Managing Equal Opportunity and Diversity Notes.docx

Managing Equal Opportunity and Diversity I. Selected Equal Employment Opportunity Laws A. Background The Fifth Amendment (ratified in 1791) states, “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of the law.” B. Equal Pay Act of 1963 (amended in 1972) made it unlawful to discriminate in pay on the basis of sex when jobs involve equal work, equivalent skills, effort, and responsibility, and are performed under similar working conditions. C. Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act 1. What the Law Says a. The act says it is unlawful to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge an individual or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his/her compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. b. The act says it is unlawful to limit, segregate, or classify his/her employees or applicants for employment in any way that would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his/her status as an employee, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. 2. The EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) was established by Title VII. It consists of five members (serving five-year terms), appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate. The EEOC investigates job discrimination complaints and may file charges in court. D. Executive Orders by various presidents have expanded the effect of equal employment laws in federal agencies. President Johnson’s administration (1963–1969) issued Executive Orders 11246 and 11375, requiring contractors to take affirmative action (steps taken for the purpose of eliminating the present effects of past discrimination) to ensure equal employment opportunity. E. Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967 made it unlawful to discriminate against employees or applicants for employment who are between 40 and 65 years of age. F. Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 required employers with federal contracts over $2500 to take affirmative action for the employment of handicapped persons. G. Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) of 1978, an amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, broadened the definition of sex discrimination to encompass pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. It prohibits using such conditions to discriminate in hiring, promotion, suspension, discharge or any other term or condition of employment. H. Federal Agency Guidelines are uniform guidelines issued by federal agencies charged with ensuring compliance with equal employment federal legislation explaining “highly recommended” employer procedures regarding matters like employee selection, record keeping, pre-employment inquiries, and affirmative action programs. I. Selected Court Decisions Regarding Equal Employment Opportunity 1. Griggs v. Duke Power Company. Griggs was a case heard by the Supreme Court in which the plaintiff argued that his employer’s requirement that coal handlers be high school graduates was unfairly discriminatory. In finding for the plaintiff, the Court ruled that discrimination need not be overt to be illegal, that employment practices must be related to job performance, and that the burden of proof is on the employer to show that hiring standards are job related if it has an unequal impact on members of a protected class. Albemarle Paper Company v. Moody. Moody was a Supreme Court case in which it was ruled that the validity of job tests must be documented and that employee performance standards must be unambiguous. J. The Civil Rights Act (CRA) of 1991 places burden of proof back on employers and permits compensatory and punitive damages. 1. Burden of Proof was shifted back to where it was prior to the 1980s with the passage of CRA 1991; thus, the burden is once again on employers to show that the practice (such as a test) is required as a business necessity. For example, if a rejected applicant demonstrates that an employment practice has a disparate (or “adverse”) impact on a particular group, the employer has the burden of proving that the challenged practice is job related for the position in question. 2. Money Damages — Section 102 of CRA 1991 provides that an employee who is claiming intentional discrimination (disparate treatment) can ask for 1) compensatory damages and 2) punitive damages, if it can be shown the employer engaged in discrimination “…with malice or reckless indifference to the federally protected rights of an aggrieved individual.” 3. Mixed Motives — CRA 1991 states: “An unlawful employment practice is established when the complaining party demonstrates that race, color, religion, sex, or national origin was a motivating factor for any employment practice, even though other factors also motivated the practice.” Employers cannot avoid liability by proving it would have taken the same action—such as terminating someone—even without the discriminatory motive. Plaintiffs in such so-called “mixed motive” cases recently gained an advantage from a U.S. Supreme Court decision in Desert Palace Inc. v. Costa, where the court decided that the plaintiff did not have to provide evidence of explicitly discriminatory conduct, but could provide circumstantial evidence. K. Sexual Harassment involves repeated actions against and individual on the basis of sex that has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with a person’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. 1. Submission is either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment. 2. Submission to or rejection of such conduct is the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual. 3. Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. L. Proving Sexual Harassment. There are three main ways to prove sexual harassment. 1. Quid Pro Quo — The most direct way of proving sexual harassment is to prove that rejecting a supervisor’s advances adversely affected what the EEOC calls a “tangible employment action.” 2. Hostile Environment Created by Supervisors — Supervisor advancements can interfere with performance and create an offensive work environment. There is a difference between simple flirting and sexual harassment. 3. Hostile Environment Created by Coworkers — An employee’s coworkers or customers can cause the employer to be held responsible for sexual harassment. M. Sexual Harassment Court Decisions — The Supreme Court used the Meritor Savings Bank, FSB v. Vinson case to endorse the EEOC’s guidelines on sexual harassment. Burlington Industries v. Ellerth — quid pro quo harassment Faragher v. City of Boca Raton — hostile work environment N. Sexual Harassment Causes — The most important factor is a permissive social climate, one where employees conclude there’s a risk to victims for complaining, that complaints won’t be taken seriously, or that there’s a lack of sanctions against offenders. Gender harassment is a form of hostile environment harassment that appears to be motivated by hostility toward individuals who violate gender ideals. O. What the Manager/Employer Should Do — Employers should do two things: They should take steps to ensure harassment does not take place. Second, once being apprised of such a situation, they should take immediate corrective action even if the complainant is a non-employee. P. What the Employee Can Do — Employees should immediately make it clear the behavior experienced was unwelcome. Following the employer’s policies is crucial but filing verbal and written reports with the harasser’s manager and HR is likely to help. If not, turn to the local office of the EEOC. Q. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for disabled employees, and it prohibits discrimination against disabled persons. 1. Qualified Individual — The act prohibits discrimination against those who, with or without a reasonable accommodation, can carry out the essential functions of the job. 2. Reasonable Accommodation — If the individual cannot perform the job as currently structured, the employer is required to make a “reasonable accommodation,” unless doing so would present an “undue hardship.” 3. The ADA in Practice — ADA complaints are flooding the EEOC and the courts. However, 96% of federal court decisions in a recent year were for the employer. 4. The “New” ADA — On January 1, 2009, the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 became effective. This will make it much easier for employees to show that their disability is influencing one of their “major life activities.” 5. ADA Implications for Managers and Employers — The ADA imposes certain legal obligations on employers: a. Although employers may not make pre-employment inquiries about a person’s disability, they may ask questions about the person’s ability to perform specific essential job functions. b. If the employer rescinds an offer after an offer is extended, the applicant must be able to recognize a legitimate reason for the rejection. c. Medical exams for all applicants are allowed as long as a concrete job offer is forthcoming prior to the exam. d. An employer must not deny a job to a disabled individual if the person is qualified and able to perform the essential functions of the job; if the person is otherwise qualified but unable to perform an essential function, the employer must make a reasonable accommodation unless doing so would result in undue hardship. HIV-positive individuals are generally ADA disabled, whether or not they are showing symptoms. e. Documentation of any disorder may be required in order to assess its impact on job performance. f. Employers do not need to allow misconduct or erratic performance, even if that behavior is linked to the disability. g. Don’t treat employees as if they are disabled. 6. Improving Productivity Through HRIS: Accommodating Disabled Employees — Technology makes it easier for employers to accommodate disabled employees. Blind employees can work successfully using a screen-reading program named JAWS. Real-time translation captioning enables employees with hearing or speech impairments to participate in lectures and meetings. R. Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act of 2008 — GINA prohibits discrimination by health insurers and employers based on people’s genetic information. S. The Federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act — ENDA would prohibit workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity if Congress passes it. T. State and Local Equal Employment Opportunity Laws — typically, further restrict employers’ treatment of job applicants and employees, especially those not covered by federal legislation. State and local equal employment opportunities agencies play a role in the equal employment compliance process. II. Defenses Against Discrimination Allegations A. What Is Adverse Impact? — Adverse impact refers to the total employment process that results in a significantly higher percentage of a protected group in the candidate population being rejected for employment, placement, or promotion. Title VII prohibits both disparate treatment and disparate impact. Disparate treatment refers to intentional discrimination. Disparate impact refers to unintentional discrimination. Adverse impact “…refers to the total employment process that results in a significantly higher percentage of a protected group in the candidate population being rejected for employment, placement, or promotion.” The complainant would use one of two rules: The “4/5Rule” is applied if 80% (4/5) of non-minority applicants passed a given test while only 20% of the minority applicants passed. The McDonnell-Douglas Test requires four rules be applied: the person belongs to a protected class; he or she applied and was qualified for a job; despite this qualification, he or she was rejected; after his or her rejection, the position remained open and the employer continued seeking applications from persons with the complainant’s qualifications. Workforce Analysis — Employers use workforce analysis to obtain and to analyze the data regarding the firm's use of protected versus non-protested employees in various job classifications. Bringing a Case of Discrimination: Summary — There are two defenses that the employer can use: BFOQ and business necessity. B. Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ) — is a defense used to justify an employment practice that may have an adverse impact on members of a protected class. It is a requirement that an employee be of a certain religion, sex, or national origin where that is reasonably necessary to the organization’s normal operation. This is even more narrowly interpreted by courts. C. Business Necessity — is a defense created by the courts, which requires an employer to show an overriding business purpose for the discriminatory practice and that the practice is therefore acceptable. D. Retaliation — To paraphrase the EEOC, “all of the laws we enforce make it illegal to fire, demote, harass, or otherwise “retaliate” against people because they filed a charge, complained to their employer or other covered entity. III. Illustrative Discriminatory Employment Practices A note on what you can and cannot do — pre-employment questions are not inherently legal or illegal. Rather, the impact of the questions is what courts assess in making determinations about discriminatory practice. “Problem questions” are those that screen out members of a protected group. The EEOC approves the use of “testers” posing as applicants to test a firm’s procedures. Care should be taken in devising employment practices and in training recruiters. A. Recruitment — If the workforce is not truly diverse, relying on word of mouth to spread information about job openings can reduce the likelihood of all protected groups having equal access to job openings. However, word-of-mouth is an excellent source of quality candidates, as long as the workforce is diverse and representative of the area in which the firm recruits. It is unlawful to give false or misleading job information. Help-wanted ads should be screened for potential age and gender bias. B. Selection Standards — Educational requirements and tests that are not job-related, or which result in adverse impact can be found to be illegal. Showing preference to relatives may also contribute to a lack of racial diversity; height, weight, and physical characteristics should be job related. Felony conviction information can be sought, but arrest records negate the presumption of “innocent until proven guilty” and may result in adverse impact against groups with a high incidence of arrests. Tattoos and body piercings are an issue at work. For example, if an employee must respond to customers via telephone, having a piece of jewelry pierced through the tongue will likely be noisy and disturbing to the customer on the phone. Application forms should not contain questions that might allow potentially discriminatory information to be gathered. C. Promotion, Transfer, and Layoff Practices — Fair employment laws protect not just job applicants but also current employees. Employees have filed suits against employers’ dress, hair, uniform, and appearance codes under Title VII, claiming sex discrimination and sometimes, racial discrimination. In some cases, the courts have agreed. IV. The EEOC Enforcement Process A. Processing a Charge — All managers should have a working knowledge of the steps in the EEOC claim process. 1. File Claim — Under CRA 1991, the charge generally must be timely filed in writing and under oath by (or on behalf of) the person claiming to be aggrieved, or by a member of the EEOC who has reasonable cause to believe that a violation occurred. The EEOC can either accept the charge or refer it to the state or local agency. Serve notice—after the charge has been filed, the EEOC has 10 days to serve notice on the employer. 2. Voluntary Mediation — A neutral third party may aid the parties in reaching voluntary resolution. The EEOC will ask the employer to participate if the claimant agrees to mediation. Employer options include mediating the charge, making a settlement offer, or preparing a position statement for the EEOC. HR in Practice: Management Guidelines for Dealing with EEOC Charges During the EEOC Investigation — There are several things to keep in mind: be methodical, remember EEOC investigators are not judges, give the EEOC a position statement, ensure there is information in the EEOC’s file demonstrating lack of merit of the charge, limit the information supplied as narrowly as possible, seek as much information as possible, and prepare for the EEOC’s fact-finding conferences—preventing is better than litigating. V. Diversity Management and Affirmative Action Programs Today’s Diverse Workforce — Companies today are striving for racial, ethnic, and sexual workforce balance, “not because of legal imperatives, but as a matter of enlightened economic self-interest.” Diversity means being diverse or varied, and at work means having a workforce comprised of two or more groups of employees with various racial, ethnic, gender, cultural, national origin, handicap, age, or religious backgrounds. A. Diversity’s Potential Pros and Cons — Diversity has both benefits and threats for employers. 1. Some Downsides — Demographic differences can produce behavioral barriers. a. Stereotyping — the process in which someone ascribes specific behavioral traits to individuals based on apparent membership in a group. b. Discrimination — taking specific actions toward or against the person based on the person’s group. c. Tokenism — happens when a company appoints a small group of women or minorities to high-profile positions. d. Ethnocentrism — is the tendency to view members of other social groups less favorably than one’s own. e. Gender-role stereotypes — the tendency to associate women with certain jobs. 2. Some Diversity Benefits — The key is properly managing these threats. Diversity climate is the extent to which employees believe the firm promotes equal opportunity and inclusion. 3. Strategy and HR — Workforce diversity makes strategic sense. IBM is used as an example in the HR as a profit center discussion. B. Managing Diversity — means taking steps to maximize diversity’s potential advantages while minimizing the potential barriers, such as prejudices and bias that can undermine the functioning of a diverse workforce. 1. Top-Down Programs — One diversity expert concluded that five sets of voluntary organizational activities are at the heart of any diversity management program: 1) provide strong leadership, 2) assess the situation, 3) provide diversity training, 4) change culture and management system, 5) evaluate the diversity management program. 2. “AGEM” — is a diversity training process involving Approach, Goals, Executive commitment, and Mandatory Attendance. C. Encouraging Inclusiveness — may be used on the personal, interpersonal, and organizational levels. D. Boosting Workforce Diversity — Employers use various means to manage workforce diversity, including voluntary affirmative action programs, organizing minority employees’ networks, and expansion of multicultural markets. The aim is to voluntarily enhance employment opportunities for women and minorities. E. Equal Employment Opportunity versus Affirmative Action — Equal employment opportunity aims to ensure that anyone, regardless of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, or age, has an equal chance for a job based on his/her qualifications. Affirmative action goes beyond equal employment opportunity by requiring the employer to make an extra effort to recruit, hire, promote, and compensate those in protected groups to eliminate the present effects of past discrimination. F. Steps in an Affirmative Action Program — Executive Order 11246 requires that a numerical analysis of the workforce be conducted, and that barriers to equal employment be eliminated through a good faith effort strategy. It is vital that current employees see this program as fair. This is accomplished through good communication, program justification, and transparent selection procedures. These are the steps in an affirmative action program: Issue a written equal employment policy. Appoint a top official with responsibility and authority to direct and implement the program. Publicize the equal employment policy and affirmative action commitment. Survey present minority and female employment by department and job classifications to determine locations where affirmative action programs are especially desirable. Develop goals and timetables to improve utilization of minorities, males, and females. Develop and implement specific programs to achieve these goals (the heart of the plan). Establish an internal audit and reporting system. Develop support for the program both internally and externally. G. Affirmative Action Today — The instances of major court-mandated programs is down. However, many employers voluntarily implement affirmative action programs. Court case — In Ricci v. DeStefano white firefighters and one Hispanic firefighter sued for what was identified as a form of “reverse” discrimination and won. Improving Productivity through HRIS: Measuring Diversity — A number of metrics for assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization’s EEOC and diversity efforts are at the HR manager’s disposal. They include the number of EEOC claims per year; the cost of HR-related litigation; percent minority; women promotions; and various measures for analyzing the survival and loss rate among new diverse employee groups. HRIS applications provide several diversity-related software options aimed at boosting the accuracy of information to managers. Through such packages, calculations are available to compute cost per diversity hire; a workforce profile index; the numeric impact of voluntary turnover among diverse employee groups; the effectiveness of the company’s supplier diversity initiatives; current diversity measures; and direct and indirect replacement cost per hire. Key Terms Equal Pay Act of 1963 The act requiring equal pay for equal work, regardless of sex. Title VII of the 1964 The section of the act that says an employer cannot Civil Rights Act discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sex, or national origin with respect to employment. EEOC The commission, created by Title VII, is empowered to investigate job discrimination complaints and sue on behalf of complainants. Affirmative action Steps that are taken for the purpose of eliminating the present effects of past discrimination. OFCCP This office is responsible for implementing the executive orders and ensuring compliance of federal contractors. Age Discrimination in The act prohibiting arbitrary age discrimination Employment Act of 1967 and specifically protecting individuals over 40 years old. Voc. Rehab. Act of 1973 The act requiring certain federal contractors to take affirmative action for disabled persons. Pregnancy Discrimination An amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act