Employment Law

Question 1

What happens if the EEOC decides to not investigate a claim?

Answer 1

The EEOC issues a “right to sue” that allows the victim to bring their own lawsuit against the employer.

Question 2

Can the EEOC investigate retaliation cases?

Answer 2

Yes, its one of their priority cases

Question 3

What are the limitations on Class Actions to bring discrimination complaints against an employer?

Answer 3

The supreme court, in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc v. Dukes, states that class or group actions against employers for discrimination must prove a company-wide policy of discrimination that had a common effect on all plaintiffs covered by the actionZ

Question 4

What is intentional discrimination by an employer against an employee known as?

Answer 4

Disparate-treatment discrimination. A plaintiff who sues on this basis must first make out a prima facie case.

Question 5

What are the requirements to make a Prima Facie Case in hiring?

Answer 5

1. The plaintiff is a member of a protected class.
2. The plaintiff applied and was qualified for the job in question.
3. The plaintiff was rejected by the employer.
4. The employer continued to seek applicants for the position or filled the position with a person not in a protected class.

Question 6

What is the burden-shifting procedure?

Answer 6

Once a prima facie has been established, the burden then shifts to the employer-defendant, who must articulate a legal reason for not hiring the plaintiff or for taking some other adverse employment action. If the employer did not have a legal reason for taking the action

Question 7

How does the burden shift once a defendant demonstrates a legal reason for not hiring a plaintiff?

Answer 7

The plaintiff must show that the defendant’s reason is a pretext

Question 8

What is disparate impact discrimination?

Answer 8

Occurs when a protected group is adversely affected by an employer’s practices, procedures, or tests, even though they do not appear to be discriminatory.

Question 9

What is the function of the HRM?

Answer 9

Is concerned with the acquisition, maintenance, and development of an organization’s employees.

Question 10

How should one avoid lawsuits for employee termination?

Answer 10

There should be an established policy for dealing with employees’ improper or incompetent behavior, and guidelines for determining the amount of severance pay that terminated employees will receive. Sometimes it is better to err on the side of generosity to maintain the good will of terminated employees.

Question 11

What must a plaintiff prove in a disparate-impact case?

Answer 11

In a disparate-impact discrimination case, the complaining party must first show statistically that the employer’s practices, procedures, or tests are discriminatory in effect.

Question 12

What are the two ways in which a plaintiff can prove there has been a disparate impact?

Answer 12

Pool of applicants- A plaintiff can prove a disparate impact by comparing the employer’s workforce with a pool of qualified individuals available in the local labor market. For this:

The plaintiff must show that

as a result of educational or other job requirements or hiring procedures,

the percentage of nonwhites, women, or members of other protected classes in the employer’s workforce

does not reflect the percentage of that group in the pool of qualified applicants.

Rate of Hiring- Under this rule, a rate for protected classes that is less than 4/5, or 80%, of the rate for the group with the highest rate generally ids regarded as evidence of disparate impact.

Question 13

What are 1981 claims?

Answer 13

Victims of racial or ethnic discrimination may also have a cause of action under 42 U.S.C. Section 1981. This section, which was enacted in 1866 to protect the rights of freed slaves, prohibits discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity in the formation or enforcement of contracts. Because employment is often a contractual relationship, Section 1981 can provide an alternative basis for a plaintiff’s action and is potentially advantageous because it does not place a cap on damages.

Question 14

What is a reason for an emplyer not making a reasonable accomodation adn thereby releiving him of any liability under discrimination law?

Answer 14

Undue hardship

Question 15

To sue for gender discrimination, what must a plaintiff prove?

Answer 15

That gender was the determining factor in the employer’s decision to fire or not hire them.

Question 16

What is the equal pay act?

Answer 16

The Equal Pay ActFootnote requires equal pay for male and female employees doing similar work at the same establishment. To determine whether the Equal Pay Act has been violated, a court will look to the primary duties of the two jobs—the job content rather than the job description controls. If the wage differential is due to “any factor other than gender,” such as a seniority or merit system, then it does not violate the Equal Pay Act.

Question 17

What is the lilly ledbtter fair pay act?

Answer 17

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act made discriminatory wages actionable under federal law regardless of when the discrimination began. Previously, plaintiffs had had to file a complaint within a limited time period. Today, if a plaintiff continues to work for the employer while receiving discriminatory wages, the time period for filing a complaint is basically unlimited.

Question 18

What is constructive discharge?

Answer 18

A termination of employment brought about by making the employee’s working conditions so intolerable that the employee reasonably feels compelled to leave.

Question 19

What do you need to prove constructive discharge?

Answer 19

To prove constructive discharge, an employee must present objective proof of intolerable working conditions. The employee must also show that the employer knew or had reason to know about the conditions, yet failed to correct them within a reasonable period. In addition, courts generally require the employee to show causation—that the employer’s unlawful discrimination caused the working conditions to be intolerable.

Question 20

Whate are two Title VII protections against sexual harrasment in the workplace?

Answer 20

Quid pro quo harassment occurs when sexual favors are demanded in return for job opportunities, promotions, salary increases, or other benefits. Quid pro quo is a Latin phrase that is often translated as “something in exchange for something else.”

Hostile-environment harassment occurs when a pattern of sexually offensive conduct runs throughout the workplace and the employer has not taken steps to prevent or discourage it. In this situation, the workplace is permeated with discriminatory intimidation, ridicule, and insult, and this behavior is so severe or pervasive that it alters the conditions of employment.

