Deck 16: Employment Discrimination

Question 1

Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act does not protect against discrimination in employment based on religion.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

The most important source of discrimination in employment rules is Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) is the main federal agency responsible for enforcing Title VII.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Under the common law employers were generally free to discriminate as they wished.

Question 5

Under Title VII, recognized races include Hispanic and Arab.

Question 6

Reverse discrimination⎯giving preferential treatment to minorities or women⎯is not illegal as that is one of the goals of Title VII.

Question 7

All employers are subject to Title VII rules regarding discrimination in employment.

Question 8

Under the Equal Pay Act, differences in wages between men and women are allowed if they are due to a seniority system or to a system based on productivity.

Question 9

Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act does not protect against employment discrimination based on disabilities.

Question 10

Under Title VII, there is an official list of races.

Question 11

There is no formal definition of "race." Under Title VII, one may declare any race of one's choosing.

Question 12

Under the Equal Pay Act, if women have been discriminated against by getting lower pay than men, for the same work, salaries must be equalized, either by lowering the men's salaries or raising the women's salaries.

Question 13

The Equal Pay Act allows pay differentials between men and women if based on a merit system.

Question 14

Title VII provides equal employment opportunity protection for people who are members of "protected classes."

Question 15

Before the passage of federal discrimination laws, the labor unions were the only groups that consistently did not engage in discriminatory membership policies.

Question 16

The common law permits employers to hire and fire, within contractual limits, at-will.

Question 17

Unions and employers with fifteen or more members or employees are subject to Title VII.

Question 18

The first kind of employment discrimination to be specifically addressed by federal legislation concerned sex discrimination.

Question 19

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 prohibits discrimination in hiring based on sex.

Question 20

The Supreme Court has held that the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects white males against employment discrimination based on race.

Question 21

Baylor University, a Baptist school, may require that all professors who teach Baptist theology be Baptists.

Question 22

Title VII has resulted in a specific list of places of "national origin" and which qualify for coverage under the employment discrimination law.

Question 23

Under Title VII, employment discrimination based on sexual preference is prohibited.

Question 24

Ordering Spanish-speaking workers to speak English while working on an assembly line would be a clear violation of Title VII employment discrimination.

Question 25

Under Title VII, recognized races include white and black.

Question 26

Discrimination based on religion does not include coverage for persons who do not believe in God.

Question 27

A defense in suits for discrimination based on religion is that accommodation of religious beliefs would impose undue hardship on the employer.

Question 28

Employment discrimination based on marital status is a prima facie Title VII violation for sex discrimination.

Question 29

National origin discrimination could be based on ethnic slurs against an employee.

Question 30

Under Title VII, the definition of sex is only gender-male or female-not sexual orientation.

Question 31

Race discrimination is the most common claim made under Title VII.

Question 32

Under Title VII, for certain jobs religious organizations may legally hire only members of a particular religion.

Question 33

A Title VII claim of color discrimination could include a suit by a dark-skinned black person for job bias by a lighter-skinned black person.

Question 34

Discrimination based on color has not produced as much litigation as other classes used in discrimination suits.

Question 35

If an employee honors a particular day of the week as a holy day, the employer must be sure to arrange the work schedule to allow the employee to have that day off or face discrimination based on religion suit.

Question 36

If an employer refuses to consider hiring a non-citizen, it is a clear basis for a national origin discrimination suit.

Question 37

To avoid a charge of employment discrimination based on religion, an employer must make reasonable accommodations but need not spend more than a minimal amount to do so.

Question 38

Under Title VII, the EEOC has produced a list of religions and religious organizations that qualify for coverage under the statute.

Question 39

Ordering Spanish-speaking workers to always speak English to each other while they are at the workplace does not violate Title VII.

Question 40

Under Title VII, race includes white, black, Hispanic, Asian and American Indians.

Question 41

Some states have laws making it illegal to discriminate against employees on the basis of marital status.

Question 42

In Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services the Supreme Court held that a claim of same-sex sexual harassment does not fall under Title VII.

Question 43

Employers are not responsible for employees showing pornography at work that happens to offend women employees.

Question 44

Verbal comments that happen to be of a sexual nature do not constitute sexual harassment because it is speech protected by the First Amendment.