that Act (PDA) prohibits sex discrimination based on “pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.” Federal agency guidelines Guidelines issued by federal agencies explaining recommended employer equal employment federal legislation procedures in detail. Griggs v. Duke Power Co. Supreme Court case in which the plaintiff argued that his employer’s requirement that coal handlers be high school graduates was unfairly discriminatory. In finding for the plaintiff, the Court ruled that discrimination need not be overt to be illegal, that employment practices must be related to job performance, and that the burden of proof is on the employer to show that hiring standards are job related. Protected class Persons such as minorities and women protected by equal opportunity laws including Title VII. -87630117475v. Moody 00v. Moody Albermarle Paper Co. The case is important because it helped to clarify what the employer must do to prove that the test or other screening tool is related to performance on the job. Civil Rights Act of 1991 This act places the burden of proof back on employers and (CRA 1991) permits compensatory and punitive damages. Disparate impact An unintentional disparity between the proportion of a protected group applying for a position and the proportion getting the job. Disparate treatment An intentional disparity between the proportion of a protected group, and the proportion getting the job. Sexual harassment Harassment on the basis of sex that has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with a person’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. Gender harassment A form of hostile environment harassment that appears to be motivated by hostility toward individuals who violate gender ideals. Americans with The act requiring employers to make reasonable Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodation for disabled employees. It prohibits discrimination against disabled persons. Adverse impact The overall impact of employer practices that result in significantly higher percentages of members of minorities and other protected groups being rejected for employment, placement, or promotion. Workforce analysis Used to obtain and to analyze the data regarding the firm’s use of protected versus non-protected employees in various job classifications. Utilization analysis The process of comparing the percentage of minority employees in a job (or jobs) at the company with the number of similarly trained minority employees available in the relevant labor market is utilization analysis. BFOQ Bona Fide Occupational Qualification. Allows requirements that an employee be of a certain religion, sex, or national origin where that is reasonably necessary to the organization’s normal operation. Specified by the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Business necessity Justification for an otherwise discriminatory employment practice, provided there is an overriding legitimate business purpose. ADR Alternative dispute resolution programs require employees to pursue mediation prior to pressing a claim. Diversity Means being diverse or varied, and at work means having a workforce comprised of two or more groups of employees with various racial, ethnic, gender, cultural, national origin, handicap, age, or religious backgrounds. Stereotyping A process in which someone ascribes specific behavioral traits to individuals based on their apparent membership in a group. Discrimination Means taking specific actions toward or against the person based on the person’s group. Tokenism Occurs when a company appoints a small group of women or minorities to high-profile positions, rather than more aggressively seeking full representation for that group. Ethnocentrism Is the tendency to view members of other social groups less favorably than one’s own. Gender-role The tendency to associate women with certain jobs. stereotypes DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. What is Title VII? What does it state? Title VII says an employer cannot discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Title VII established the EEOC. 2. What important precedents were set by the Griggs v. Duke Power Company case? The Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody case? For the Griggs v. Duke Power Company case, the plaintiff argued to the Supreme Court that his employer’s requirement that coal handlers be high school graduates was unfairly discriminatory. In finding for the plaintiff, the Court ruled that discrimination need not be overt to be illegal, that employment practices must be related to job performance, and that the burden of proof is on the employer to show that hiring standards are job related. For the Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody case, the Supreme Court ruled that the validity of job tests must be documented and that employee performance standards must be unambiguous. 3. What is adverse impact? How can it be proven? The overall impact of employer practices that result in significantly higher percentages of members of minorities and other protected groups being rejected for employment, placement, or promotion. The complainant need only establish a prima facie case: showing that the employer’s selection procedures did have an adverse impact on a protected minority group. This is done by one of four basic approaches: disparate rejection rates; the restricted policy approach; population comparisons; or the McDonnell-Douglas Test. 4. Assume you are a supervisor on an assembly line; you are responsible for hiring employees, supervising them, and recommending them for promotion. Compile a list of potentially discriminatory management practices you should avoid. Acceptable answers include the following: Ensure that recruitment practices are non-discriminatory, avoiding word-of-mouth dissemination of information about job opportunities when the workforce is substantially white, or all members of some other class. Avoid giving false or misleading information to members of any group or to fail or refuse to advise them of work opportunities. Avoid advertising classifications that specify gender or age unless it is a bona fide occupational qualification for the job. Avoid asking pre-employment questions about an applicant’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Do not deny a job to a disabled individual if the person is qualified and able to perform the essential functions of the job. Make reasonable accommodations for candidates that are otherwise qualified but unable to perform an essential function unless doing so would result in a hardship. Apply tests and performance standard uniformly to all employees and job candidates. Avoid tests if they disproportionately screen out minorities or women and are not job related. Do not give preference to relatives of current employees if your current employees are substantially non-minority. Do not establish requirements for physical characteristics unless you can show they are job related. Do not make pre-employment inquiries about a person’s disability, but do ask questions about the person’s ability to perform specific essential job functions. Review job application forms, interview procedures, and job descriptions for illegal questions and statements. Check for questions about health, disabilities, medical histories, or previous workers’ compensation claims. Do not ask applicants whether they have ever been arrested or spent time in jail. However, you can ask about conviction records. 5. Explain the defenses and exceptions to discriminatory practice allegations. The two main defenses you can use in the event of a discriminatory practice allegation are bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ) and business necessity. BFOQ is a requirement that an employee be of a certain religion, sex, or national origin where that is reasonably necessary to the organization’s normal operation. Business necessity is a justification for an otherwise discriminatory employment practice, provided there is an overriding legitimate business purpose. 6. What is the difference between affirmative action and equal employment opportunity? Equal employment opportunity aims to ensure that anyone, regardless of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, or age has an equal chance for a job based on his/her qualifications. Affirmative action requires the employer to make an extra effort to hire and promote those in protected groups and includes specific actions designed to eliminate the present effects of past discrimination. 7. Explain how you would set up an affirmative action program. The student’s answer should include the eight steps in an affirmative action program: (1) issue a written equal employment policy, (2) appoint a top official, (3) publicize the policy, (4) survey present minority and female employees, (5) develop goals and timetables, (6) develop and implement specific programs to achieve goals, (7) establish an internal audit and reporting system, and (8) develop support of in-house and community programs. INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP ACTIVITIES 1. Working individually or in groups, respond to these three scenarios based on what you learned in this chapter. Under what conditions (if any) do you think the following constitutes sexual harassment? (a) A female manager fires a male employee because he refuses her requests for sexual favors. (b) A male manager refers to female employees as “sweetie” or “baby”. (c) A female employee overhears two male employees exchanging sexually oriented jokes. Student answers will vary, but should include concepts introduced in the chapter. Student answers may include a discussion of sexual harassment, quid pro quo, hostile environment, and court decisions. The student can also make assumptions concerning the organization culture. 2. Working individually or in groups, discuss how you would set up an affirmative action program. It is important that students reach a decision of whether to use the good faith effort strategy or the quota strategy. Most experts would suggest the good faith effort strategy is the most legally acceptable approach. The following list of six actions should be demonstrated in the student plans: increasing the minority or female applicant flow; demonstrating top management support for the equal opportunity policy; demonstrating the equal opportunity commitment to the local community; keeping employees informed about the specifics of the affirmative action program; broadening the work skills of incumbent employees; and institutionalizing the equal employment policy to encourage supervisors’ support of it. 3. Compare and contrast the issues presented in recent court rulings on affirmative action. Working individually or in groups, discuss the current direction of affirmative action. The basic questions addressed in Bakke focused on when preferential treatment becomes discrimination and under what circumstances discrimination will be temporarily permitted. Neither question was fully answered. Subsequent cases have continued to address these issues and clarify more specifically the scope and intent of affirmative action. For example, in the Paradise case, the court ruled that the courts can impose racial quotas to address the most serious cases of racial discrimination. In Johnson, the court ruled that the public and private employers may voluntarily adopt hiring and promotion goals to benefit minorities and women. The Johnson ruling may limit claims of reverse discrimination by white males. 