Exam 2: The Employment Law Toolkit: Resources for Understanding the Lawand Recurring Legal Concepts

Questions asked during idle conversational chat during preemployment interviews or included on job applications may unwittingly be the basis for Title VII claims of disparate impact.

Which of the following is not a business necessity providing a defense to a disparate impact claim?

Harassment claims are afforded a more flexible statute of limitations period than other forms of discrimination.

The 1964 Civil Rights Act was passed the year after the historic March on Washington led by the late Rev.Dr.Martin Luther King,Jr.

The EEOC has investigated Chen's complaint of discrimination under Title VII against his employer and sent him a notice that it determined that there was no reasonable cause for his complaint.

BJI Enterprises requires all employees to pass a standardized test before being considered for promotions.Marisa Chavez,a Hispanic female,was employed in the Maintenance department as a housekeeper.She wanted to be considered for a supervisory position in that department.However,she could not make a passing score on the test.There were no minority supervisors in the Maintenance Department.The Civil Rights Act requires

Dean Capers,an African American,was employed as a bus driver with Mountain City Transportation Department.The city council voted to reduce the number of bus routes,and Dean's job was eliminated.Dean filed a claim with EEOC alleging racial discrimination because he was the only African American bus driver and he had more seniority than 4 of the drivers retained.Mountain City successfully responded

Marc Brown is a chemical engineer with a graduate degree from MIT.Mr.Brown is African American.He applied for a chemical engineering position with Kincaid Paper Company.Although he was qualified for the job,he was not offered the position.Mr.Brown happened to see the job advertised in the newspaper 2 weeks after he had been rejected.

Sally Landon is employed by Kent Electronics, Inc. in its London facility. Kent Electronics, Inc. is a U.S. corporation. Sally is not a U.S. citizen. Sally's job was eliminated in a recent reduction in force. She noticed that only women were laid off. She contacted EEOC in Washington, D.C. to file a claim for discrimination.

Federal employee claims of discrimination are filed through the EEOC.

List the steps in the process used to file a claim for discrimination within the EEOC.

In Brown v.Topeka Board of Education,the U.S.Supreme Court:

The bona fide occupational qualification defense (BFOQ)can be used by the employer to defend Title VII discrimination claims when the basis is

Elijah Murphy studied voice,opera and Jewish liturgical music at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.After he graduated,he applied for a job as a cantor (i.e.,professional singer who leads prayer services)at the Nashville Downtown Synagogue.The synagogue responded that he was not qualified for the position and refused to consider him for the job because he is not Jewish.

Major Industries has a published workplace policy that reads:"Promotions to the level of supervisor and higher are limited to individuals with at least a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university."

The following defenses are available to employers in discrimination claims:

Jay Foster was employed as an auto mechanic with Madison & Sons Auto Shop.Mr.Madison employed 30 mechanics in each of his facilities in Denver,Colorado.Jay was the only African American mechanic and he had been employed by Mr.Madison for approximately 9 years.He had applied for a promotion to chief mechanic on 4 separate occasions and each time,the promotion had been given to a white male with less seniority and less experience.After being denied the promotion for the 5th time,Jay filed a claim with EEOC.Jay's employment was terminated after the EEOC contacted Mr.Madison concerning the claim.

The Bright Creek Luggage Company has hired you as a consultant to improve the company's hiring processes so it will be less vulnerable to claims of discrimination when hiring.You should make the following recommendations.

Emmanuel and Petersen is an extremely busy law firm specializing in litigation.In order to keep up with their workload,they refuse to hire anyone as a secretary who is unable to type at least 65 words per minute.If a group of male applicants challenges this policy as being discriminatory against generally slower typing males,the company could defend the typing-speed requirement as a:

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination