Deck 1: Overview of Employment Law

Question 1

William, aged 59, has been employed by your firm for more than 26 years, and has continually received above-average evaluations. Just before his 27 th anniversary with the firm, you are ordered by your superior, the HR Manager, to tell him that his employment with the firm is terminated immediately. Given the facts, as presented, the issues most likely to be raised are:

A) legal
B) ethical
C) medical
D) contract
E) none of these

Answer 1

B

Question 2

In Nino v The Jewelry Exchange , plaintiff bank employee sued alleging discrimination, and his employer sought to dismiss the suit, stating that the employee had signed a mandatory arbitration agreement, so that the suit should go to arbitration. The employee responded that the mandatory arbitration agreement he had signed was unconscionable, and therefore, unenforceable. Among other things, the employee alleged that the arbitration agreement was unconscionable because gave him only 5 days to make a demand for arbitration. The court ruled:

A) for the Plaintiff employee, because the agreement was both procedurally and substantively unconscionable.
B) for the Plaintiff employee, because the arbitration agreement was procedurally unconscionable.
C) for the Defendant employer, because none of the provisions of the arbitration agreement was unconscionable.
D) for the Defendant employer because the unconscionable parts of the arbitration agreement could be stricken, and the arbitration could proceed.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of the following is true of the enforcement process for discrimination charges brought under Title VII?

A) the plaintiff may choose to begin in the state civil rights agency, or may file directly with the EEOC as they wish
B) charges must be brought within 60 days of the alleged discriminatory act
C) a right to sue letter must be obtained from the EEOC before going to court
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Regarding the historical development of employment law in the U.S., which of the following statements is true?

A) Most federal employment laws were passed in the first half of the 19 th century in response to growing industrialization
B) The earliest employment laws focused on wages and hours
C) Most employment laws were passed with little conflict, since the need for these laws was evident to employers, employees and legislators.
D) The importance of employment at will has increased over time.
E) None of the above.

Question 5

The contract referred to in Question #16 above is:

A) procedurally unconscionable
B) substantively unconscionable
C) neither of these
D) both of these

Question 6

Which of the following statements is true of arbitration?

A) historically, arbitration has been used to resolve disputes over contractual rights
B) arbitrators decisions are usually advisory and not considered final
C) arbitrators have less control over the outcomes of disputes than do mediators.
D) arbitration is always more costly and time-consuming than litigation
E) none of these

Question 7

In Wal-Mart Stores v Dukes , Plaintiffs, all female employees, sued alleging discrimination in pay and promotions based on gender, and sought to represent a class of about 1 million female employees, past and present. The case was certified as a class action, and Wal-Mart appealed, alleging that the certification did not comply with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure in that the claimants had not suffered the same injury, and the claims did not have questions of law and fact in common. The court ruled:

A) for the Plaintiff employees, because they had all suffered the same injury a violation of Title VII
B) for the Plaintiff employees, because Wal-Mart was guilty of a pattern or practice of discrimination based on its corporate culture
C) for Wal-Mart, because a lawsuit with 1.5 million plaintiffs was simply unwieldy
D) for Wal-Mart, because the claims did not have common questions of law and fact

Question 8

Which of the following is true regarding enforcement of employee rights and enforcement of employment laws?

A) finding a lawyer willing to take an employment law case is difficult because lawyers accept only about 50% of employment discrimination cases brought to them
B) if an employer has a complaint or grievance procedure, the employee is required to exhaust the remedies afforded under the internal procedure before taking the case to an enforcement agency or court
C) the EEOC encourages the parties to discrimination cases to use mediation
D) the EEOC encourages the parties to discrimination cases to use arbitration

Question 9

Under U.S. employment laws, employees have the right to:

A) not be fired, as long as they do a good job and the employer s financial condition does not require that employment levels be cut
B) be treated fairly in all aspects of the workplace, including receiving fair compensation
C) have health insurance and other basic benefits, provided that they are full-time employees
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 10

Which of the following provisions, if included in a mandatory arbitration agreement, would be likely to render it unenforceable?