4. Working individually or in groups, write a paper entitled “What the Manager Should Know about How the EEOC Handles a Person’s Discrimination Charge.” The students should include the following information in their paper. The EEOC can either accept it or refer it to the state or local agency. After it has been filed, the EEOC has 10 days to serve notice on the employer, and then investigate the charge to determine whether there is reasonable cause to believe it is true within 120 days. If charges are dismissed, EEOC must issue the charging party a Notice of Right to Sue. The person has 90 days to file suit on his/her own behalf. If EEOC finds reasonable cause for the charge, it must attempt a conciliation. If conciliation is not satisfactory, it can bring a civil suit in federal district court, or issue a Notice of Right to Sue to the person who filed the charge. Under Title VII, the EEOC has 30 days to work out a conciliation agreement between the parties before bringing suit. If the EEOC is unable to obtain an acceptable conciliation agreement, it may sue the employer in federal district court. 5. Explain the difference between affirmative action and equal employment opportunity. Equal employment opportunity aims to ensure that anyone, regardless of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, or age has an equal chance for a job based on his or her qualifications. Affirmative action requires the employer to make an extra effort to hire and promote those in protected groups and includes specific actions designed to eliminate the present effects of past discrimination. 6. Assume you are the manager in a small restaurant; you are responsible for hiring employees, supervising them, and recommending them for promotion. Working individually or in groups, compile a list of potentially discriminatory practices you should avoid. Acceptable answers include the following: Ensure that recruitment practices are non-discriminatory, avoiding word-of-mouth dissemination of information about job opportunities when the workforce is substantially white, or all members of some other class. Avoid giving false or misleading information to members of any group or to fail or refuse to advise them of work opportunities. Avoid advertising classifications that specify gender or age unless it is a bona fide occupational qualification for the job. Avoid asking pre-employment questions about an applicant’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Do not deny a job to a disabled individual if the person is qualified and able to perform the essential functions of the job. Make reasonable accommodations for candidates that are otherwise qualified but unable to perform an essential function unless doing so would result in a hardship. Apply tests and performance standards uniformly to all employees and job candidates. Avoid tests if they disproportionately screen out minorities or women and are not job related. Do not give preference to relatives of current employees if your current employees are substantially non-minority. Do not establish requirements for physical characteristics unless you can show they are job related. Do not make pre-employment inquiries about a person’s disability, but do ask questions about the person’s ability to perform specific essential job functions. Review job application forms, interview procedures, and job descriptions for illegal questions and statements. Check for questions about health, disabilities, medical histories, or previous workers’ compensation claims. Do not ask applicants whether they have ever been arrested or spent time in jail. However, you can ask about conviction records. APPLICATION EXERCISES Case Incident: A Case of Racial Discrimination What do you think of the way Chapman handled the accusations from Peters and his conversation with Anderson? How would you have handled them? If you allow the class time to explore this, the class will likely divide over this issue. An essential element is Peters’ lack of confrontation of Anderson. Peters might have had a reasonable claim of harassment had he informed Anderson of his disapproval of her behavior (informality, notes, and calls) and had she then persisted in her actions. At this stage, he appears to have very little legal grounds for harassment. Whether Anderson has a case or not hinges on whether Chapman made such a statement, whether she can show that there were other such statements, and whether there were indeed other incidents showing that the hospital was concerned about interracial relationships. Do you think Peters had the basis for a sexual harassment claim against Anderson? Why or why not? Based on the evidence presented here, it is difficult to tell and is actually unlikely that there was any basis for a sexual harassment claim. First, the nature of the cards and phone calls was not properly investigated. Many coworkers exchange cards and engage in similar activities on a friendship level. Without seeing the cards and notes, it is not possible to clearly evaluate this accusation. Additionally, until the person on the receiving end of such communication clearly communicates to the sender that the messages are unwelcome, it would not be considered harassment. What would you do now if you were Chapman to avoid further incidents of this type? It is clear that Chapman only has “a number of rudimentary steps to guard against blatant violations” in place. He needs to put in place policies and procedures that clearly outline acceptable and unacceptable behavior and how complaints will be handled. Continuing Case: Carter Cleaning Company 1. Is it true, as Jack Carter claims, that “we can’t be accused of being discriminatory because we hire mostly women and minorities anyway”? No, they must be concerned with discrimination based on pregnancy, age, wages, sex, civil rights, and the like. Even if federal discrimination laws do not impact them, they should check on state and local laws for fairness. How should she and her company address the sexual harassment charges and problems? First, Jennifer, her father, or both should meet with the manager in question and explain their written policies regarding sexual harassment if they have any. If they have none, they should create them but also explain to the manager that they will add written documentation about his behavior to his personnel file. In addition, they should explain why they believe it is important to harass employees and make him aware of the legal consequences of his actions. He should be allowed to respond in writing to the charge of sexual harassment, which may also be placed in his personnel file. How should she and her company address the possible problems of age discrimination? Jennifer should examine the claimed pay discrepancies. If found to be true, the older worker should be paid back pay and his wages increased to that of any worker doing his job. This situation is one in which a solid job description and written pay scales would have helped avoid the problem. The manager of that store should be informed of the situation and an announcement to all store managers provided. The federal ADEA does apply in this situation. 4. Given the fact that each of its stores has only a handful of employees, is her company covered by equal rights legislation? Carter Cleaning is probably not covered by most of the federal equal rights legislation. The following is a list of the sizes of employers covered by the more prominent laws: a. Title VII: 15 or more employees b. Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967: 20 or more employees c. Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990: 15 or more employees d. Equal Pay Act of 1963: most employers with one or more employees However, it is important to note that states and many cities have other laws regarding equal rights. To be sure, one should check with a local attorney. And finally, aside from the specific problems, what other personnel management matters (application forms, training, and so on) have to be reviewed given the need to bring them into compliance with equal rights laws? Application forms should be examined to ensure they do not require answers to questions that could lead to discriminatory practices such as pregnancy, disabilities, and the like. More importantly, it is necessary to check for possible instances of disparate treatment, disparate impact, and adverse impact. For training purposes, all federal, state and local laws should be listed in management handbooks and discussed openly in mandatory scheduled training programs. Issues such as age discrimination, sexual harassment, and the like should be covered. Finally, interview questions should be written and structured and used universally. Discussions and examples of illegal interviewing questions should be covered during management training programs. Experiential Exercise: Too Informal Purpose: The purpose of this exercise is to provide practice in analyzing and applying knowledge of equal opportunity legislation to a realistic problem. Required Understanding: Be thoroughly familiar with the material presented in this chapter. In addition, read “Too Informal?” the case on which this experiential exercise is based. How to Set Up the Exercise/Instructions: Divide the class into groups of four or five students. Next, each group should develop answers to the following questions: How could the EEOC prove adverse impact? Cite specific discriminatory personnel practices at Dan Jones’ company. How could Jones’ company defend itself against the allegations of discriminatory practice? If time permits, a spokesperson from each group can present his or her group’s findings. Would it make sense for this company to try to defend itself against the discrimination allegations? Selected Equal Opportunity Laws A. Background 1. The Fifth Amendment (ratified in 1791) states, “no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of the law.” B. Equal Pay Act of 1963 (amended in 1972) made it unlawful to discriminate in pay on the basis of sex when jobs involve equal work, equivalent skills, effort, and responsibility, and are performed under similar working conditions. C. Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act 1. Background a. The act says it is unlawful to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge an individual or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his or her compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. b. The act says it is unlawful to limit, segregate, or classify his or her employees or applicants for employment in any way that would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his or her status as an employee, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. 2. Who does Title VII cover? It covers: a) all public or private employers of 15 or more persons; b) all private and public educational institutions; c) federal, state, and local governments; d) public and private employment agencies; e) labor unions with 15 or more members; and f) joint labor-management committees. 3. The EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) was established by Title VII. It consists of five members (serving five-year terms), appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate. The EEOC investigates job discrimination complaints and may file charges in court. D. Executive Orders by various presidents have expanded the effect of equal employment laws in federal agencies. Johnson’s administration (1963–1969) issued Executive Orders 11246 and 11375, which required contractors to take affirmative action (steps taken for the purpose of eliminating the present effects of past discrimination) to ensure equal employment opportunity. E. Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967 made it unlawful to discriminate against employees or applicants for employment who are between 40 and 65 years of age. F. Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 required employers with federal contracts of more than $2500 to take affirmative action for the employment of handicapped persons. G. Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) of 1978, an amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, prohibits sex discrimination based on “pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.” H. Federal Agency Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures are uniform guidelines issued by federal agencies charged with ensuring compliance with equal employment federal legislation explaining “highly recommended” employer procedures regarding matters such as employee selection, record keeping, preemployment inquiries, and affirmative action programs. I. Selected Court Decisions Regarding Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) 1. Griggs v. Duke Power Company, a case heard by the Supreme Court in which the plaintiff argued that his employer’s requirement that coal handlers be high school graduates was unfairly discriminatory. In finding for the plaintiff, the Court ruled that discrimination need not be overt to be illegal, that employment practices must be related to job performance, and that the burden of proof is on the employer to show that hiring standards are job related if it has an unequal impact on members of a protected class. Albemarle Paper Company v. Moody, a Supreme Court case in which it was ruled that the validity of job tests must be documented, and that employee performance standards must be unambiguous. J. The Civil Rights Act (CRA) of 1991 places burden of proof back on employers and permits compensatory and punitive damages. 1. Burden of Proof was shifted back to where it was prior to the 1980s with the passage of CRA 1991; thus, the burden is once again on employers to show that the practice (such as a test) is required as a business necessity. For example, if a rejected applicant demonstrates that an employment practice has a disparate (or “adverse”) impact on a particular group, the employer has the burden of proving that the challenged practice is job related for the position in question. 2. Money Damages—Section 102 of CRA 1991 provides that an employee who is claiming intentional discrimination (disparate treatment) can ask for 1) compensatory damages and 2) punitive damages, if it can be shown the employer engaged in discrimination “with malice or reckless indifference to the federally protected rights of an aggrieved individual.” 3. Mixed Motives—CRA 1991 states: “An unlawful employment practice is established when the complaining party demonstrates that race, color, religion, sex, or national origin was a motivating factor for any employment practice, even though other factors also motivated the practice.” Employers cannot avoid liability by proving it would have taken the same action—such as terminating someone—even without the discriminatory motive. Plaintiffs in such so-called “mixed motive” cases recently gained an advantage from a U.S. Supreme Court decision in Desert Palace Inc. v. Costa, where the court decided that the plaintiff did not have to provide evidence of explicitly discriminatory conduct, but could provide circumstantial evidence. K. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for disabled employees, and it prohibits discrimination against disabled persons. 1. Mental Impairments and the ADA — Mental disabilities account for the greatest number of ADA claims. “Mental impairment” includes “any mental or psychological disorder, such as . . . emotional or mental illness.” Examples include major depression, anxiety disorders, and personality disorders. 2. Qualified Individual — The act prohibits discrimination against those who, with or without a reasonable accommodation, can carry out the essential functions of the job. 3. Reasonable Accommodation — If the individual cannot perform the job as currently structured, the employer is required to make a “reasonable accommodation,” unless doing so would present an “undue hardship.” 4. Traditional Employer Defenses — Employers used to prevail in about 96% of federal appeals court ADA decisions. A U.S. Supreme Court decision typifies why. An assembly worker sued Toyota, arguing that carpal tunnel syndrome prevented her from doing her job. The employee admitted that she could perform personal chores such as fixing breakfast. The Court said the disability must be central to the employee’s daily living (not just job). 5. The “New” ADA — On January 1, 2009, the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 became effective. This will make it much easier for employees to show that their disability is influencing one of their “major life activities.” L. Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act —Under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (1994), employers are generally required, among other things, to reinstate employees returning from military leave to positions comparable to those they had before leaving. M. Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act of 2008 — GINA prohibits discrimination by health insurers and employers based on people’s genetic information. N. The Federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act — ENDA would prohibit workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity if Congress passes it. O. State and Local Equal Employment Opportunity Laws — typically, further restrict employers’ treatment of job applicants and employees, especially those not covered by federal legislation. State and local equal employment opportunities agencies play a role in the equal employment compliance process. P. State and Local Equal Employment Opportunity Laws — typically, further restrict employers’ treatment of job applicants and employees, especially those not covered by federal legislation. State and local equal employment opportunities agencies play a role in the equal employment compliance process. Q. Sexual Harassment. This is harassment on the basis of sex that has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with a person’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. 1. Submission is either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment. 2. Submission to or rejection of such conduct is the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual. 3. Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. R. Proving Sexual Harassment. There are three main ways to prove sexual harassment. 1. Quid Pro Quo — The most direct way is to prove that rejecting a supervisor’s advances adversely affected what the EEOC calls a “tangible employment action.” 2. Hostile Environment Created by Supervisors — Supervisor advancements can interfere with performance and creates an offensive work environment. There is a difference between simple flirting and sexual harassment. 3. Hostile Environment Created by Coworkers or Nonemployees — An employee’s coworkers or customers can cause the employer to be held responsible for sexual harassment. S. Court Decisions — The Supreme Court used the Meritor Savings Bank, FSB v. Vinson case to endorse the EEOC’s guidelines on sexual harassment. 1. Burlington Industries v. Ellerth—quid pro quo harassment 2. Faragher v. City of Boca Raton—hostile work environment T. Implications — The Court’s written decisions in the latter cases have two implications for employers. First, in quid pro quo cases it is not necessary for the employee to suffer a tangible job action (such as a demotion) to win the case; the threat may be sufficient. Second, the Court laid out an important defense against harassment suits. It said the employer must show that it took “reasonable care” to prevent and promptly correct any sexually harassing behavior and that the employee unreasonably failed to take advantage of the employer’s policy. The most important factor is a permissive social climate, one where employees conclude there’s a risk to victims for complaining, that complaints won’t be taken seriously, or that there’s a lack of sanctions against offenders. U. When the Law Isn’t Enough — two practical considerations often trump the legal requirements. First, “Women perceive a broader range of socio-sexual behaviors (touching, for instance) as harassing.” A second reason the usual precautions often aren’t enough is that employees often won’t use them. V. What the Employee Can Do — courts generally look to whether the harassed employee used the employer’s reporting procedures to file a complaint promptly. 1. Gender harassment is a form of hostile environment harassment that appears to be motivated by hostility toward individuals who violate gender ideals. 2. Employers should do two things: They should take steps to ensure harassment does not take place. Second, once being apprised of such a situation, they should take immediate corrective action. 3. Employees can also take several steps to address the problem of sexual harassment. II. Defenses Against Discrimination Allegations Discrimination law distinguishes between disparate treatment and disparate impact. Disparate treatment means intentional discrimination. It “requires no more than a finding that women (or protected minority group members)” were intentionally treated differently because they were members of a particular race, religion, gender, or ethnic group. A. The Central Role of Adverse Impact — refers to the total employment process that results in a significantly higher percentage of a protected group in the candidate population being rejected for employment, placement, or promotion. Employers may not institute an employment practice that has an adverse impact on a particular class of people unless they can show that the practice is job related and necessary. There are several ways of showing that an employment procedure has an adverse impact on a protected group. B. Disparate Rejection Rates — One shows disparate rejection ratesby comparing rejection rates for a minority group and another group (usually the remaining nonminority applicants). C. The Standard Deviation Rule — In selection, the standard deviation rule holds that as a rule of thumb, the difference between the numbers of minority candidates we would have expected to hire and whom we actually hired should be less than two standard deviations. D. Restricted Policy — The restricted policy approach means demonstrating that the employer’s policy intentionally or unintentionally excluded members of a protected group. E. Population Comparisons — This approach compares (1) the percentage of minority/protected group and white workers in the organization with (2) the percentage of the corresponding group in the labor market. F. The McDonnell-Douglas Test requires four rules be applied: The person belongs to a protected class He or she applied and was qualified for a job Despite being qualified, he or she was rejected After the rejection, the position remaince open and the employer continued seeking applications from persons with the complainant’s qualifications G. Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ) — is a defense used to justify an employment practice that may have an adverse impact on members of a protected class. It is a requirement that an employee be of a certain religion, sex, or national origin where that is reasonably necessary to the organization’s normal operation. This is ever more narrowly interpreted by courts. D. Business Necessity — is a defense created by the courts, which requires an employer to show an overriding business purpose for the discriminatory practice and that the practice is therefore acceptable. III. Illustrative Discriminatory Employment Practices A note on what you can and cannot do—preemployment questions are not inherently legal or illegal. Rather, the impact of the questions is what courts assess in making determinations about discriminatory practice. “Problem questions” are those which screen out members of a protected group. The EEOC approves the use of “testers” posing as applicants to test a firm’s procedures. Care should be taken in devising employment practices and in training recruiters. A. Recruitment — If the workforce is not truly diverse, relying on word of mouth to spread information about job openings can reduce the likelihood of all protected groups having equal access to job openings. It is unlawful to give false or misleading job information. Help-wanted ads should be screened for potential age and gender bias. B. Selection Standards — Educational requirements and tests that are not job related, or which result in adverse impact can be found to be illegal. Showing preference to relatives may also contribute to a lack of racial diversity; height, weight, and physical characteristics should be job related. Felony conviction information can be sought, but arrest records negate the presumption of “innocent until proven guilty” and may result in adverse impact against groups with a high incidence of arrests. Application forms should not contain questions which may allow potentially discriminatory information to be gathered. Discharge due to garnishment may result in adverse impact to minority groups. C. Sample Discriminatory Promotion, Transfer, and Layoff Practices—Fair employment laws protect not just job applicants but also current employees. Employees have filed suits against employers’ dress, hair, uniform, and appearance codes under Title VII, claiming sex discrimination and sometimes racial discrimination. In some cases, the courts have agreed IV. The EEOC Enforcement Process A. Processing a Discrimination Charge—All managers should have a working knowledge of the steps in the EEOC claim process. 1. File Claim — Under CRA 1991, the charge generally must be timely filed in writing and under oath by (or on behalf of) the person claiming to be aggrieved, or by a member of the EEOC who has reasonable cause to believe that a violation occurred. 2. EEOC Investigation — The EEOC can either accept the charge or refer it to the state or local agency. Serve notice—After the charge has been filed, the EEOC has 10 days to serve notice on the employer. B. Voluntary Mediation — A neutral third party may aid the parties in reaching voluntary resolution. The EEOC will ask the employer to participate if the claimant agrees to mediation. Employer options include mediating the charge, making a settlement offer, or preparing a position statement for the EEOC. C. Mandatory Arbitration of Discrimination Claims — Many employers, to avoid EEO litigation, require applicants and employees to agree to arbitrate such claims. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions (in Gilmer v. Interstate/Johnson Lane Corp.and similar cases) make it clear that “employment discrimination plaintiffs [employees] may be compelled to arbitrate their claims under some circumstances.” V. Diversity Management and Affirmative Action Programs A. Diversity’s Potential Pros and Cons — Behavioral barriers that undermine work team collegiality and cooperation include, stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. Tokenism, ethnocentrism and discrimination based on gender-role stereotypes also may cause problems within teams and for overall productivity. The key is properly managing these potential threats. For example, one study found that racial discrimination was related negatively to employee commitment, but that organizational efforts to support diversity reduced such negative effects. B. Managing Diversity — means taking steps to maximize diversity’s potential advantages while minimizing the potential barriers, such as prejudices and bias that can undermine the functioning of a diverse workforce. One diversity expert concluded that five sets of voluntary organizational activities are at the heart of any diversity management program: 1) provide strong leadership; 2) assess the situation; 3) provide diversity training and education; 4) change culture and management systems; 5) evaluate the diversity management program. Equal Employment Opportunity Versus Affirmative Action — Equal employment opportunity aims to ensure that anyone, regardless of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, or age, has an equal chance for a job based on his or her qualifications. Affirmative action goes beyond equal employment opportunity by requiring the employer to make an extra effort to recruit, hire, promote, and compensate those in protected groups to eliminate the present effects of past discrimination. Affirmative Action and Reverse Discrimination — Affirmative action is still a significant workplace issue today. The incidence of major court-mandated programs is down. However, many employers still engage in voluntary programs. It is vital that current employees see the program as fair. This is accomplished through good communication, program justification, and transparent selection procedures. Key Terms Equal Pay Act of 1963 The act requiring equal pay for equal work, regardless of sex. Title VII of the 1964 The section of the act that says an employer cannot Civil Rights Act discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sex, or national origin with respect to employment. EEOC The commission, created by Title VII, is empowered to investigate job discrimination complaints and sue on behalf of complainants. OFCCP This office is responsible for implementing the executive orders and ensuring compliance of federal contractors. Age Discrimination in The act prohibiting arbitrary age discrimination Employment Act of 1967 and specifically protecting individuals older than 40 years of age. Voc. Rehab. Act of 1973 The act requiring certain federal contractors to take affirmative action for disabled persons. Pregnancy Discrimination An amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act that Act (PDA) prohibits sex discrimination based on “pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.” Griggs v. Duke Power Co. Supreme Court case in which the plaintiff argued that his employer’s requirement that coal handlers be highschool graduates was unfairly discriminatory. In finding for the plaintiff, the Court ruled that discrimination need not be overt to be illegal, that employment practices must be related to job performance, and that the burden of proof is on the employer to show that hiring standards are job related. Protected class Persons such as minorities and women protected by equal opportunity laws including Title VII. Civil Rights Act of 1991 This act places the burden of proof back on employers and (CRA 1991) permits compensatory and punitive damages. disparate impact An unintentional disparity between the proportion of a protected group applying for a position and the proportion getting the job. disparate treatment An intentional disparity between the proportion of a protected group and the proportion getting the job. Americans with The act requiring employers to make reasonable Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodation for disabled employees. It prohibits discrimination against disabled persons. sexual harassment Harassment on the basis of sex that has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with a person’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. Adverse impact The overall impact of employer practices that result in significantly higher percentages of members of minorities and other protected groups being rejected for employment, placement, or promotion. BFOQ Bona Fide Occupational Qualification. Allows requirements that an employee be of a certain religion, sex, or national origin where that is reasonably necessary to the organization’s normal operation. Specified by the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Business necessity Justification for an otherwise discriminatory employment practice, provided there is an overriding legitimate business purpose. Diversity Means maximizing diversity’s potential benefits (greater cultural awareness and broader language skills, for instance) while minimizing the potential barriers (such as prejudices and bias) that can undermine the company’s performance. Discrimination Means taking specific actions toward or against the person based on the person’s group. Gender-role stereotypes The tendancy to associate women with certain frequently nonmanagerial jobs. Affirmative action Steps that are taken for the purpose of eliminating the present effects of past discrimination. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. Present a summary of what employers can and cannot do legally with respect to recruitment, selection, and promotion and layoff practices. Answers can vary but students should identify several of the following: Ensure that recruitment practices are nondiscriminatory, avoiding word-of-mouth dissemination of information about job opportunities when the workforce is substantially white, or all members of some other class. Avoid giving false or misleading information to members of any group or to fail or refuse to advise them of work opportunities. Avoid advertising classifications that specify gender or age unless it is a bona fide occupational qualification for the job. Avoid asking pre-employment questions about an applicant’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Do not deny a job to a disabled individual if the person is qualified and able to perform the essential functions of the job. Make reasonable accommodations for candidates that are otherwise qualified but unable to perform an essential function unless doing so would result in a hardship. Apply tests and performance standard uniformly to all employees and job candidates. Avoid tests if they disproportionately screen out minorities or women and are not job related. Do not give preference to relatives of current employees if your current employees are substantially nonminority. Do not establish requirements for physical characteristics unless you can show they are job related. Do not make pre-employment inquiries about a person’s disability, but do ask questions about the person’s ability to perform specific essential job functions. Review job application forms, interview procedures, and job descriptions for illegal questions and statements. Check for questions about health, disabilities, medical histories, or previous workers’ compensation claims. Do not ask applicants whether they have ever been arrested or spent time in jail. However, you can ask about conviction records. Assure that all layoff practices do not violate any federal, state, or local employment laws. Special emphasis should be placed on the ADEA or Age Discrimination Employment Act. 2. Explain the Equal Opportunity Commission enforcement process. Equal employment opportunity aims to ensure that anyone, regardless of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, or age has an equal chance for a job based on his or her qualifications. Establishing the EECO greatly enhanced the federal government’s ability to enforce equal opportunity laws. The EEOC receives and investigates job discrimination complaints from aggrieved individuals. When it finds reasonable cause that the charges are justified, it attempts to reach an agreement eliminating all aspects of the discrimination. 