Deck 8: Affirmative Action

Question 1

A school district had to decide which of two equally qualified, equally senior employees to lay off. Invoking its affirmative action plan, the district retained an African-American and laid off the white teacher. The court would rule that:

A) Title VII was violated because there was no evidence that African-Americans were underutilized as teachers and affirmative action cannot be used to make layoff decisions
B) Title VII was violated because diversity is not a compelling government interest necessitating consideration of race
C) Title VII was not violated because using race as a tie-breaker is a lawful form of affirmative action
D) Title VII was not violated because the school district demonstrated that the layoff was the only way to maintain a faculty that reflected the racial composition of the student body
E) Title VII was not violated because the layoff was only temporary and did not excessively burden the white teacher

Answer 1

A

Question 2

In order to prove that underutilization exists, it must be shown:

A) by the four-fifths rule, that women or persons of color are disproportionately absent from a position
B) that women or persons of color are underrepresented in the employer s workforce relative to their availability in the relevant labor market
C) that intentional discrimination is the reason that women and persons of color are not adequately represented in the employer s workforce
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Affirmative action:

A) is primarily applied to hiring decisions
B) is limited to African-Americans and women
C) includes any formal or informal efforts to improve the employment opportunities of African-Americans and women
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Your company sells office supplies, and your CEO has finally succeeded in acquiring a contract to provide supplies to the federal government for the next year. This is a huge client for your company, worth in excess of $3 million dollars. Aside from increasing purchasing and production, what does your company need to do?

A) agree to hire a certain percentage of persons of color and women before the contract takes effect
B) prepare an affirmative action plan
C) not discriminate in your workplace
D) all of these
E) b and c

Question 5

Court-imposed affirmative action is:

A) common
B) uncommon
C) non-existent; all affirmative action is voluntary
D) none of these

Question 6

Affirmative action may be used on behalf of all of the following groups EXCEPT:

A) African-Americans
B) women
C) Pacific Islanders
D) disabled persons
E) none; affirmative action may be used for all of these groups

Question 7

Regarding Affirmative Action plans, which of the following is true?

A) it may be used to remedy a manifest imbalance
B) the imbalance must meet the four-fifths rule
C) the imbalance must have resulted from past discrimination
D) all of these are true

Question 8

Written affirmative action plans, submitted to the OFCCP, are required of contractors or subcontractors:

A) with 10 employees and $10,000 in federal contracts
B) with 25 employees and $25,000 in federal contracts
C) with 50 employees and $50,000 in federal contracts
D) with 100 employees and $100,000 in federal contracts
E) none of the above, all companies doing federal contract work must have written affirmative action plan that is submitted to the OFCCP

Question 9

In Lomack v. City of Newark, the newly elected mayor decided to eliminate all single-race fire companies to improve morale. Dozens of firefighers were involuntarily transferred based on their race, and several sued, alleging a violation of Title VII. At the time, the city was operating under a consent decree requiring that it undertake certain measures to hire minority firefighters. What did the court decide, and what was its reasoning?

A) because of the consent decree, the city was compelled to diversify its fire companies, so the transfers complied with affirmative action, and did not violate Title VII
B) because its overall goal was to treat all firefighters equally, the transfers did not violate Title VII
C) even though the consent decree required certain affirmative steps to hire minority firefighters, it was permissible under Title VII
D) the decisions to transfer were based on race, in violation of Title VII, and the consent decree did not require or condone such transfers

Question 10

Your firm s contract to sell office supplies to the federal government requires that you hire only subcontractors who agree not to discriminate, and include a nondiscrimination clause in their contracts with you. You ve done a thorough investigation of the firms out there who could fulfill your needs for particular office supplies, and there is one who is significantly less expensive than all of the others. However, that firm has a well-known reputation for discriminating against African-Americans. Your profit margin is already quite small for this project, and you worry about making any money at all. Which of the following is/are acceptable option(s), and why?

