WGU C233 Employment Law Top Exam question with accurate answers, latest version. Rated A+

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WGU C233 Employment Law Top Exam question with accurate answers, latest version. Rated A+ Employing fewer than 10 employees so the ADEA does not apply - ✔✔Which employer action is a possible... employer defense to a claim asserted under the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)? Integrated enterprise - ✔✔Two corporations have combined their management and operations into a single place with 30 total employees. Which type of business relationship is formed that now requires both companies to comply with federal employment law? Does the employee meet the eligibility requirements? - ✔✔An employee claimed the need for special treatment based on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. What is the first question a human resources professional should ask to determine if this law applies to the employee? Economic realities test - ✔✔Which test is used to distinguish an independent contractor from an employee? Pervasive conduct Unwelcome conduct - ✔✔Which two types of conduct make a company liable for race-based harassment? Yes. Because the agency is a government entity, the employees are protected from drug searches unless there is reasonable suspicion that they are engaged in drug use. - ✔✔A government agency wants to drug test its employees, but it is concerned about legal ramifications of possible privacy concerns regarding its testing. To address these concerns, the firm conducts pre-employment drug screening and random drug testing of employees each quarter. Should the firm be concerned about legal challenges to its policy? Medical records - ✔✔Which type of information is covered by the Fair Credit Reporting Act? An individual HR employee who fails to check a new worker's eligibility to work in the United States may face civil liability. - ✔✔Which penalty is imposed by the Immigration Reform and Control Act? Layoffs due to a severe unforeseen loss of capital - ✔✔A manufacturing firm with 370 employees plans to close one of its plants and lay off 56 employees. To facilitate the plant closure and allow its employees time to seek other employment, the firm gives the employees 40 days' notice of the impending closure. Because of financial troubles, the firm is not providing severance packages. Which circumstance allows the firm to take these actions without violating the Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification (WARN) Act? Judicial authority Executive authority Rule-making authority - ✔✔Which three types of statutory authority does the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) have? Provide the NLRB with contact information of workers eligible to vote in the election - ✔✔What are the employer's responsibilities after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has authorized a union election? The union may call a strike. The employer may lock out the union workers. Either party may resume discussions with the other. - ✔✔Which three outcomes are legally possible if parties cannot resolve one or more mandatory issues during collective bargaining negotiations and reach a deadlock? The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service must be notified. - ✔✔After good faith negotiations, an employer and a labor union cannot resolve an issue and have reached an impasse. What does the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) require in this situation? requiring workers to work more than eight hours per day or more than forty hours per week. This is not so. The FLSA does require that overtime be paid, and that it is earned on a weekly, not daily, basis. - ✔✔There is a misconception that the FLSA prevents employers from continual training requirement Under this requirement, employers are required to provide training to workers on a periodic basis and whenever an employee is hired or transferred to a new job assignment. - ✔✔The ______________ is the most frequently violated OSHA regulation. Contributory negligence-the worker's errant conduct that contributes to the injury Assumption of the risk-the worker knew and accepted the risk of potential injury; and Fellow servant rule-another employee, not the employer, caused the injury. Additionally, there were no national safety standards for the workplace, so work safety regulations and remedies to injured workers were uneven. - ✔✔In common law, an injured employee could make a tort claim against an employer for negligence if the employer's breach of the duty to provide a safe workplace caused the worker's injury. However, three employer defenses severely limit the relief an injured worker could obtain. These are: The plant shutdown or layoffs are due to a natural disaster The firm experiences a severe and unforeseen loss of capital When the company is faltering and giving notice would prevent obtaining capital to continue operations - ✔✔The WARN allows for an employer to escape the notice requirements if: 100 employees to provide detailed written advance notification of plant closings and mass layoffs to affected employees, union bargaining units, and state and local government officials at least 60 days prior to the closing. Employers are prohibited from plant closings or mass layoffs until the end of the 60- day notice period. - ✔✔WARN requires employers with over the negative referral provided by the former employer was in response to an employee's claims of discrimination or acts of whistleblowing. The U.S. Supreme Court held that the term "employees" as used in the retaliation section of Title VII extends to former employees. - ✔✔In a retaliation referral claim, a former employee must show that were inadequate.1 - ✔✔According to a survey done by Salary.com, some 90 percent of employee performance appraisals - case involving disparate treatment discrimination arising out of performance appraisals actually involving a lack of appraisals. - a woman lawyer in a prestigious New York City law firm was able to show that over a twelve-year period she received, after repeated requests, only one performance appraisal before she was terminated, while during the same time period two younger male counterparts each received nine appraisals. Moreover, the sole appraisal Esterquest received did not include a plan for remediation of her performance deficiencies or a path to promotion, which was