3. List five strategies for successfully increasing diversity in the workforce. Provide strong leadership in managing diversity programs. Assess the organizational situation as it relates to equal employment hiring. Provide diversity training and education. Change culture and management systems. Evaluate the diversity management program. 4. What is Title VII? What does it state? Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act states an employer cannot discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sex, or national origin with respect to employment. 5. What important precedents were set by the Griggs v. Duke Power Company case? The Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody case? For the Griggs v. Duke Power Company case, the case was heard by the Supreme Court in which the plaintiff argued that his employer’s requirement that coal handlers be highschool graduates was unfairly discriminatory. In finding for the plaintiff, the Court ruled that discrimination need not be overt to be illegal, that employment practices must be related to job performance, and that the burden of proof is on the employer to show that hiring standards are job related. For the Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody case, the Supreme Court ruled that the validity of job tests must be documented and that employee performance standards must be unambiguous. 6. What is adverse impact? How can it be proven? This item can be assigned as a Discussion Question in MyManagementLab. Student responses will vary. 7. Explain the defenses and exceptions to discriminatory practice allegations. The two main defenses you can use in the event of a discriminatory practice allegation are bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ) and business necessity. BFOQ is a requirement that an employee be of a certain religion, sex, or national origin where that is reasonably necessary to the organization’s normal operation. Business necessity is a justification for an otherwise discriminatory employment practice, provided there is an overriding legitimate business purpose. 8. What is the difference between affirmative action and equal employment opportunity? This item can be assigned as a Discussion Question in MyManagementLab. Student responses will vary. INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP ACTIVITIES 1. Working individually or in groups, respond to these three scenarios based on what you learned in this Chapter. Under what conditions (if any) do you think the following constitutes sexual harassment? (a) A female manager fires a male employee because he refuses her request for sexual favors. (b) A male manager refers to female employees as “sweetie” or “baby.” (c) A female employee overhears two male employees exchanging sexually oriented jokes. In answering the questions, the students should keep in mind the three main ways sexual harassment can be proved, as well as the steps the employee should take in alerting management. 2. Working individually or in groups, discuss how you would set up an affirmative action program. It is important that students reach a decision of whether to use the good faith effort strategy or the quota strategy. Most experts would suggest the good faith effort strategy is the most legally acceptable approach. The following list of six actions should be demonstrated in the student plans: increasing the minority or female applicant flow; demonstrating top management support for the equal opportunity policy; demonstrating the equal opportunity commitment to the local community; keeping employees informed about the specifics of the affirmative action program; broadening the work skills of incumbent employees; and institutionalizing the equal employment policy to encourage supervisors’ support of it. 3. Compare and contrast the issues presented in recent court rulings on affirmative action. Working individually or in groups, discuss the current direction of affirmative action. The basic questions addressed in one landmark case known as Bakke focused on when preferential treatment becomes discrimination and under what circumstances discrimination will be temporarily permitted. Neither question was fully answered. Subsequent cases have continued to address these issues and clarify more specifically the scope and intent of affirmative action. For example, in the Paradise case, the court ruled that the courts can impose racial quotas to address the most serious cases of racial discrimination. In Johnson, the court ruled that public and private employers may voluntarily adopt hiring and promotion goals to benefit minorities and women. The Johnson ruling may limit claims of reverse discrimination by white males. 4. Working individually or in groups, write a paper entitled “What the manager should know about how the EEOC handles a person’s discrimination charge.” The students should include the following information in their paper. The EEOC can either accept it or refer it to the state or local agency. After it has been filed, the EEOC has 10 days to serve notice on the employer, and then investigate the charge to determine whether there is reasonable cause to believe it is true within 120 days. If charges are dismissed, EEOC must issue the charging party a Notice of Right to Sue. The person has 90 days to file suit on his or her own behalf. If EEOC finds reasonable cause for the charge, it must attempt conciliation. If conciliation is not satisfactory, it can bring a civil suit in federal district court, or issue a Notice of Right to Sue to the person who filed the charge. Under Title VII, the EEOC has 30 days to work out a conciliation agreement between the parties before bringing suit. If the EEOC is unable to obtain an acceptable conciliation agreement, it may sue the employer in federal district court. 5. Assume you are the manager in a small restaurant; you are responsible for hiring employees, supervising them, and recommending them for promotion. Working individually or in groups, compile a list of potentially discriminatory management practices you should avoid. Acceptable answers include the following: Ensure that recruitment practices are nondiscriminatory, avoiding word-of-mouth dissemination of information about job opportunities when the workforce is substantially white, or all members of some other class. Avoid giving false or misleading information to members of any group or to fail or refuse to advise them of work opportunities. Avoid advertising classifications that specify gender or age unless it is a bona fide occupational qualification for the job. Avoid asking pre-employment questions about an applicant’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Do not deny a job to a disabled individual if the person is qualified and able to perform the essential functions of the job. Make reasonable accommodations for candidates that are otherwise qualified but unable to perform an essential function unless doing so would result in a hardship. Apply tests and performance standard uniformly to all employees and job candidates. Avoid tests if they disproportionately screen out minorities or women and are not job related. Do not give preference to relatives of current employees if your current employees are substantially nonminority. Do not establish requirements for physical characteristics unless you can show they are job related. Do not make pre-employment inquiries about a person’s disability, but do ask questions about the person’s ability to perform specific essential job functions. Review job application forms, interview procedures, and job descriptions for illegal questions and statements. Check for questions about health, disabilities, medical histories, or previous workers’ compensation claims. Do not ask applicants whether they have ever been arrested or spent time in jail. However, you can ask about conviction records. 6. The HRCI Knowledge Base holds the HR professional responsible to “Ensure that workforce planning and employment activities are compliant with applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations.” Individually or in teams, draw up a matrix that lists (down the side) each law we covered in this chapter, and (across the top) each HR function (job analysis, recruiting, selection, etc.). Then, within the matrix, give an example of how each law impacts each HR function. Student answers will vary but must include a list of the federal laws covered in this chapter and the chief HR functions. Examples in each cell could be listed numerically to allow enough space to describe the examples. APPLICATION EXERCISES HR in Action Case Incident 1: An Accusation of Sexual Harassment in Pro Sports Do you think Ms. Browne Sanders had the basis for a sexual harassment suit? Why or why not? Ms. Browne Sanders did have the basis for a valid sexual harassment suit. In this case, the Garden demonstrated a failure to stop the harassment of Ms. Sanders. From what you know of this case, do you think the jury arrived at the correct decision? If not, why not? If so, why? The jury did arrive at the appropriate decision given the facts that were presented in this case. The Garden had a responsibility to demonstrate concrete reasons for their termination decision. It does not appear that any specific reasons were shared with the jury. Based on the few facts that you have, what steps could Garden management have taken to protect itself from liability in this matter? A number of steps could be taken. First, the Garden should have conducted a thorough investigation and documented the results in a written report. Second, the Garden supplied a very generalized response for the termination. Before terminating an employee for performance, an organization should demonstrate that a number of actions were taken to coach and counsel the employee before termination. Aside from the appeal, what would you do now if you were the Garden’s top management? The Garden should have a policy/program in place to show how claims of sexual harassment are addressed including a clause that prohibits and type of retaliation. “The allegations against Madison Square Garden in this case raise ethical questions with regard to the employer’s actions.” Explain whether you agree or disagree with this statement, and why. Continuing assessments of what is right and what is wrong change over time. The changes are sparked by evolution within our culture, and the changes contribute to further evolution, and more adjustments in the ways we measure certain kinds of conduct against ethical values. Denying a culture’s ability to alter its understanding of what is right and wrong is ultimately futile. One area that has seen ethical evolution is the treatment of women in the workplace. It isn’t surprising that the standards of appropriate treatment have changed from the time. HR in Action Case Incident 2: Carter Cleaning Company 1. Is it true, as Jack Carter claims, that “we can’t be accused of being discriminatory because we hire mostly women and minorities anyway?” This is not true at all. Employers can be accused of discriminatory practices at any time. In this case, female applicants were being asked questions about childcare that males were not being asked; minority applicants were being asked questions about arrest records and credit histories that non-minorities were not. In addition, the reports of sexual advances toward women by a store manager and an older employee’s complaint that he is being paid less than other employees who are younger for performing the same job all raise serious issues in terms of discriminatory employment practices. Potential charges include violation of Title VII, the Equal Pay Act, age discrimination, sexual harassment, and disparate treatment. 