Question 45

In Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services the Supreme Court held that a claim of sexual harassment made by a male employee did fall under Title VII.

Question 46

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act amended Title VII.

Question 47

Sexual harassment may include promises of career advancement in return for sexual favors.

Question 48

In Harris v. Forklift Systems, Harris sued her employer after her boss sexually insulted her and she quit. The Supreme Court held that she had a duty to complain about the behavior and have it possibly resolved before she quit.

Question 49

Employers have the right to monitor employee's e-mails in the workplace and may do so, in part, to prevent sexual harassment.

Question 50

In Harris v. Forklift Systems, Harris successfully sued her boss for quid pro quo discrimination when he insisted on sex as a basis for a promotion.

Question 51

In Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services the Supreme Court held that when reviewing claims of sexual harassment the courts should use "common sense."

Question 52

Some states have laws making it illegal to discriminate against employees on the basis of sexual identity, but Title VII does not make it illegal.

Question 53

There are basically two types of sexual harassment: quid pro quo and aggravated.

Question 54

If an employer denies a female worker a promotion because she is pregnant, the employer has violated the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.

Question 55

An employer cannot be found liable for sexual discrimination based on the content of e-mails that employees send each other.

Question 56

In Harris v. Forklift Systems, the Supreme Court established a standard of sexual harassment that is based on the presence of physical harm, not psychological harm.

Question 57

If an employer does not send a worker to an assignment in Pakistan because she is pregnant, because the employer is concerned about the quality of medical care there, the employer may be liable for sex discrimination.

Question 58

If an employer will not provide medical benefits that cover pregnancy, it will be a violation of Title VII.

Question 59

A work environment that includes degrading sexual behavior can produce a hostile environment that gives a women employee the right to quit and hold the employer liable.

Question 60

In Harris v. Forklift Systems, Harris successfully sued her employer after her boss sexually insulted her and she quit.

Question 61

To require employees to retire at age 70 would usually violate the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

Question 62

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act prohibits discrimination in employment against individuals over the age of 50.

Question 63

Choosing to promote a younger person rather than an older person, because the older person is likely to retire in several years, may violate the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

Question 64

Employers may not discriminate in employment based on genetic information.

Question 65

The EEOC enforces a law prohibiting discrimination in employment based on genetic information.

Question 66

The Supreme Court has held that teasing and roughhousing, that has sexual content, will normally lead to liability on the part of an employer.

Question 67

If the EEOC, responding to a complaint, does not file a discrimination suit, the employee has lost the chance to have the matter considered in court.

Question 68

A person who thinks they have been the victim of discrimination in employment must file a complaint within 100 days or lose the right.

Question 69

Employers are permitted to differentiate among job applicants to make hiring decisions. The constraint the federal government puts on this process is that it limits the grounds upon which an employer may differentiate.

Question 70

If an employer pays women greater retirement benefits than it pays its male employees, because the employer knows that women, on average, live longer than men, this is likely to be illegal disparate treatment.

Question 71

EEOC offices file suits against employers after a complaint of discrimination covered by Title VII has been sworn out by a protected person.

Question 72

If an employer makes an employee's working conditions "intolerable" due to racial harassment, so the employee resigns, there may be a Title VII discrimination suit that is called disparate treatment.

Question 73

The EEOC receives almost 22,000 Title VII complaints each year.

Question 74

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act provides weaker protections and remedies for people discriminated against in employment on the basis of age, than are provided to the classes protected under Title VII.

Question 75

If the EEOC believes a Title VII complaint has at least some merit, they give the person bringing the complaint a "right-to-sue" letter.

Question 76

Because of common health problems among older people, an employer may require older employees to have annual physical exams as a condition of employment.

Question 77

The Supreme Court has held that, when reviewing sexual harassment cases, one should use the perspective of a reasonable person in the same circumstances.

Question 78

It would be age discrimination for an employer to advertise that it wants to hire a young, dynamic person for a position working with young people that requires a high-level of energy and the ability to relate to teenagers.

Question 79

When a person believes she or he has been the victim of discrimination covered by Title VII, the first step is to file a complaint with the federal or a state equal employment opportunity agency.

Question 80

A person age 19 may not claim protection under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.