A) a provision that the employee pay the costs of the arbitrator s services
B) a provision that gives the employer the right to choose any arbitrator
C) a provision that bars all discovery
D) a provision that requires the employee to prove his case
E) all of these
F) all of these except d

Question 11

Which of the following is generally true regarding the process of enforcing employment laws?

A) courts and government agencies hear cases only after employees come forward with complaints about violations of the law
B) employees are very likely to seize the opportunity to sue their employers, because all of the cost of employment litigation is borne by the employer
C) once a claim is brought, a company s attorneys deal with it, and managers have little involvement in the case
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 12

A mandatory arbitration agreement which provides that all claims be brought within 90 days of the date of the alleged violation would likely be:

A) enforceable
B) unenforceable
C) subject to amendment by the court

Question 13

As the Human Resources manager of your firm, the task of putting into effect the firm s new mandatory arbitration agreement has fallen to you. At a minimum, legally, which of the following actions are required to make the policy enforceable?

A) send email notice to all employees that a mandatory arbitration policy has been adopted
B) post the mandatory arbitration policy on the firm s website, and ask employees to visit the site and review the policy
C) provide employees with a copy of the agreement, and ask them to sign it
D) make certain that the agreement provides, and the employees understand, that they are waiving their rights to sue
E) all of these are legally required
F) none of these are legally required
G) only c and d are legally required

Question 14

Your firm has just gotten a contract with the U.S. government to build security gates for the new fence along the U.S.-Mexican border. In addition to the employment laws which already apply to your business, the following will now also apply:

A) Title IX
B) the Federal Security Fence Funding Act of 2008
C) EO # 11246
D) all of these
E) none of these

Question 15

In EEOC v Fed Ex, the EEOC sued Fed Ex on behalf of a deaf employee who was denied reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) over a two year period. The court found for EEOC, and entered judgment for compensatory and punitive damages. Fed Ex appealed, in part based on the award of punitive damages, contending, among other things, that Fed Ex had made a good-faith effort to comply with the law. In particular, Fed Ex offered evidence of its ADA compliance policy set forth in the employee manual. The court ruled:

A) the establishment of an ADA compliance policy was sufficient to establish a good faith effort to comply with the ADA
B) the establishment of an ADA compliance policy was not sufficient by itself to establish a good faith effort to comply, in the absence of any affirmative steps to ensure the implementation of its policy
C) a good faith effort was not required
D) none of these

Question 16

Dean got a job as a copyrighter for a publishing firm, and after working for the firm for two years, was told he was required to sign a mandatory arbitration agreement, submitting any employment disputes to binding arbitration, and that if he would not sign it as is, he would be fired. Dean:

A) will have to sign the agreement if he wants to keep his job
B) does not have to sign the agreement, and can still keep his job

Question 17

Under the payroll method approved by the U.S. Supreme Court:

A) employers whose payrolls exceed $500,000 annually are covered by Title VII
B) employers are covered by Title VII if they had at least 20 employees on the payroll at the time of the alleged discrimination
C) employers are covered by Title VII if they had at least 15 employees working and being paid for each working day during at least 20 weeks in the same or the preceding year
D) employees are counted for each full week between when they are hired and when they leave employment, regardless of the number of days or hours worked.
E) none of the above

Question 18

In order to determine which employment laws apply to a certain employer, the employer should consider which of the following factors?

A) the number of employees that work for the company
B) whether the employer sells goods or services to the federal government
C) the state(s) in which the employer operates
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 19

Regarding the interrelationship of federal and state employment laws:

A) state laws must be identical to federal law or the state law is void
B) states may pass laws which reduce employee rights, but may not enact laws that expand employee protections granted in federal laws
C) states may pass laws which expand employee rights, but may not enact laws that reduce employee protections granted in federal laws
D) employment law is exclusively a federal domain, so states may not enact laws when federal law already exists

Question 20

An employer considering whether to use mandatory arbitration agreements should recognize which of the following limitations of their use?

A) the agreements probably won t apply to any of its unionized employees
B) the agreements will not deter the EEOC from investigating and possibly litigating to recover remedies for individuals
C) the agreements may not be enforceable if they do not provide employees with the same remedies as those available through the courts
D) all of the above
E) none of the above