Question 21

How can an employer be held liable for a supervisor’s sexual harrassment?

Answer 21

For an employer to be held liable for a supervisor’s sexual harassment, the supervisor normally must have taken a tangible employment action against the employee. A tangible employment action is a significant change in employment status or benefits, such as when an employee is fired, refused a promotion, demoted, or reassigned to a position with significantly different responsibilities.

Question 22

What must a plaintiff show in a retaliation claim?

Answer 22

In a retaliation claim, an individual asserts that she or he has suffered a harm as a result of making a charge, testifying, or participating in a Title VII investigation or proceeding. Plaintiffs do not have to prove that the challenged action adversely affected their workplace or employment. Instead, to prove retaliation, plaintiffs must show that the challenged action was one that would likely have dissuaded a reasonable worker from making or supporting a charge of discrimination. Title VII’s retaliation protection extends to an employee who speaks out about discrimination during an employer’s internal investigation of another employee’s complaint.

Question 23

How may an employer be held liable for employee harrassment?

Answer 23

Normally, though, the employer will be held liable only if the employer knew, or should have known, about the harassment and failed to take immediate remedial action.
Occasionally, a court may also hold an employer liable for harassment by nonemployees if the employer knew about the harassment and failed to take corrective action.

Question 24

What are possible remedies under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act?

Answer 24

Employer liability under Title VII may be extensive. If the plaintiff successfully proves that unlawful discrimination occurred, he or she may be awarded reinstatement, back pay, retroactive promotions, and damages. Compensatory damages are available in cases of intentional discrimination. Punitive damages may be recovered against a private employer only if the employer acted with malice or reckless indifference to an individual’s rights.

The total amount of compensatory and punitive damages that plaintiffs can recover depends on the size of the employer. For instance, there is a $50,000 cap on damages from employers with one hundred or fewer employees.

Question 25

How are other forms of siscrimination prevented and orher groups mot protected by title VII?

Answer 25

Certain types of employment discrimination that are not banned by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act are prohibited under other statutes. These include discrimination based on age, disability, and military status.

Question 26

Under what statute are people protected from discrimination based on age?

Answer 26

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act prohibirs discrimination on the basis of afe against individuals forty years of age or older. Also provides for mandatory retirement for non-managerial workers. Also protects against complaints.

Question 27

What are the prerequisites necessary for the ADEA to apply?

Answer 27

An employer must have 20 or more employees, and the employer’s business activities must affect interstate commerce.

Question 28

Who administers the ADEA?

Answer 28

The EEOC, but the act also allows for private causes of action against employers for age discrimination.

Question 29

What is different in the burden shifting procedure under the ADEA?

Answer 29

Under the ADEA, in contrast, a plaintiff must show that the unlawful discrimination was not just a reason but the reason for the adverse employment action. In other words, the employee has the burden of establishing “but for” causation—but for the plaintiff’s age, the adverse action would not have happened.

Question 30

How is prima facie shown for age discrimination?

Answer 30

To establish a prima facie case, the plaintiff must show that he or she was the following:

A member of the protected age group.

Qualified for the position from which he or she was discharged.

Discharged because of age discrimination.

After this blame is shifted to the employer to give a legitimate no discriminatory reason for the adverse action.

Question 31

What is the ADA?

Answer 31

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits disability-based discrimination in workplaces with fifteen or more workers (with the exception of state government employers, who are generally immune). Basically, the ADA requires that employers reasonably accommodate the needs of persons with disabilities unless to do so would cause undue hardship. The ADA Amendments Act broadened the ADA’s coverage

Question 32

What must a plaintiff show to prevail on a claim under the ADA?

Answer 32

To prevail on a claim under the ADA, a plaintiff must show all of the following:

The plaintiff has a disability.

The plaintiff is otherwise qualified for the employment in question.

The plaintiff was excluded from the employment solely because of the disability.

Question 33

What is considered a disability under the ADA?

Answer 33

Health conditions that have been considered disabilities under the federal law include alcoholism, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), blindness, cancer, cerebral palsy, diabetes, heart disease, muscular dystrophy, and paraplegia. Testing positive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has qualified as a disability, as has morbid obesity. (A morbidly obese person weighs twice the normal weight for his or her height.)

Question 34

What must an employer do to make their application process more inclusive of people with disabilities?

Answer 34

Employers must modify their job-application process so that those with disabilities can compete for jobs with those who do not have disabilities. For instance, a job announcement might be modified to allow job applicants to respond by e-mail or letter, as well as by telephone, so that it does not discriminate against potential applicants with hearing impairments.

Question 35

Can employers ask for preemployment physicals?

Answer 35

they cannot require persons with disabilities to submit to preemployment physicals unless such exams are required of all other applicants.

Question 36

Is there protection against discrimination against military status?

Answer 36

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) prohibits discrimination against persons who have served in the military. In effect, the USERRA makes military service and status a protected class and gives members of this class a right to sue an employer for violations.

Question 37

How many people must be in the workplace for the USERRA to apply?

Answer 37

The USERRA covers all employers, public and private, large and small. Even an employer with only one employee is subject to its provisions. The act also applies to United States employers operating in foreign countries.

Question 38

What are possible justifications for discriminatory practice?

Answer 38

Possible justifications include that the discrimination was the result of a business necessity, a bona fide occupational qualification, or a seniority system. In addition, as noted earlier, an effective antiharassment policy and prompt remedial action when harassment occurs can sometimes shield employers from liability for sexual harassment under Title VII.