2. How should Jennifer and her company address the sexual harassment charges and problems? The first step would be to document the complaint and initiate an investigation; if the finding of the investigation is that sexual harassment did occur, then take the appropriate corrective action, which could include disciplinary action including discharge. In addition, the company should develop a strong policy statement and conduct training with all managers. 3. How should she and her company address the possible problems of age discrimination? The company should review the compensation structure and pay rates to determine whether there is discrimination in their pay system with regard to older workers being paid less than younger workers for performing the same work. If there are significant differences, then adjustments should be made to the pay system in order to rectify the problem. 4. Given the fact that each of its stores has only a handful of employees, is her company in fact covered by equal rights legislation? Yes—the EEOC enforces equal employment compliance against all but the very smallest of employers. All employees, including part-time and temporary workers, are counted for purposes of determining whether an employer has a sufficient number of employees. State and local laws prohibit discrimination in most cases where federal legislation does not apply. 5. And finally, aside from the specific problems, what other human resource management matters (application forms, training, and so on) have to be reviewed given the need to bring them into compliance with equal rights laws? The company should do several things: Develop an employee handbook which contains policy statements about equal employment opportunity, sexual harassment, and so on. Develop an employment application which is free from discriminatory questions, as well as a standard interview guide which will ensure consistency of “legal” questions from candidate to candidate. Conduct supervisory/management training to ensure that all managers are educated and aware of their responsibilities under EEO laws and regulations. Develop and implement a complaint procedure and establish a management response system that includes an immediate reaction and investigation by senior management. Experiential Exercise: The Interplay of Ethics and Equal Employment Purpose: The purpose of this exercise is to increase your understanding of how ethics and equal employment are interrelated. Required Understanding: Be thoroughly familiar with the material presented in this chapter. How to Set Up the Exercise/Instructions: Divide the class into groups of three to five students. Each group should use the Internet to identify and access at least five more companies that emphasize how ethics and equal employment are interrelated. Next, each group should develop answers to the following questions: Based on your Internet research, how much importance do employers seem to place on emphasizing the ethical aspects of equal employment? What seem to be the main themes these employers emphasize with respect to ethics and equal employment? Given what you have learned here, explain how you would emphasize the ethical aspects of equal employment if you were creating an equal employment training program for new supervisors. The responses from the student groups will vary but each student group should identify at least one or more of the following: Training supervisors and employees to avoid sexual and other forms of harassment has always been important, but recent developments have made such training even more vital. Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that employers may escape liability for punitive damages under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 if they can prove that a supervisor’s discriminatory conduct violated the company’s equal employment policies. Companies that can prove they provided anti-harassment training to supervisors will be able to provide compelling evidence that this was the case. In addition, last year the Supreme Court issued two decisions (Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 97-282 and Burlington Industries Inc. v. Ellerth, 97-569) stating that employers are automatically liable for sexual harassment by their supervisors—unless a supervisor’s harassment did not result in tangible harm to the employee and the company can show that: It acted reasonably to prevent and correct the harassment. The employee acted unreasonably by failing to use internal processes or otherwise prevent the harm. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and federal courts of appeal have since made clear that these decisions apply to all forms of harassment. Companies that train supervisors and employees to prevent sexual harassment will be able to show that they acted reasonably. Further, they will be able to show that employees were informed of the company’s complaint procedures but failed to use them. And, as if all these legal developments weren’t enough, the EEOC recently issued a guidance that directs employers to provide anti-harassment training. WEB-e’s EXERCISES 1. Citicorp recently faced a billion dollar discrimination suit. Use Web sites such as http://www.allbusiness.com/legal/legal-services-litigation/5062526-1.html to discuss what happened with these suits. The complaint charges that, among other things, Citicorp/Smith Barney discriminates in the account distribution process, routinely assigning smaller and less valuable accounts to female brokers, including those who outperform their male counterparts; provides women with less sales and administrative support than it provides to men; and maintains a corporate culture hostile to female professionals. The lawsuit charges that Smith Barney has engaged in a pattern and practice of gender discrimination against its female financial consultants in account distribution, sales support, compensation, and other terms and conditions of employment throughout the company. The women allege violations of federal and state laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. 2. Using sites such as http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517334,00.html, discuss the details of the discrimination suit against Hooters. The Complainant filed a complaint against Hooters of America in January alleging its Corpus Christi franchisee would not hire him as a waiter because the position was being limited to females by an employer “who merely wishes to exploit female sexuality as a marketing tool to attract customers and insure profitability.” Hooters argued a “bona-fide occupational qualification” defense, which applies when the “essence of the business operation would be undermined if the business eliminated its discriminatory policy.” The Complainant was suing on behalf of “all males across the country who applied for the position of waiter at a Hooters restaurant and were denied,” and suggested all Hooters franchisees be certified as defendants. The settlement however applies only to the Corpus Christi franchisee. 3. What conclusions can you draw from sites such as http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/weightloss/2008-05-20-overweight-bias_N.htm about handling and avoiding discrimination against obese people? Weight discrimination, especially against women, is increasing in U.S. society and is almost as common as racial discrimination, two studies suggest. Reported discrimination based on weight has increased 66 percent in the past decade, up from about 7 percent to 12 percent of U.S. adults, says one study, in the journal Obesity. The other study, in the International Journal of Obesity, says such discrimination is common in both institutional and interpersonal situations—and in some cases is even more prevalent than rates of discrimination based on gender and race. (About 17 percent of men and 9 percent of women reported race discrimination.) ADDITIONAL ASSIGNMENTS What is sexual harassment? How can an employee prove sexual harassment? Sexual harassment is harassment on the basis of sex that has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with a person’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. An employee can prove sexual harassment in three main ways: 1) quid pro quo—prove that rejecting a supervisor’s advances adversely affected tangible benefits; 2) hostile environment created by supervisors; and 3) hostile environment created by coworkers or nonemployees. What is the difference between disparate treatment and disparate impact? The main difference is one of intent. Disparate treatment means that there was an intent to treat different groups differently. Disparate impact does not require intent, but merely to show that an action has a greater adverse effect on one group than another. Explain with examples how the evolution of equal employment law in the 1960s helps illustrate how public policy considerations drove the original EEO legislation. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States that outlawed major forms of discrimination against blacks and women, and ended racial segregation in the United States. It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace, and by facilities that served the general public (“public accommodations”). Once the Act was implemented, its effects were far-reaching on the country as a whole and had an immediate impact on the South. It prohibited discrimination in public facilities, in government, and in employment, invalidating the Jim Crow laws in the Southern United States. It became illegal to compel segregation of the races in schools, housing, or hiring. After passage of the law, the NAACP was the only major civil rights organization to maintain a large membership in the South, where it concentrated on organizing the ongoing struggle for black civil rights. During 1965–1975, the NAACP remained committed to using litigation to challenge racial injustice. Its legal efforts focused on four areas: enforcement of both the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, school integration, employment discrimination, and the struggle to keep Southern states and localities from switching to at-large elections. Give at least three examples of how current EEOC policy reflects public policy decisions. Embarking on an historic new area of jurisdiction, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently presented a Notice of Proposed Rule Making implementing employment provisions of the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act of 2008. In addition, the EEOC has passed legislation in the areas of privacy for employees as well as employer and employee rights as it relates to electronic monitoring in the workplace.