Hospitality HRM chpt 2

Four-Fifths rule

(also known as the 80 percent rule) -- rule established by the Uniform Guidelines on employee Selection procedures in 1978 that states selection or promotion of any racial, ethnic, or sex group must occur at a rate of at least 80 percent (four-fifths) of the rate of the group with the highest selection rate.

Prima facie

Latin for "at first view" or "at first appearance," a prima facie case is a lawsuit that requires an employer to articulate a reason that any decision or action taken was made based on legitimate and nondiscriminatory factors.

Protected class

a group of workers with a characteristic specifically identified by an employment-related law or ordinance as protected.

Intent

a knowing and willful action of illegal discrimination

Minority

a label attributed to individuals who fall into a protected class of defined by civil rights statutes.

Impairment

a physical or mental condition resulting from injury or illness, which diminishes an individual's faculties such as ability to hear, see, walk, or talk.

Perpetuation theory

a theory of discrimination that precludes employees from perpetuating past discriminatory practices that may have existed prior to the enactment of a statute.

Accommodation theory

a theory of discrimination that requires employees to reasonably accommodate the practice of specified protected class members under certain circumstances.

Bona fide occupational qualifications (BFOQ)

a very narrowly interpreted exception to EEO laws that allows employees to base employment decisions for a particular job on such factors as sex, religion, or national origin, if they are able to demonstrate that such factors are an essential qualifications for performing a particular job.

Undue hardship

an ADA action requiring significant difficulty or expense, when considered in light of these factors.

executive order

an official presidential directive that has the same force as a law.

Affirmative action

any program, policy, or procedure an employer implements in order to correct past discrimination and prevent current and future discrimination within the workplace.

Disability

defined as a physical or mental impairment that, substantially limits one or more of an individual's major life activities (walking, talking, standing, sitting, etc.)

Complainant

designation of an individual who has filed a claim of discrimination with an agency.

Business necessity

discrimination allowed by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as legal reason for choosing one employer over another. to date, most of the acceptable cases have involved, job-related safety issues such as special training or experience.

Major life activities

include caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, and working.

Reasonable accommodations

modifying or adjusting a job process or a work environment to better enable a qualified individual with a disability to be considered for or perform the essential functions of a job.

Disparate treatment

such treatment results when rules or policies are applied inconsistently to one people over another. Discrimination may result when rules and policies are applied differently to members of protected classes.

Preponderance of evidence

the balance of evidence in which a court decision is made on the slightest weight in one direction (beyond a reasonable doubt is the rule of evidence for criminal cases).

Burden of proof

the burden placed on an employee, as a result of a claim of discriminatory treatment, to provide a verifiable, legitimate, and nondiscriminatory reason for any employment action taken, which may have resulted in adverse treatment of a member(s) of a protected group.

Plaintiff

the filing party in a legal dispute.

Defendant

the party against which a civil claim is filed in a court of law.

Essential functions

the primary job functions or tasks that an individual must be able to perform with or without a reasonable accommodation.

Discrimination

the treatment or consideration of making a distinction in favor of (or against) a person or thing based on a group, class, or category in which that person belongs.

Qualification standards

this term may include a requirement that an individual shall not pose a direct threat to the health or safety of other individuals in the workplace, employment tests or other selection criteria that screen out or tend to screen out an individual with a disability or a class of individuals with disabilities unless the standard, test or other selection criteria, as used by the covered entity, is shown to be job related for the position in question and is consistent with business necessity.

Disparate impact

under Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) law, a less favorable effect for one group than for another group. a disparate impact results when rules applied to all employees have a different and more inhibiting effect on women and minority groups than on the majority.