Exam 20: Discrimination in Employment

In 1991, Congress amended the Civil Rights Act to allow the recovery of compensatory and punitive damages per person to be up to:

State antidiscrimination laws cannot protect categories of persons not stipulated by federal law.

Refusing to hire people because of a poor credit rating, when minorities are disproportionately affected, would be an example of disparate impact on race.

The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) establishes a federal baseline for protection against employment discrimination based on genetic information.

What kinds of impairments are covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and what are not?

A successful plaintiff in an Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) action cannot recover money damages from a state entity.

What is a seniority system and what does it affect?

A shipyard company employed a female welder who was harassed by her male employees. The men wrote obscene graffiti directed at the victim all over the plant. The men also made numerous suggestive and offensive remarks to the victim concerning her body and the pictures posted on the walls. The victim complained about this atmosphere of harassment. The company's supervisory personnel immediately transfered the erring employees to another department. After this, the victim is seen talking to the erring employees and having lunch with them. A few days later, she sues the company for creating a hostile working environment. Does the company have any defense against the charges?

Discrimination in pay is allowed if:

The 1991 amendments to the Civil Rights Act allow:

The _____ requirement means that federally contracting employers must hire members of these groups when there are fewer minority workers in a given job category than one could reasonably expect, considering their availability.

The _____, effective November 2009, prohibits covered employers from firing, refusing to hire, or otherwise discriminating against individuals on the basis of their genetic information.

All of the following are steps an employer can take to address allegations of discrimination without triggering a retaliation claim EXCEPT:

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), compensatory and punitive damages are available for policies that have disparate impact.

With regard to the Equal Pay Act, courts have recognized that "equal" means:

According to a lawsuit filed by the EEOC a year ago, Asif Jamal, a Muslim who worked as a security officer for a nonprofit group in California, was fired after he refused the company's request to donate money to a Catholic school because the school's religious mission was different from his own beliefs. Is the nonprofit group liable to be sued for promoting religious discrimination?

If the employer stops a pregnant employee from working because the employer truly believes that it is in the best interests of the mother and baby, the employer has not violated the Pregnancy Discrimination Act even if the employee is capable and willing to continue working.

What is the difference between affirmative action and the setting of quotas?

A cleaning company rotates its staff to different floors on a monthly basis. One crew member has a psychiatric disability. While his mental illness does not affect his ability to perform the various cleaning functions, it does make it difficult to adjust to alterations in his daily routine. The employee has had significant difficulty adjusting to the monthly changes in floor assignments. In view of this difficulty, the employer decides to allow him to stay on one floor permanently. This is an example of:

Under Title VII, sexual harassment: