Unit 2 Complete
February 7th, 2023
1. What are the main provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act? Which employers are subject to Title VII? What employees or applicants are protected from employment discrimination by Title VII? 2. Cantor Enterprises is a public relations and advertising agency; its clerical and administrative staff are represented by a union. A number of the clerical staff are college graduates with marketing or advertising degrees who hope to be promoted into a copywriter or account manager position; however, such workers become discouraged if there are no higher positions open, and their job performance deteriorates, or they quit. The result is a high turnover rate for the clerical and administrative positions. Cantor and the union decide that the company will no longer hire college graduates for entry-level clerical and administrative positions. Does this “no college degree” rule violate Title VII? Explain your answer. 3. When can Title VII be used to challenge gender-based pay differentials for jobs that are not equivalent? Is there a difference between coverage of the Equal Pay Act and that of the pay discrimination prohibitions of Title VII? Explain your answers. 4. How does Title VII’s prohibition of religious discrimination differ from the prohibition of discrimination based on race or color? Explain your answer. 5. How does the coverage of the Americans with Disabilities Act differ from that of the Rehabilitation Act? Is there any overlap between the coverage of the acts? Explain your answers.
Answer:
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Title VII applies to employers with 15 or more employees, including private and public employers, labor organizations, and employment agencies. Title VII protects employees and job applicants from discrimination in all aspects of employment, including hiring, firing, promotions, and pay.
- Yes, the “no college degree” rule may violate Title VII. Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, and such a rule may have a disproportionate impact on certain protected groups. The company and the union must show that the rule is job-related and consistent with business necessity.
- Title VII can be used to challenge gender-based pay differentials for jobs that are not equivalent when the differentials are based on sex discrimination. The Equal Pay Act and Title VII both prohibit pay discrimination, but the Equal Pay Act applies only to gender-based pay differentials for jobs that are equivalent in skill, effort, and responsibility, and are performed under similar working conditions. Title VII’s coverage is broader and applies to all forms of employment discrimination based on sex, not just pay discrimination.
- Title VII’s prohibition of religious discrimination is similar to its prohibition of discrimination based on race or color in that it protects employees from discrimination based on their religious beliefs or practices. However, religious discrimination may also include failing to accommodate an employee’s sincerely held religious beliefs or practices, unless it would pose an undue hardship on the employer.
- The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits employment discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities in the private sector, as well as state and local governments. The Rehabilitation Act prohibits employment discrimination against individuals with disabilities in the federal government and federal contractors. There is overlap between the coverage of the two acts, as the ADA was modeled after the Rehabilitation Act, but the ADA provides broader coverage, as it applies to all employers, while the Rehabilitation Act only covers certain employers.