included in other employee's evaluations. Under these circumstances she was able to show age and gender discrimination. - ✔✔Esterquest v. Booz, Allen & Hamilton Citizenship for specific federal jobs and public policy functions English proficiency to the standard necessary to carry out essential business operations - ✔✔The IRCA prohibits employers from discriminating in employment on the basis of nation of origin or citizenship, with some exceptions. Unlike Title VII, the IRCA does allow an employer to discriminate in favor of a citizen over a legal alien when both are equally qualified. There are two bona fide occupational qualifications which come into play under IRCA: - the Supreme Court has provided some leeway in using race and gender in employment decisions without invoking reverse discrimination. For example, in voluntary affirmative action plans, private employers may lawfully use race and gender in employment decisions where there has been a historical "manifest imbalance" in the workplace when that effort is limited in duration and scope and when it is not a quota system - ✔✔United Steelworkers v. Weber, 443 U.S. 193 (1979); Johnson v. Santa Clara County Transportation Agency 480 U.S. 616 (1987) - reverse discrimination suit - the Supreme Court upheld Michigan's voter-approved Proposal 2, which made unlawful any discrimination or preferential treatment based upon a class characteristic in public education, government contracting, and public employment. This had the specific effect of undoing Michigan's university admissions rubrics, which allowed for consideration of race and gender in evaluating college applications. The general effect of this was to put into question whether other university applications systems nationwide, which allow for preferences, are valid - ✔✔Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, __ U.S. __(2014) - candidates for firefighting positions in New Haven, which was seeking to promote the hiring of nonwhite firefighters, were required to complete a validated qualification test. When the test revealed that non-white applicants did not perform as well as white candidates, the city threw out the test as a qualifying mechanism and started the hiring process anew. - The Supreme Court held that New Haven had violated Title VII because the test was valid and the decision not to use it was "race-conscious." - ✔✔Ricci v. DeStefano, 557 U.S. 557 (2009) - a white medical school applicant challenged the University of California at Davis' policy of setting aside 16% of admission spots for "disadvantaged" minority applicants who could also compete in the standard applicant pool. Mr. Bakke was qualified to be admitted, and he argued that the strict 16% standard was an impermissible quota and unfair. - While not dismissing the principles of AA, the Supreme Court agreed that the AA method used by the university was unlawful, as it gave an unwarranted advantage to minority applicants. - ✔✔Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (Bakke) is not permissible. - ✔✔Rigid quotas or reserving positions for a specific protected class of individuals who are less qualified cancel a contract or debar a contractor from participating in bidding for future contracts. Additionally, the DOL may ask the attorney general to seek equitable relief to enforce orders, seek that the Department of Justice pursue criminal penalties where fraud is involved, publish the names of offending contractors, and/or recommend to the EEOC that judicial proceedings be commenced under Title VII. - ✔✔Sometimes a contractor will run afoul of federal anti-discrimination statutes or Executive Order 11246. The Department of Labor may - in 1964 the New York State Commission for Human Rights had determined the sheet metal workers' union had systematically excluded African-Americans from the union and from obtaining apprenticeships. - After 18 years of not complying with court orders to stop discrimination, the Supreme Court affirmed a lower court order, entered in 1975, imposing an AA plan remedy upon the union which required a fund be set up, and other action taken, to assist in reaching the goal of 29 percent non-white membership in the union. The duty to comply with imposed AA plans evaporates once the problem has been addressed. - ✔✔Local 28, Sheet Metal Workers v. EEOC regulation of AA. The OFCCP conducts extensive research on worker demographics and creates, implements, and enforces a myriad of regulations related to implementing the goals of AA. - ✔✔The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), within the Department of Labor, oversees the federal contracts entered into after 1 December, 2003, and worth more than $100,000 require contractors and subcontractors to undertake AA for specified categories of veterans, which includes a priority referral requirement for employment openings. This legislation also requires employers to report on the number of current employees who are veterans. - ✔✔The Vietnam Era Veteran Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 carries the same purpose for veteran workers. Amendments to the act require that fifty or more employees and contracts valued at $50,000 or more must take "affirmative action to employ qualified individuals with disabilities." - ✔✔The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits federal government contractors from discriminating on the basis of disability. This act requires that contractors, including subcontractors, with any federal contract for services with a value over $10,000 must include anondiscrimination clause with which the contractor must comply. - ✔✔Executive Order 11246 requires that In 1969, President Nixon authorized the implementation of the Philadelphia Plan, which, for the first time, required contractors to establish specific goals and timetables for correcting imbalances in employment practices. The creation of preferences and goals has led to the forty-year-old debate over whether AA is simply a way to establish unlawful quotas for race, ethnicity, or gender. - ✔✔Philadelphia Plan In 1965, President Johnson issued Executive Order 11246, which required that contractors and their subcontractors doing business with the federal government must have a nondiscrimination clause in contracts and abide by its terms. The Order requires government contractors to "take affirmative action" toward prospective minority employees in all aspects of hiring and