Chapter

3
The Legal Environment: Equal
Employment Opportunity and
Safety
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
Identify the three branches of government and the role each plays in
influencing the legal environment of human resource management.
List the major federal laws that require equal employment opportunity
and the protections provided by each of these laws.
Discuss the roles, responsibilities, and requirements of the federal
agencies responsible for enforcing equal employment opportunity laws.
Identify the four theories of discrimination under Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act and apply these theories to different discrimination situations.
Chapter

3
The Legal Environment: Equal
Employment Opportunity and
Safety
Identify behavior that constitutes sexual harassment and list
things that an organization can do to eliminate or minimize it.
Discuss the legal issues involved with preferential treatment
programs.
Identify the major provisions of the Occupational Safety and
Health Act (1970) and the rights of employees that are
guaranteed by this act.
 The Legal System in the United
States

Legislative Branch

Executive Branch Judicial Branch

Three
Branches

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 The Legal System in the United
States
 The legislative branch of the federal government consists of
the House of Representatives and the Senate. These bodies
enact laws that govern many HR activities.
 The executive branch consists of the president of the United
States and the regulatory agencies the president oversees.
 The judicial branch consists of the federal court system,
which is made up of three levels.
 U.S.district courts and quasi-judicial administrative agencies.
 The U.S. Court of Appeals

 The Supreme Court

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 Equal Employment Opportunity
Equal employment opportunity
refers to the government's attempt to
ensure that all individuals have an
equal chance for employment,
regardless of race, color, religion, sex,
or national origin.
Constitutional Amendments:
 13th Amendment - abolished slavery
 14th Amendment - forbids states from
denying equal protection of the laws

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 Congressional Legislation
 The Reconstruction Civil Rights Acts (1866 and 1871)
 These acts were attempts to further the goal of eradicating
slavery.
 Patterson v. McClean Credit Union

 Equal Pay Act of 1963 - requires that men and women in

the same organization who are doing equal work must be
paid equally.
 Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 - makes it illegal
for an employer to "fail or refuse to hire or discharge any
individual because of the individual's race, color, religion,
sex, or national origin.
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 Congressional Legislation
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of
1967 - prohibits discrimination against employees
over the age of 40.
Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 - covers
federal contractors and requires them to engage in
affirmative action for disabled individuals.
Vietnam Era Veteran’s Readjustment Act of
1974 - requires federal contractors to take
affirmative action toward employing Vietnam
veterans.
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 Congressional Legislation
Civil Rights Act of 1991 - allows compensatory
and punitive damages when discrimination has
been intentional or reckless.
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
 Protects individuals with disabilities from being
discriminated against in the workplace by prohibiting
discrimination in all employment practices.
 Requires that "reasonable accommodations" be made as
long as they do not present an "undue burden" upon the
employer.
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 Executive Orders

Executive Order 11246 -

affirmative action targets for
women and minorities
Executive Order 11478 -
government employment policies
based on merit and fitness

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 Enforcement of Equal Employment
Opportunity
Two agencies responsible for the enforcement of
these laws and executive orders:

Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission

Office of Federal Contract

Compliance Programs

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 Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission
Three major responsibilities:
Investigating and resolving
discrimination complaints
Gathering information

Issuing guidelines

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 Office of Federal Contract
Compliance Programs
 Three components:
 The utilization analysis compares the race, sex, and ethnic
composition of the employer's work force with that of the
available labor supply.
 The employer must develop specific goals and timetables for
achieving balance in the workforce. They specify the
percentage of women and minorities that an employer seeks,
and the date by which that percentage is to be attained.
 Employers must develop a list of action steps, which are the
written affirmative plan that specifies what an employer plans
to do to reduce underutilization of protected groups.
 The OFCCP annually audits government contractors.
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 Types of Discrimination
Disparate Disparate Reasonable
Treatment Impact Accomodation
- Show intent? - yes - no - yes

- Prima facie - member of - statistical disparity - failure to be

case protected group accomodated
- Employer’s - show BFOQ - show job - job relatedness and
defense relatedness business necessity
- Plaintiff’s - reason a pretext - other ways exist
rebuttal
- compensatory/ - compensatory/
- Damages - equitable relief
punitive punitive
- Key litigation - McDonnell Douglas - Griggs v. Duke - Walmart
v. Green Power
Hopkins v. Price Wards Cove v.
Waterhouse Atonio
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 Disparate Treatment
Disparate treatment exists when
individuals in similar situations are
treated differently based upon race,
color, religion, sex, national origin,
age, or disability status.
 Bona fide occupational qualifications
(BFOQ) - A characteristic that is
necessary, rather than preferred, for a
job.
 McDonnell Douglas Corp v. Green

