Reform and Control Act's (IRCA) anti-discrimination provisions, employers with 4 to 14 employees are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of national origin.

True

Which of the following is an employer's responsibility under the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA)?

D) Asking assistance from the Immigration and Naturalization Service when a document submitted by an employee or an applicant does not reasonably appear to be genuine

Which of the following is a difference between the treatment of discrimination based on national origin under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA)?

D) Under the IRCA, innocent or negligent discrimination is a complete defense to a claim of discrimination, whereas under Title VII, it is not.

In the context of unwelcome sexual activity, if the activity started out being consensual and one employee calls a halt to it and the other continues:

D) it can become sexual harassment at the time the activity is no longer consensual.

Jing, a Chinese citizen who is legally permitted to work in the United States, and Sophia, a white American woman, apply for the same job at Golden Bird Enterprises. Jing loses the job to Sophia. In order to prevail in a national origin discrimination claim under the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), Jing must prove that:

D) she is more qualified for the job than Sophia.

When a female employee is verbally harassed about doing men's work, taking away the job a man should have, or simply inappropriately working at a traditionally male job, it constitutes sexual harassment.

True

While the sexual harassment of an employee must be based on gender, it need not involve sex, requests for sexual activity, sexual comments, or other similar activity.

True

Discrimination based upon citizenship status, or "alienage," is prohibited under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

False

Hostile environment sexual harassment is generally easier to recognize than quid pro quo sexual harassment.

False

It is unlawful for employers to refuse to hire on the basis of gender when gender acts as a bona fide occupational qualification.

False

John is an openly gay man. He constantly teases his co-worker, Paul, telling him that he should go ahead and "come out of the closet." He has even publicly commented about how sexually attractive Paul is, though Paul has warned him against making such comments. However, Paul does not have a claim for sexual harassment because John is a male.

False

Parker owns a line of cosmetics and other grooming products called Bliss You. All the makeup artists working for Bliss You are required to wear black at work. Male employees must wear black pants and black T-shirts, and female employees must wear black skirts, black tops, and high-heeled shoes. Parker believes that sales will be better if female employees are dressed in a feminine way. Selena, an employee of Bliss You, is fired for wearing pants to work. If Selena files a gender discrimination lawsuit against Bliss You, she is most likely to win the case.

False

Sandra dated Henry, her supervisor, for three months. When she told Henry that she did not want to see him anymore, he became obsessed with her. He started e-mailing her at work, dropping by her house, and stalking her after work. The supervisor gave Sandra a poor review, and eventually, she was fired. Sandra cannot file a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for sexual harassment because she had been in a consensual relationship with Henry.

False

The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) prohibits discrimination against legal aliens in favor of U.S. citizens.

False

The intent of sexual harassment law is to make the workplace totally devoid of sexuality.

False

The right to speak one's native language when the employee is bilingual is not an immutable characteristic that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects.

True

An employee may have a national origin discrimination claim if the worker is simply perceived to be of a certain origin, even if the individual is not, in fact, of that origin.

True

Doug occasionally compliments his secretary when he arrives at the office, saying things like, "Mrs. Woods, you look nice today," or "That's a nice dress." In this case, Mrs. Woods would not have a claim for sexual harassment.

True

Hostile work environment sexual harassment requires proof that the harassing conduct was severe and/or pervasive.

True

In a sexual harassment claim, it is a defense to liability if an employer can show that a harassee unreasonably failed to avail himself or herself of a mechanism the employer had in place for preventing or correcting sexual harassment.

True

It is illegal to ask questions in a job interview that are only asked of one gender.

True

Prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it was common for states to have laws that limited or prohibited women from working at certain jobs, under the theory that such laws were for the protection of women.

True

The Fair Labor Standards Act protects undocumented workers from abuse at workplaces.

True

The discharge of a teacher from her services is upheld when, although fluent in English, she spoke with such a thick accent that her students found it difficult to follow her.

True