employment. - ✔✔Executive Order 11246 On March 6, 1961, Kennedy signed Executive Order 10925, which mandated that managers of federallyfunded projects "take affirmative action" to eliminate bias in employment practices. This changed the effort to eliminate employment discrimination from the passive to the active. - ✔✔Executive Order 10925 On 25 June, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802, which declared that full participation in national defense programs by all U.S. citizens, regardless of race, creed, color, or national origin was federal government policy. - ✔✔Executive Order 8802 expensive, disruptive, wide-ranging in significance, or require an alteration of the fundamental structure of a business operation. - ✔✔Accommodations that present an undue hardship are those that are he or she will not be considered disabled. For example, twin pilots who suffered from vision problems, which were fully corrected by prescription lenses, were not considered disabled for ADAAA purposes. In contrast, for example, a person with a seizure disorder who is taking medication and is therefore seizure free is still a covered employee under the ADA. This mitigating circumstance—the medication—does not disqualify him. It further provides that impairments that last only a short period of time qualify for protection under the ADAAA for the duration of the disability. In other words, the disability may be temporary. This is an express repudiation of court cases holding that a disability must be permanent for ADA protection to apply. - ✔✔ADAAA clarifies that if a person can be made substantially whole through corrective devices passed the ADA Amendments Act. - ✔✔In response to several United States Supreme Court cases that narrowly construed the definition of disability, in 2008 Congress one who, with or without an accommodation, possesses the skills, talents, education, and other abilities necessary to carry out the essential functions of the job. - ✔✔a qualified individual is it makes the decision not to hire the disabled person based on the disability or a reluctance to accommodate the disability. - ✔✔Under the ADA, if an employer is considering two qualified applicants for a job, one of whom is disabled, the employer will violate the ADA if - Defined the scope of "record of impairment" and "regarded as disabled" criteria of the Rehabilitation Act - The Nassau school board fired a teacher who had recently recovered from a documented third bout of tuberculosis, for fear that the disease would return and pose a risk to school children. - The Supreme Court held that the teacher was protected under the Act because "[a]llowing discrimination based on the contagious effects of a physical impairment would be inconsistent with the basic purpose of § 504, which is to ensure that handicapped individuals are not denied jobs or other benefits because of the prejudiced attitudes or the ignorance of others." - ✔✔School Board of Nassau v. Arline 1987 entitled to the same legal remedies as a legal worker, including back pay and reinstatement. - ✔✔The EEOC takes the position that illegal immigrants are is discriminatory. Submitting only a certain nation of origin group to eVerify but not U.S. citizens also violates Title VII. - ✔✔Requesting specific documents from aliens to establish work eligibility, but allowing U.S. citizens to choose which documents will support the right to work established the "political function doctrine" - ✔✔Sugarman v. Dougall, 413 U.S. 634 (1973) there is no discriminatory purpose or effect. Nevertheless, the English-only rule must be justified by "business necessity." Some examples of this include the need to communicate effectively with coworkers, supervisors, and customers, to address safety requirements, and to protect employees in emergency situations. Consequently, English-only rules need to be narrowly drafted to meet the specific business need. - ✔✔Title VII allows for English-only rules under certain circumstances where Most federal civil service positions require U.S. citizenship for public policy reasons. Indeed, the Supreme Court in Sugarman v. Dougall, 413 U.S. 634 (1973), established the "political function doctrine," which holds that Title VII is not violated when citizenship is a requirement for non-elected governmental positions when those positions require formulation, execution, or review of public policy issues. In other words, legal aliens may be excluded from consideration for such positions. Finally, the Immigration Reform and Control Act prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of citizenship in firms with four or more employees. - ✔✔political function doctrine $100,000 in business with the federal government to ensure a drug-free workplace through education and enforcement of drug-free policies. - ✔✔The federal Drug Free Workplace Act of 1988 requires federal contractors doing more than ________________ Intercepting by electronic means any employee wire, oral, or electronic communications Accessing, without permission, stored electronic communications - ✔✔The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) prohibits employers from purposefully: $100,000 require contractors and subcontractors to undertake AA for specified categories of veterans, which include a priority referral requirement for employment openings. - ✔✔Amendments to The Vietnam Era Veteran Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 require that federal contracts entered into after 1 December 2003, and worth more than _________________ the employer's efforts, the cost of accommodation in terms of wages and administration, the type of job involved, and the size of the employer. - ✔✔When looking at whether an accommodation is a hardship, courts look to Substantially younger - ✔✔In age discrimination cases, it is important to note that a favored younger employee may be over 40 years old. The key is that the favored employee must be ______________ than the complaining employee, not that the favored employee is outside the protected class. Nominal From the text, "The EEOC reports that 30 percent of accommodations cost nothing, while almost 20 percent cost the employer under $50, and 50 percent involve expenses of $500 or less. Even for the smallest employer, these expenses are nominal." - ✔✔The EEOC reports that the majority of accommodations made by employers are: over $10,000 - ✔✔Federal government and federal contractors doing _________ in business have to take affirmative action to hire qualified disabled persons. Difficulty walking or climbing stairs Over 30 million Americans have a difficult time walking or climbing stairs. - ✔✔According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the largest claim for disability comes from: At least one The ADAAA provides that a disability need not limit all major life activities, merely one. - ✔✔How many life activities must an impairment limit to be considered a disability? Particularly simple and straightforward : not require extensive analysis - ✔✔The ADAAA requires that the determination of whether an employee has a disability be ___________ and _____________. 