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 Disparate Impact
Disparate impact occurs when a facially neutral
employment practice disproportionately excludes a
protected group from employment opportunities.
 Four-fifths rule - a test has disparate impact if the hiring
rate for the minority group is less than four-fifths (80
percent) of the hiring rate for the majority group.
 Standard deviation rule - uses actual probability
distributions to determine adverse impact.
 Wards Cove Packing Co. v. Antonio

 Griggs v. Duke Power

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 Reasonable Accommodation
Reasonable Accommodation - places a special
obligation on an employer to affirmatively do
something to accommodate an individual’s
disability or religion.
 Religion and Accommodation - Individuals who hold strong
religious beliefs find that some of the observations and
practices of their religion come into contact with work duties.
 Disability and Accommodation - Employers are not only to
refrain from discrimination (ADA) but they are also obligated
to take affirmative steps to accommodate individuals who are
protected under the act.
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 Retaliation for Participation and
Opposition
Title VII states that employers cannot retaliate against
employees for either "opposing" a perceived illegal
employment practice or "participating in a
proceeding,” related to an alleged illegal employment
practice.
However, employees do not have an unlimited right to
talk about how racist or sexist their employers are.
 The courts tend to frown on employees whose activities
result in a poor public image for the company unless
those employees attempted to use the organization’s
internal channels.
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 Current Issues Regarding Diversity
and Equal Employment Opportunity
Issues regarding diversity are increasingly important.

Sexual Harassment

Affirmative Action and

Reverse Discrimination

Outcomes of Americans
with Disabilities Act

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 Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment refers to unwanted sexual
advances.
 Quid pro quo harassment occurs when some type of
benefit or punishment is made contingent upon the
employee submitting to sexual advances.
 Bundy v. Jackson
 A hostile working environment occurs when someone's
behavior in the workplace creates an environment that
makes it difficult for someone of a particular sex to
work.
 Ron Clark Ford of Amarillo, TX, and Babies ‘R’ Us

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 Sexual Harassment
Three critical conditions for Sexual Harassment
cases:
 The plaintiff cannot have "invited or incited" the advances
 Harassment must have been severe

 The court must determine the liability of the organization for

actions of its employees
Preventative steps for firms include development
of a policy statement, training in inappropriate
behaviors, development of a reporting mechanism,
and disciplinary policy.
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 Affirmative Action and Reverse
Discrimination
Affirmative Action was conceived of as a
way of taking extra effort to attract and
retain minority employees.
Imposed quota programs are negotiated with
the EEOC and hold a certain number of
positions for minorities or women.
The entire debate over affirmative action
continues to invoke attention. Many people
consider quotas or preferential treatment as
reverse discrimination.
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 Outcomes of the Americans with
Disabilities Act
 Under ADA, a firm must make "reasonable
accommodation" to a physically or mentally disabled
individual unless doing so would impose "undue hardship.”
 Consequences of this act:
 There has been increased litigation
 The kinds of cases being filed do not reflect Congressional
intent
 The act was passed to protect people with major disabilities,
however, major disabilities account for less than 4 percent of
claims.
 The law has not resulted in a major increase in the proportion
of people with disabilities who are working.
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 Employee Safety
Employee safety is regulated by both the federal
and state governments.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act
(OSHA) authorizes the federal government to
establish and enforce occupational safety and
health standards for all places of employment
engaging in interstate commerce.
 The General duty clause of OSHA states that an employer
has an overall obligation to furnish employees with a place of
employment from recognized hazards.
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 Employee Rights Under OSHA

Employees have a right to:

1. Request an inspection.
2. Have a representative present at
an inspection.
3. Have dangerous substances identified.
4. By promptly informed about exposure
to hazards and be given access to
accurate records regarding exposures.
5. Have employer violations
posted at the work-site.

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 OSHA Inspections, Citations, and
Penalties
 OSHA inspections are conducted by
specially trained agents of the Department
of Labor called compliance officers.
 If a compliance officers believe that a
violation has occurred, they issue a citation
to the employer specifying the practice or
situation that violates the act.
 Criminal and civil penalties may be
assessed for willful violations that kill an
employee.

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 Safety Awareness Programs
 Safety awareness programs attempt to instill symbolic and
substantive changes to a safety program.
 There are three primary components of a safety awareness
program:
 Identifying and Communicating Job Hazards
 The job hazard analysis technique breaks jobs down into basic
elements that are then rated for their potential for harm.
 Technic of Operations Review (TOR) focuses on past accidents
and their causes.
 ReinforcingSafe Practices
 Promoting Safety Internationally

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