Chapter 12 Employment Discrimination Monday November 17th 2014 12 3 Other Federal Antidiscrimination Laws Learning Objectives Explore the 1866 Civil Rights Act Learn about the Equal Pay Act Understand the Age Discrimination in Employment Act Study the Americans with Disabilities Act 1866 Civil Rights Act Federal law that makes everyone born in the United States citizens and makes job discrimination on the basis of race illegal o Prohibits discrimination on the basis of race including private o Provides victims of race discrimination several advantages over Title discrimination VII Victims do not need to file a complaint with the EEOC first they can go straight to federal court to file a complaint Strict filing deadlines under Title VII do not apply Statutory limits on punitive damages under Title VII do not apply 1866 Civil Rights Act only prohibits racial discrimination 1866 Civil Rights Act In most race discrimination cases plaintiffs file claims under title VII and the 1866 Civil Rights Act o Known as Section 1983 claims o Section 1983 Federal lawsuit based on an alleged violation of the 1866 Civil Rights Act Equal Pay Act of 1963 Federal law that requires equal pay for equal work o Seeks to eliminate wage gap between women and men o All forms of compensation are covered by the act including benefits and compensation Pay Act claims o Victims pursue Title VII claims at the same time they pursue Equal o Difficult to enforce due to the differences in jobs and job performance Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 Federal law that amended Title VII to make it illegal to discriminate against a woman because she is pregnant or considering pregnancy or because of prejudices against pregnant women by coworkers or customers o Pregnant employee is entitled to work as long as she can perform her o Women s jobs must be held open for them while they are on o Pregnancy related benefits cannot be limited only to married tasks maternity leave employees Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 ADEA Federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of age protecting workers over the age of forty o Applies to any employer with over twenty workers including state governments o Prohibits employers from treating any covered person unfavorably in any term or condition of employment including the hiring decision o Mandatory retirement age is illegal under the ADEA except for very high level executives over the age of sixty five who are entitle to a pension o Older workers are discriminated by employers if there is a bona fide occupational qualification BFOQ o Lay off plan or early retirement plan and early retirement incentives are administered by companies to induce workers to retire o Workers are asked to sign an ADEA waiver when the company asks the workers to retire early or offers incentives to leave ADEA waiver Waiver signed by an employee that he or she is voluntarily giving up his or her rights to file a claim under the ADEA Americans with Disabilities Act Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ADA o Federal Law that prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities was less than clear in many critical aspects o Interpretation was fairly narrow making it harder for people to win their cases Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act of 2008 ADAA o Federal law that amends the Americans with Disabilities Act and reverses several key Supreme Court opinions interpreting the ADA o Specifically over turned several key Supreme Court decisions to broaden the scope of ADA Parts of ADA Title III Deals with requirements for public accommodations such as wheelchair ramps elevators and accessible restrooms for new facilities Title II Deals with the ADA s applicability to state and local governments Title I Makes it illegal for employers with fifteen or more employees to discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities Misconception about ADA ADA requires employers to hire disabled workers over able bodied workers o Not true because the ADA only applies to the qualified disabled o Qualified disabled Person who meets the minimum educational skill and experience requirements for the job posted with or without reasonable accommodation Defining Essential Functions Employer must define what the essential functions of the job are o Ensure a disabled individual who has applied for the job can perform the essential functions o Essential functions Job functions whose removal would fundamentally change the nature of the job Employer Hiring a Disabled Individual Must provide reasonable accommodation o Reasonable accommodation Any requested reasonable change in the work environment of a disabled person that would permit that person to perform the essential functions of his or her job Employers need not undertake reasonable accommodation if it causes them undue hardship o Undue hardship Excuse from providing accommodation because it represents a significant difficulty or expense to the employer
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