| Discrimination: Race, National Origin, Sex, Religion, Pregnancy |
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Race/Color, National Origin, Religion, Sex
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 made it unlawful for an employer with 15 or more
employees to discriminate against an employee or prospective employee because of their
race/color, national origin, sex, or religion. This type of discrimination can take two forms:
disparate treatment or disparate impact.
Disparate treatment discrimination occurs when an employer intentionally discriminates
against an individual because they possess one of the protected characteristic. The employer's
motive for taking the adverse employment action against the employee or prospective employee
is central to a determination of fault.
Disparate impact discrimination on the other hand requires no motive to discriminated.
Disparate impact discrimination occurs when an employer's facially neutral policy or procedure
unduly burdens employees from one of the protected classes of individuals. The employer may
have been attempting to act in the best interest of its employees and with no intent to
discriminate when enacting the new rule or policy, but may still be liable under Title VII if, when
applied, the rule has discriminatory effects. An employer can overcome liability for race, national
origin, sex, and religion discrimination by showing it had a business necessity for the
discriminatory policy or practice.
Employers should implement an anti-discrimination policy and educate their managers,
supervisors, and employees about the consequences of discriminatory behavior in the
workplace.
Many states also have laws regarding discrimination in the workplace. Check with your state's
department of labor for more information. You can visit your state's department of labor website
by clicking on the name of your state in the drop-down menu on the right side of this page.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 made it unlawful for an employer with 15 or more
employees to discriminate against an employee or prospective employee because of their
race/color, national origin, sex, or religion. This type of discrimination can take two forms:
disparate treatment or disparate impact.
Disparate treatment discrimination occurs when an employer intentionally discriminates
against an individual because they possess one of the protected characteristic. The employer's
motive for taking the adverse employment action against the employee or prospective employee
is central to a determination of fault.
Disparate impact discrimination on the other hand requires no motive to discriminated.
Disparate impact discrimination occurs when an employer's facially neutral policy or procedure
unduly burdens employees from one of the protected classes of individuals. The employer may
have been attempting to act in the best interest of its employees and with no intent to
discriminate when enacting the new rule or policy, but may still be liable under Title VII if, when
applied, the rule has discriminatory effects. An employer can overcome liability for race, national
origin, sex, and religion discrimination by showing it had a business necessity for the
discriminatory policy or practice.
Employers should implement an anti-discrimination policy and educate their managers,
supervisors, and employees about the consequences of discriminatory behavior in the
workplace.
Many states also have laws regarding discrimination in the workplace. Check with your state's
department of labor for more information. You can visit your state's department of labor website
by clicking on the name of your state in the drop-down menu on the right side of this page.
Sexual Harassment
Title VII was amended in 1991 to include a prohibition against sexual harassment in the
workplace, and since then, sexual harassment has become a major issue for employers.
Sexual harassment includes unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and
other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature that explicitly or implicitly affects an
individual's employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual's work performance, or
creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. Sexual harassment falls into
two categories: quid pro quo or hostile environment.
Quid pro quo harassment occurs when an individual of authority makes unwelcomed requests
or demands a subservient employee to engage in sexually-based behavior in exchange for
advancement, benefits, protection, etc., in the workplace or to prevent an adverse employment
action, i.e., termination, demotion, onerous job duties, from taking place.
Hostile environment harassment occurs when an employee is subjected to the sexually explicit
workplace conduct of a co-worker which creates an atmosphere that unreasonably interferes
with work performance or creates an intimidating or unduly offensive work environment. An
employer becomes liable for a hostile workplace environment if they knew or should have
known about the harassment and failed to take any step to correct it.
As a protection from sexual harassment lawsuits, an employer is well served by instituting a
written sexual harassment policy. The policy should, at minimum, clearly explain that
sexually-based behavior and language is not permitted in the workplace, describe the discipline
that will be administered to employees engaging in sexually-based workplace behavior, and
define in detail the process by which an employee can report sexual harassment. Each
employee should be given a written copy of the policy and should be required to sign a
confirmation that they received and read the policy. A well-defined, distributed, and enforced
sexual harassment policy is the best defense to sexual harassment claims.
Title VII was amended in 1991 to include a prohibition against sexual harassment in the
workplace, and since then, sexual harassment has become a major issue for employers.
Sexual harassment includes unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and
other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature that explicitly or implicitly affects an
individual's employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual's work performance, or
creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. Sexual harassment falls into
two categories: quid pro quo or hostile environment.
Quid pro quo harassment occurs when an individual of authority makes unwelcomed requests
or demands a subservient employee to engage in sexually-based behavior in exchange for
advancement, benefits, protection, etc., in the workplace or to prevent an adverse employment
action, i.e., termination, demotion, onerous job duties, from taking place.
Hostile environment harassment occurs when an employee is subjected to the sexually explicit
workplace conduct of a co-worker which creates an atmosphere that unreasonably interferes
with work performance or creates an intimidating or unduly offensive work environment. An
employer becomes liable for a hostile workplace environment if they knew or should have
known about the harassment and failed to take any step to correct it.
As a protection from sexual harassment lawsuits, an employer is well served by instituting a
written sexual harassment policy. The policy should, at minimum, clearly explain that
sexually-based behavior and language is not permitted in the workplace, describe the discipline
that will be administered to employees engaging in sexually-based workplace behavior, and
define in detail the process by which an employee can report sexual harassment. Each
employee should be given a written copy of the policy and should be required to sign a
confirmation that they received and read the policy. A well-defined, distributed, and enforced
sexual harassment policy is the best defense to sexual harassment claims.
Resources
Pregnancy Discrimination Act
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) amended Title VII to prohibit employers from
discriminating against an employee or prospective employee because they are pregnant.
Employers are also required to treat any leave requests by pregnant employees the same as
they would a disabled employee and hold open a job for an employee absent due to pregnancy
for as long as they would for an employee on disability leave.
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) amended Title VII to prohibit employers from
discriminating against an employee or prospective employee because they are pregnant.
Employers are also required to treat any leave requests by pregnant employees the same as
they would a disabled employee and hold open a job for an employee absent due to pregnancy
for as long as they would for an employee on disability leave.
Articles and Cases
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Disclaimer
This site is not intended to constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Additionally, no
attorney-client relationship has been created by your visiting and reading this site. Please consult a legal
professional before taking any action you believe may result in liability or litigation. Nothing on this site creates
an express or implied contract. While efforts are made to present only accurate and current information, laws
can and do change and interpretations vary among jurisdictions, so all information is presented on an “as-is”
basis. This site is for informational purposes only.
This site is not intended to constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Additionally, no
attorney-client relationship has been created by your visiting and reading this site. Please consult a legal
professional before taking any action you believe may result in liability or litigation. Nothing on this site creates
an express or implied contract. While efforts are made to present only accurate and current information, laws
can and do change and interpretations vary among jurisdictions, so all information is presented on an “as-is”
basis. This site is for informational purposes only.