A) hire the firm that s cheaper, even though they discriminate, because they ll agree to put the clause in their contract, and that s all you need; besides, you can t afford to lose the government business
B) don t hire the firm that s cheaper, because it would disqualify your firm from the government contract if the government found out
C) talk to the firm that s cheaper, and try to persuade them to actually comply with a non-discrimination standard; then monitor the situation to ensure that they do, because its in both your interests
D) negotiate with other, non-discriminating suppliers on their prices to see if you can match the price of the discriminating supplier
E) b, c and d

Question 11

Consent decrees:

A) sometimes require affirmative action as a part of the settlement in a discrimination case
B) are issued by judges after a jury verdict following a lawsuit
C) require employers to agree to hire specified numbers of women and/or persons of color
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 12

To survive a constitutional challenge, a public employer s affirmative action plan that uses racial preferences must:

A) explain why the racial inequities occurred
B) be permanently implemented
C) be narrowly tailored
D) be approved by Congress
E) all of the above

Question 13

In Johnson v. Transportation Agency, Santa Clara County , a female employee was promoted to the position of road dispatcher, despite the fact that a male candidate had scored two points higher on an interview. The county had an affirmative action plan and the plan was taken into account in making the promotion decision. The Supreme Court ruled that:

A) the employer did not violate Title VII because it had an affirmative action plan requiring it to hire a woman for the position
B) the employer did not violate Title VII because it had an affirmative action plan that addressed the proven underutilization of women in a moderate, flexible way
C) the employer violated Title VII because, despite its affirmative action plan, it was not free to hire a less qualified candidate because of her sex
D) the employer violated Title VII because there was no evidence of underutilization of women in the county workforce, requiring affirmative action
E) none of the above

Question 14

In Reilly v. TXU Corp, an employee sought promotion to manager. Requirements for the job included a graduate business degree and 5 to 7 years of sourcing-related experience. The employee met the requirements, and received the highest score on a panel interview. Shortly after, the promoting manager received an inquiry from an African American woman. The HR Department determined that the woman was qualified, even though she did not have 5 years of sourcing experience. She received the promotion, and the employee sued. Which of the following statements is true?

A) the African-American woman was qualified, and met the requirements for the position
B) the hiring manager s decision may have been influenced by the fact that she was in charge of the firm s diversity program, but had no minority employees working for her
C) the employee and the African-American woman scored similarly on the interview
D) all of the above
E) none of the above
F) b and c only

Question 15

Which of the following is not considered to be a reasonable part of a valid affirmative action plan?

A) all employment test scores are validated
B) a stated plan to hire a particular number of black, white, male, female etc. employees in order to remedy an existing imbalance or injustice
C) wide communication of job availability
D) active enforcement of anti-discrimination policies
E) active enforcement of anti-harassment policies

Question 16

When individual job titles are listed for each department in order of pay level and demographic information is provided for each job, this is called a/an:

A) workforce analysis
B) organizational profile
C) job group analysis
D) organizational display

Question 17

Reverse discrimination means:

A) establishing quotas for the hiring of women and persons of color
B) disparate treatment
C) disparate impact
D) none of these

Question 18

Your friend and former college roommate, David, has just been hired to manage a small, family-owned business because the owner has fallen ill, and none of his children are yet ready to assume leadership of the business. David has hiring and firing authority (except for the owner s children), and wants to expand and diversify the sales staff, by hiring women and persons of color. There are 3 openings. What would be your best advice to him to accomplish his goals?

A) David should hire the only qualified women and/or persons of color, in order to achieve diversity
B) David should prepare an affirmative action plan, after doing a self-analysis which establishes an underutilization of women and persons of color in the relevant labor market, and then advertise the open positions
C) David should hire the first qualified candidates he finds, regardless of gender or race
D) none of these would be good advice

Question 19

Vietnam era veterans are included as a protected group under affirmative action:

A) when employers enter into federal contracts or subcontracts worth $10,000 or more
B) when employers enter into federal contracts or subcontracts worth $25,000 or more
C) when employers enter into federal contracts or subcontracts worth $50,000 or more
D) automatically in any federal contract regardless of size

Question 20

Which of the following is a law requiring certain employers to engage in affirmative action?

A) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
B) The Rehabilitation Act
C) California s Proposition 209
D) all of the above
E) none of the above