15 From the text, "Under the ADA, it became illegal for any firm with 25 (now 15) or more employees to discriminate in employment against a qualified person with a disability." - ✔✔Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, it is illegal for a company with ____ or more employees to discriminate in employment against qualified persons with disabilities. 11 From the text, "The Privacy Act has carved out 11 exceptions to this policy that provide for a common sense approach to revealing information which is necessary for the functioning of government, in response to a court order, or for national security." - ✔✔The Privacy Act has carved out ___ exceptions to its policy which provide for a common sense approach to revealing information which is necessary for the functioning of government, in response to a court order, or for national security. Collection : dissemination - ✔✔The intrusion upon seclusion tort deals with the _____________ of information about an individual, rather than the _____________ of that information, and can involve a physical or electronic invasion. A consumer report (Section 1681 of FCRA) - ✔✔Any written, oral, or other communication of any information by a consumer reporting agency bearing on a consumer's credit worthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living which is used, or expected to be used, or collected in whole, or in part, for the purpose of serving as a factor in establishing the consumer's eligibility for... employment purposes... is known as: A workforce reduction at a single employment site during a 30-day period which is not caused by a plant closing. It involves workforce reductions of at least 50 full-time employees, when they comprise at least 33% of full-time employees, or the reduction of at least 500 employees. - ✔✔What is a "mass layoff"? suffer termination, layoffs longer than six months, or a 50 percent reduction in work hours. - ✔✔Under WARN, affected employees are those who 100+ From the text, "WARN requires employers with over 100 employees to provide detailed written advance notification of plant closings and mass layoffs to affected employees, union bargaining units, and state and local government officials at least 60 days prior to the closing." - ✔✔The WARN requires employers with ________ employees to provide detailed written advance notification of plant closings and mass layoffs to affected employees. the burden is on the former employer to affirmatively prove that the statement or information was truthful. - ✔✔Truth is an absolute defense to defamation claims, but 4+ From the text, "The IRCA rendered it unlawful for an employer employing four or more workers to knowingly hire or retain an undocumented worker." - ✔✔Under the IRCA, it is illegal to hire or retain undocumented workers if you employ how many workers? Low-paying We know race discrimination continues based on data showing that some races earn less money than others. This data cannot simply be explained by cultural factors. - ✔✔The problem of continued race discrimination is evident by reference to the labor market itself, with persons of color being much more likely to work in __________ jobs than whites. Department of Justice The Department of Justice pursued litigation for discrimination claims until 1972. - ✔✔During its first few years, the EEOC lacked enforcement authority and had power only to investigate discrimination and then refer meritorious claims to the _________________ to pursue through litigation. The subject class characteristic is reasonably necessary to the normal operation of that particular business or enterprise. - ✔✔What is a bona fide occupational qualification? McDonnell Douglas, Corp. v. Green This case involved Mr. Green's activist activies against the defense contractor. - ✔✔_______________is the foundational case that establishes the notion of pretextual discrimination. Civil Rights Act of 1991 - ✔✔Congress passed the ________________ to codify the concept of disparate impact discrimination as articulated in Griggs v. Duke Power. tort claims A tort is a wrongul act which infringes on the rights of another. If an employer engages in wrongful behavior towards an employee, the employee may have a civil claim against the employer. - ✔✔Employees may claim wrongful termination through _________ or constructive discharge. 44 As stated in the text, at least 44 states recognize this exception. - ✔✔How many states recognize the public policy exception? Affirmative Action - ✔✔President Kennedy in 1961 introduced the term ___________ for the concept of redressing the effects of persistent discriminatory employment practices in spite of civil rights laws and constitutional guarantees. It is viewed after, not during, transit From the text, "Searching email is not prohibited by the EPCA because it is viewed after, not during, transit. Because email is a permanent record and is discoverable in court, employers have a strong interest in protecting themselves from errant emails. The general rule is that when the employer is providing the computer and email service, it is free to read employee email messages pursuant to a business purpose." - ✔✔Why is searching emails not prohibited by the EPCA? Biannual scheduled drug tests From the text, "In 1991, Congress passed the Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act (Omnibus Act), which authorizes and regulates drug testing of employees in the airline, railroad, trucking, and public transportation sectors. The Omnibus Act requires pre-hire testing and post-hire random drug screens and sets procedures for ensuring drug test accuracy, chain of custody rules, and employee discipline procedures." - ✔✔Which of the following is not a requirement of the Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act (Omnibus Act)? State law From the text, "For private employees, drug testing is governed primarily by state law, with most states allowing for pre-employment testing and requiring post-accident testing of employees." - ✔✔What governs drug testing of private employees? $100,000 The federal Drug Free Workplace Act of 1988 requires federal contractors doing more than $100,000 in business with the federal government to ensure a drug-free workplace through education and enforcement of drug-free policies. - ✔✔The federal Drug Free Workplace Act of 1988 requires federal contractors doing more than _____________ in business with the federal government to ensure a drugfree workplace through education and enforcement of drug-free policies. Tort From the text, "The common law definition of a tort is the commission of a civil wrong which causes someone to suffer loss or harm resulting in legal liability. Invasion by an employer into the private affairs of an employee may be the tort of invasion of privacy." - ✔✔Invasion by an employer into the private affairs of an employee may be the ______ of invasion of privacy. The release of private information by federal agencies about public employees From the text, "Federal employers must ... comply with the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974, which governs the release of private information by federal agencies about public employees." - ✔✔What does the Federal Privacy Act of 1974 govern? The former employer The former employer has the burden to affirmatively prove the statement or information was truthful. The complaining former employee is not required to prove the statement was false. - ✔✔To whom falls the burden to determine if an employer referral was truthful or not? Federal contract of over $100,000 and work performed in the United States within the last 120 days From the text, "A covered contractor is one who has an agreement to do certain type of work for the federal government valued at more than $100,000 for work that is performed in the United States and within a period of at least 120 days." - ✔✔By 2009, the Department of Homeland Security started requiring covered contractors to enroll in E-Verify. What defines a covered contractor? Eight From the text, "The regulations require the employee to contact the appropriate federal agency within an eight-day window from the time of notice." - ✔✔If E-Verify gives a tentative nonconfirmation response, how many days does the employee have to contact the appropriate federal agency? Three : one From the text, "IRCA requires employers to retain the Form I-9 in a file, separate from the standard personnel file, for a period of three years after hire or one year after termination, whichever is longer." - ✔✔IRCA requires employers retain the Form I-9 in a file, separate from the standard personnel file, for a period of ________ year(s) after hire, or ________ year(s) after termination, whichever is longer. a valid passport, a border crossing identification card, a permanent resident card (green card), or a reentry permit. - ✔✔Under the INA a documented alien possesses the proper identification for admission into the U.S. That documentation includes ERISA From the text, "The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act was passed in 1996 as an amendment to ERISA for the purpose of establishing standards in the health industry for the gathering, processing, retention, and disclosure of private health information." - ✔✔The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act was passed in 1996 as an amendment to which act? 90 From the text, "The employer provides this information to an employee within ninety days of the beginning of coverage in a document called a summary plan document (SPD)." - ✔✔Under ERISA, how many days from the beginning of benefits coverage does an employer have to provide a summary document plan to the employee? 50+ From the text, "The FMLA governs leave for employees due to parental and medical necessity, and applies to all government employers and private employers with fifty or more employees." - ✔✔The Family Medical and Leave Act (FMLA) applies to all government and private employers with how many employees? only about 20 percent of the workforce. - ✔✔Affirmative action applies to 1) the position exists to perform the function; 2) there is a limited number of workers among whom the function may be distributed; and 3) the task is highly specialized." - ✔✔A job function may be considered essential for any of several reasons, including: Seek external government funding From the text, "Congress intended that an employer seek external government funding, apply for tax incentives, and see if the disabled employee could bear some of the accommodation costs before claiming undue hardship." - ✔✔What did Congress intend employers to do before claiming undue hardship? Appearing in public - ✔✔Traditional views of disabled people have been changing. In 1973, the city of Chicago repealed a law created in the 1880's that forbade disabled people who were diseased, maimed, or unsightly from: Four or more employees The IRCA rendered it unlawful for an employer employing four or more workers to knowingly hire or retain an undocumented worker. - ✔✔The Immigration Reform and Control Act prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of citizenship in firms with: Race : religion - ✔✔Nation of origin employment discrimination is often linked to ________ and ____________ discrimination because those factors are closely associated with a specific country or ethnic group and often the same set of facts support the varied claims. American life or law Kennedy stated: "Next week I will ask the Congress of the United States to act, to make a commitment it has not fully made in this century to the proposition that race has no place in American life or law." - ✔✔John F. Kennedy made the proposition to Congress that race had no place in: The ultimate ideas about life, purpose, and death Under Title VII, beliefs become religious beliefs when they are based on the ultimate ideas about life, purpose, and death. - ✔✔For Title VII purposes, religious beliefs cover: the EEOC looks at: The frequency of the action The severity of the unwelcome conduct The physical or threatening nature of the harassment The impact on the victim's performance - ✔✔Severity and Pervasiveness of Unwelcome Conduct In the race and color context, virtually all race-based conduct may be eventually considered unwelcome. This includes joking or playful banter, even where the victim is a participant, because such conduct can quickly turn a workplace in a hostile work environment. Moreover, while an occasional joke may be taken lightly, over time such banter can have a fatiguing effect upon the employee to whom it is directed. The best policy is to strictly prohibit workplace race or color joking. - ✔✔Unwelcome Conduct The conduct must be unwelcome; and The conduct must be sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the terms and conditions of employment in the mind of the victim and from the perspective of a reasonable person in the victim's position. - ✔✔There are two requirements to trigger liability for race-based harassment: bias against Muslims. - ✔✔EEOC statistics show that, annually, 20 percent of employee complaints of religious discrimination involve - age and seniority are "analytically distinct" from each other in the ADEA context. - a paper company's decision to terminate an employee because his pension was about to "vest" did not violate the ADEA. That is, the decision was made due to years of service and "vesting," not due to the employee's age. - the Supreme Court noted that the ADEA was designed to eliminate practices based upon the negative and unsupported age stereotypes of reduced performance and competence and that the paper company's decision was not motivated by these considerations. * Notwithstanding the Hazen case, and because of the high correlation between salary and age, federal courts are not unified regarding the issue of whether RIF plans based solely on salary constitutes disparate impact under the ADEA. - ✔✔Supreme Court in Hazen Paper Co. v. Biggins, 507 U.S. 604 - Virtually every federal court hearing age discrimination claims has ignored the EEOC regulation and concluded that the ADEA's protections do not provide a cause of action to younger workers within the protected class who complained that older workers were treated more favorably. - The United States Supreme Court held that employers may always favor the old over the young, even with both candidates being 40 years of age and older. Justice Souter wrote that "the enemy of 40 is 30 not 50." The idea was that without this rule, all retirement and seniority plans would be rendered null. - ✔✔General Dynamics Land Systems, Inc v. Cline - When a supervisor has engaged in sexual harassment, the employer may, nevertheless, raise an affirmative defense. - The Supreme Court held that an employer may avoid liability for supervisor harassment by proving affirmatively that: 1) the employer exercised reasonable care to prevent and correct the harassment - through training and policy enforcement; and 2) the plaintiff unreasonably failed to take advantage of the preventative or corrective opportunities that the employer provided. - ✔✔Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth, 524 U.S. 742 (1998) and Faragher v. Boca Raton, 524 U.S. 775 (1998) This is often called the Ellerth/Faragher affirmative defense. - The seminal case for hostile environment sexual harassment - Vinson claimed Taylor, a bank vice president, had coerced her into having repeated sexual relations with him. Vinson claimed Taylor also touched her in public, exposed himself to her, and forcibly raped her multiple times. Vinson could not show the sexual relations resulted in any tangible job action. - The U.S. Supreme Court held, for the first time, that Title VII prohibits sexual harassment which creates a hostile, intimidating work environment, even if the harassment does not cause a direct financial injury. - ✔✔Meritor Savings Bank, FSB v. Vinson, 477 U.S. 57, 106 S.Ct. 2399 (1986)(Meritor) may still exist under the theory that the raise is designed to induce the employee to accept the sexual advance. - ✔✔If after a rejected sexual advance an employee receives an unanticipated favorable job outcome, like an unscheduled raise, a claim of quid pro quo sexual harassment - An important area of gender discrimination is the stereotyping of how a male or how a female should act. - a highly qualified female employee, Hopkins, was entitled to relief under Title VII for being denied promotion at a prestigious accountancy firm because she did not conform to traditional views of how a woman should act at work. - ✔✔Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins - The foundational case that established the notion of pretextual discrimination - Green, an African-American mechanic at McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis, was laid off following a downturn in firm business. Green believed his discharge was racially motivated and became involved in several illegal worker demonstrations against the company. Later, McDonnell Douglass advertised for job openings for mechanics and Green applied. He was rejected on the basis of his involvement in illegal activity against the firm. Green sued under Title VII, arguing the real reason for his job application rejection was his race and involvement in civil rights matters. - The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately heard the matter and developed the prima facie case for determining if a proffered employer's reason for an adverse hire decision was merely pretext. The U.S. Supreme court remanded the matter to the lower court to conduct a hearing under the prima facie standards it established. - ✔✔McDonnell Douglas, Corp. v. Green. The seminal case establishing the concept of disparate impact - black workers were overtly limited to low-paying labor jobs, while higher-paying positions were reserved for white persons - U.S. Supreme Court found that, while no evidence existed that the imposition of the test mandates were intended to be discriminatory, Duke Power had nevertheless failed to establish that the tests were meaningfully connected to job performance. - Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1991 to codify the concept of disparate impact discrimination as articulated in Griggs v. Duke Power. - ✔✔Griggs v. Duke Power, 401 U.S. 424 (1971) The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA), which protects men and women who perform substantially equal work in the same establishment from sex-based wage discrimination; The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), which protects individuals who are 40 years of age or older; The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) (Title I and Title V), and its 2008 Amendments (ADAAA), which prohibit disability discrimination in the private sector; The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Sections 501 and 505), which prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities who work in the federal government; The Civil Rights Act of 1991, which allows for compensatory and punitive damages for violations of Title VII; and The Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act (USERRA), which protects military personnel from employment discrimination. - ✔✔The EEOC conducts enforcement litigation for several federal statutes in addition to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. These laws include: employers' businesses operated in proximity to Native American reservations from preferring Indians over others for jobs, nor does it prevent religious organizations or associations from conducting their affairs. - ✔✔Title VII does not prevent clearly employees but also those who "are susceptible to the kind of unlawful practices that Title VII was intended to remedy," such as independent contractors. It includes U.S. citizens employed by U.S. firms abroad, non-U.S. citizens employed in the U.S., and illegal aliens working in the U.S. - ✔✔Title VII's application to employees includes those who are federal, state and local government employers and employment agencies and labor unions. - ✔✔Title VII also applies to a year after a firm reaches the critical mass of 15 employers, even if the number of employees in the next year falls below the minimum. - ✔✔The application of Title VII continues for fifteen or more employees for each working day in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year - ✔✔Title VII covers employers who have the landmark United States Supreme Court case which found a fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by the Fourteenth Amendment - ✔✔Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. ___ (2015) Sherman Anti-Trust Act From the text, "The Clayton Act prohibited the elimination of unions and expressly removed union organizing efforts from the "anti-combination" language of The Sherman Anti-Trust Act." - ✔✔The Clayton Act prohibited the elimination of unions and expressly removed union organizing efforts from the "anti-combination" language in which act? False If, after a rejected sexual advance, an employee receives an unanticipated favorable job outcome, like an unscheduled raise, a claim of quid pro quo sexual harassment may still lie under the theory that the raise is designed to induce the employee to accept the sexual advance or overlook an inappropriate advance. - ✔✔An aggressive sexual advance is made by a male boss to a female subordinate and rejected. Later the female employee receives a raise. There is no colorable claim of quid pro quo sexual harassment because the "victim" did not suffer a tangible job action. True/False Gender harassment Sexual harassment does not necessarily involve sexual motive, sexual behavior, or requests for sexual favors. - ✔✔Which of the following is always involved in a case of sexual harassment? Sex He did so in an attempt to defeat the legislation, as there existed a strong anti-women animus among unions and supporters of the legislation who did not want women included in the protections offered by Title VII. - ✔✔Before the final passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Virginia Democrat, Senator Howard W. Smith, inserted into the language of the legislation defining the class of persons protected under the anti-discrimination provisions of Title VII the word: At-will doctrine From the text, "In the private employer arena, an employee would have to look to public policy exceptions and to the at will doctrine to determine if a case for retaliatory discharge is available when an employee is terminated for engaging in speech the employer does not sanction." - ✔✔In the private employer arena, an employee would have to look to the public policy exceptions and to the _____________to determine if a case for retaliatory discharge is available. Class Title VII, as well as other federal anti-discrimination statutes, protects persons from retaliation in the workplace for exercising rights under its provisions. Unlike disparate treatment based upon a class characteristic, retaliation involves adverse job action based upon an employee's lawful actions. For example, an employee cannot be subject to any negative job action for making a claim of disparate treatment discrimination under Title VII. Ironically, claimants may not have a sufficient case to make a showing that discrimination occurred, but might be able to sustain a retaliation claim for raising the discrimination challenge in the first place, if the negative job action is severe enough. - ✔✔Unlike disparate treatment based upon __________ characteristics, retaliation involves adverse job action based upon an employee's lawful actions. Griggs v. Duke Power The seminal case establishing the concept of disparate impact is Griggs v. Duke Power, 401 U.S. 424 (1971). - ✔✔The seminal case establishing the concept of disparate impact is: Pattern and practice discrimination Pattern and practice discrimination is characterized by the types of imbalances and discrimination exemplified in this situation. - ✔✔An employer may claim that 50 percent of employees are non-white minorities or women. However, if the minority employees or women are concentrated in low paying positions, and all the white employees hold high paying managerial positions, this would be best described as: One year The application of Title VII continues for a year after a firm reaches the critical mass of 15 employers, even if the number of employees in the next year falls below the minimum - ✔✔How long does the application Title VII continue after a firm has reached a critical mass of 15 employees? 