Exam 16: Employment Discrimination

Under the Disabilities Act, employers are required to make reasonable accommodations. This could include:

Which is not a protected class under Title VII:

Under Title VII, for certain jobs religious organizations may legally hire only members of a particular religion.

In Harris v. Forklift Systems, Harris successfully sued her boss for quid pro quo discrimination when he insisted on sex as a basis for a promotion.

An affirmative action program is an effort by:

The Equal Pay Act allows pay differentials between men and women if based on a merit system.

If, at a trial for employment discrimination, the employer offers a job-relevant rationale for the decision that was made that the plaintiff is claiming is in fact discrimination, the plaintiff must show that the employer's rationale is what is called a:

In general, to require job applicants to pass an aptitude tests is:

In Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, a case concerning male-on-male sexual harassment, the Supreme Court held that:

In EEOC v. Dial Corp., where Dial used a weight lifting test to see if people were qualified to do the work needed at a factory, and the EEOC said it discriminated against women, the appeals court held that:

If the EEOC, responding to a complaint, does not file a discrimination suit, the employee has lost the chance to have the matter considered in court.

If a plaintiff, who has filed a Title VII case, proves a prima facie case of discrimination, the burden is on the defendant to present evidence that the claim is untrue or that there is a legitimate reason for the action taken.

Which of the following is one of the most common claims of religious discrimination in the workplace:

A woman has a difficult time with her pregnancy. She uses up all her leave time and sick time. She then often comes to work late or leave early due to feeling badly. Under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, her employer must give her additional time off:

Recently, court-ordered affirmative action programs:

A black and a white employee committed the same offense. The black employee was disciplined but not fired, the white employee was fired. The Supreme Court held that this treatment was:

Physical exams for new employees are legal if:

In EEOC v. Dial Corp. the EEOC found that the strength test used by Dial was neutral in its impact in that it was part of the job requirement and more men happen to be stronger than women.

Fact Pattern 17-1 Loretta worked for Minute Dry Cleaners as a cashier, and also did ironing when extra help was needed. Soon after she was hired, her boss, John, began to make suggestive comments to her. He complemented Loretta on her clothes and her looks. Several times, when they were in the store alone, John cornered Loretta and told her that she was driving him crazy, and that she just had to date him. Loretta told John that she already seeing someone and backed away. John cornered her again. He told her that he had waited long enough, and that if she wanted to keep her job she was going to have to "put out." He grabbed her arm, but she got away to the counter. She told John to keep away from her. He laughed, and asked her what she was going to do. He said he knew she needed the job, because she was fired from her previous jobs for drug problems. If she didn't get along with him, he would fire her and tell people it was because she came to work stoned. Loretta quit the next day. She filed a complaint against John with the local EEO office. John told EEO he fired Loretta was because of her drinking on the job. He referred them to Loretta's past work record which showed a drug problem. Loretta insisted that John harassed her and that she had not been drinking while at Minute. -Refer to Fact Pattern 17-1. Suppose after Loretta leaves Minute Cleaners she applies to work at Hour Cleaning. Hour has advertised that it needs help. The day after Loretta fills out her application, Hour tells her they are not interested. Loretta learns that Hour only hires handsome men, who attract lots of customers. If Loretta pursues a discrimination action against Hour, she would need to establish a prima facie case of discrimination. The test for which was elaborated in:

Some states have laws making it illegal to discriminate against employees on the basis of sexual identity, but Title VII does not make it illegal.