Chapter 11

Question 1

Job discrimination occurs when

Answer 1

(1) An employment decision harms or disadvantages an employee or a job applicant.
(2) The decision is based on membership in a certain group, rather than on individual merit.
(3) The decision rests on prejudice, false stereotypes, or the assumption that the group in question is in some way inferior and thus does not deserve equal treatment.

Question 2

Forms of discrimination:

Answer 2

Discrimination can be individual or institutional, intentional or unwitting.

Question 3

Arguments against discrimination

Answer 3

It involves false assumptions about a group and harms its members so:

• utilitarians reject due to ill effects on overall human welfare.
• Kantians reject as it fails to respect people as ends in themselves.
• Discrimination is also unjust.

Question 4

Statistical evidence

Answer 4

Studies reveal the persistence of discrimination in American life.

• wide economic disparities between whites and racial minorities.
• significant occupational and income differences in white males as compared to women and minorities.
• Few women and minorities found at the very top of the business world.

Question 5

Attitudinal evidence:

Answer 5

• Widespread racist and sexist attitudes and biased institutional practices and policies come into play.
• Women and minorities often find themselves measured by a “white male” value system.

Question 6

The Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Answer 6

declared racially segregated schooling as unconstitutional and helped launch the civil rights movement in the U.S

Question 7

The Civil Rights Act of 1964

Answer 7

(later amended by the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972)
prohibited all forms of discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, or national origin.

Question 8

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (1967 and 1978), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)

Answer 8

further defined illegal discrimination.

Question 9

By the 1970s, companies contracting with the federal government were required to …

Answer 9

develop affirmative action programs.

Question 10

Affirmative action programs

Answer 10

1) reflect the court’s recognition that job discrimination can exit even in the absence of conscious intent to discriminate
2) Many companies believe that they benefit from affirmative action by becoming more diverse

Question 11

Critics say that it has often meant…

Answer 11

illegal quotas, preferential treatment of women and minorities, or reverse discrimination against white males.

Question 12

The Supreme Court has adopted a case-by-case approach to affirmative action (3 things considered)

Answer 12

• majority of the Court has upheld programs that are moderate and flexible.
• Race can be taken into account for employment decisions, but only as one factor among many.
• Programs that demand rigid and unreasonable quotas or that impose excessive hardships on present employees are illegal.

Question 13

3 Arguments for affirmative action:

Answer 13

(1) Compensatory justice demands affirmative action programs.
(2) It is necessary to permit fairer competition.
(3) It is needed to break the cycle of minorities and women locked in low-paying, low-prestige jobs.

Question 14

3 Arguments against affirmative action:

Answer 14

(1) It injures white men and violates their rights.
2) Affirmative action itself violates the principle of equality.
(3) Nondiscrimination alone will achieve our social goals; stronger affirmative action is unnecessary

Question 15

comparable worth

Answer 15

women and men should be paid on the same scale for:

• doing the same or equivalent jobs, and also
• for doing different jobs involving equal skill, effort, and responsibility

Question 16

Advocates for (3) vs Critics against comparable worth (1)

Answer 16

For:

1) point to statistics showing that women are in more low-paying jobs than men – and that the more women dominate an occupation, the less it pays.
2) Some say monetary reparations (retroactive payment adjustments) are due for past work.
3) They believe that paying women equally for a job of equal worth is a matter of social justice.

Against:
1) Opponents say that women have freely chosen lower-paying occupations.

Question 17

Sexual Harassment

Answer 17

“Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when:

(1) submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment,
(2) submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual, or
(3) such conduct has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.”

Question 18

Two forms of sexual harassment:

(1) Quid pro quo harassment
(2) Hostile working environment

Answer 18

(1) Quid pro quo harassment: when a supervisor makes an employee’s job opportunities conditional on the employee’s entering into a sexual relationship with, or granting sexual favors to, the supervisor.
(2) Hostile working environment: behavior of a sexual nature that is distressing to workers (often women) and interferes with their ability to perform on the job.

Question 19

The view of the law courts: In sexual harassment cases:

Answer 19

look to what a reasonable person would find offensive

Question 20

Dealing with sexual harassment: An employee encountering sexual harassment should:

Answer 20

(1) Make it clear behavior is unwanted.
(2) If persists, document what occurred, who and when
(3) Complain to supervisor.
(4) If ineffective, consider legal options