20-factor Analysis - ✔✔A guide adopted by the Internal Revenue Service for determining if a worker should be classified as an independent contractor. ADA Amendments Act - ✔✔Passed in 2008, it amends the ADA by adding new protections for employees with disabilities. ADEA - ✔✔Age Discrimination in Employment Act ADEA Waivers - ✔✔A statement from a retiring employee that he or she will not make a personal ADEA claim against the employer in exchange for retirement incentives. Abuse of Discretion - ✔✔An employer's failure to consider important and relevant facts; acting in an arbitrary or capricious manner. Adverse Job Action - ✔✔A negative job action that results from an employee's lawful actions. Affirmative Action (AA) - ✔✔Any action taken by an employer to overcome discriminatory effects of past or current practices that create barriers to equal employment opportunity. Affirmative Action Plan - ✔✔"Plan that analyzes a workforce to determine whether protected classes are underutilized in different job groups and describes how an organization will address any underutilization that exists." Age Discrimination - ✔✔Treating an applicant or employee less favorably because of his or her age. Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) - ✔✔Enacted in 1967, it protects employees who are 40 years of age and older. Agency - ✔✔A contract relationship between a principal and an agent whereby the principal authorizes the agent to work on his or her behalf and with power to bind the principal. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) - ✔✔Employers with 15 or more employees are prohibited from discriminating against people with disabilities. In general, the employment provisions of the ADA require equal opportunity in selecting, testing, and hiring qualified applicants with disabilities; job accommodation for applicants and workers with disabilities when such accommodations would not impose "undue hardship;" and equal opportunity in promotion and benefits. Anti-female Animus - ✔✔An environment of animosity toward women. Appropriation of Image or Likeness - ✔✔A type of tort in which an employer uses the name, image, or likeness of an employee for commercial purposes in a way that is not described in the job description. Arbitration - ✔✔A procedure for resolving collective bargaining impasses by which an arbitrator (third party) choose a solution to the dispute. Assumption of the Risk - ✔✔An employer defense that states an employee knows and accepts the risk of potential injury in a certain position. BFOQ - ✔✔(Bona Fide Occupational Qualification) Job requirement that an employee be a particular religion, sex, or national origin that is reasonably necessary to business operations. For instance, it is assumed that an opening for a Baptist minister at a local Baptist church would be filled by a minister who is actually a person who celebrates the Baptist religion and not, say, the Episcopal religion. Back Pay - ✔✔Monetary compensation for a plaintiff's lost earnings. Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ) - ✔✔A reasonable employment qualification that an employer is allowed to consider when making decisions about hiring and retaining employees. Business Necessity - ✔✔A legitimate business purpose that justifies an employment decision as effective and necessary. Case Law - ✔✔The law as laid down in the decisions of the courts (distinct from statutes or other sources of law). Civil Law - ✔✔Laws that deal with the rights of people rather than with crimes. Civil Rights Act of 1964 - ✔✔Enacted in 1964, it prohibits race discrimination in employment. Clayton Act - ✔✔Enacted in 1914, it prohibits the elimination of unions. Closed Union Shop - ✔✔An illegal requirement that an employee be a union member. Collective Bargaining - ✔✔The negotiation process between unions and employers. Color - ✔✔Skin pigmentation characteristic of race, especially other than white. Common Law - ✔✔Principles developed over centuries as a result of legal decisions made by judges in individual cases. Common Law Agency - ✔✔A test that classifies a worker as an employee if the employer maintains the right to control the method of work performed. Common Law Criminal Conspiracy - ✔✔A combination of two or more individuals planning to accomplish an unlawful purpose. Community of Interests - ✔✔A community of people who align themselves with a common interest. Comparable Worth Theory - ✔✔The notion that men and women should receive equal pay when they perform work that requires comparable skills and responsibilities. Comparative Evidence - ✔✔Evidence of discrimination that is found by comparing two similarly situated employees who were treated differently because of a class characteristic. Compensatory Damages - ✔✔Monetary compensation necessary to replace a plaintiff's losses. Compensatory Time - ✔✔An option for public employers to allow time off for employees instead of payment. Complaint - ✔✔A formal allegation against a party . Compliance Requirement - ✔✔A mandate that all employers comply with all safety and health requirements issued by the Department of Labor. Concerted Activity - ✔✔Any effort by employees to join together to seek improvement in working conditions. Conciliation - ✔✔Process where a third party acts as an intermediary between the parties to a labor dispute, helping them to reach a settlement. Conglomerate - ✔✔A highly diversified firm that has multiple businesses with no relationships. Consent Decree - ✔✔An agreement between two parties to resolve a dispute. Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) - ✔✔Enacted in 1986, it allows an employee to extend company health care benefits for up to eighteen months after he or she leaves a job. Constructive Discharge - ✔✔Resignation of an employee because an employer allows working conditions that are no longer tolerable for any reasonable employee. Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA) - ✔✔An entity that collects and provides information about persons for use in credit and/or employment evaluation. Continual Training Requirement - ✔✔A mandate that all employers provide training to workers on a periodic basis and whenever an employee is hired or assigned to a new job. Continuous Leave - ✔✔A type of leave in which an employee is absent from work for a continuous length of time. Contract - ✔✔A legally binding agreement between two parties. Contributory Negligence - ✔✔An employer defense that an employee's errant conduct contributed to a workplace injury. Course of Employment - ✔✔Any action by an employee that furthers an employer's business. Covenant of Good Faith - ✔✔A presumption that each party in a contract will deal with each other in good faith and fairness. Covered Employer - ✔✔An employer that is engaged in a commerce industry and employs fifteen or more employees [Show More]

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