EEO Context of HR practice

EEO = equal employment opportunity

Not really what it means though

It means “Don’t discriminate on these particular things”

Early Context

• Constitutional Republic

• Constitution – Federal government regulates “commerce among the several states”

• Also 1st,3d, 4th, 5th, 11th amendments restrains federal government

Early Context – part 2

• Republic founded with emphasis on private property rights

• “Employment-at-will” doctrine – a property owner may use her/his property as s/he sees fit

• People who are employed in that context “serve at the will of the employer” – may be hired and/or fired for any reason, or no reason at all

Early Context – part 2 still

• Employment at Will – reciprocal between employer and employee

• Three erosions on Employment at will doctrine – Competitive market pressures– Written contracts voluntarily entered– Civil Rights Protections

Civil Right Acts

• 1866, 1964 Civil Rights Acts

• Early CRA became 13th , 14th amendments

• Lack of social progress regarding integration in post-slavery era

• 1964 CRA drives much of current practice

War-time social justice issues

• Contributions by African heritage and female citizens to war efforts in WW-I and WW- II

• Truman executive order after WW-II finally orders desegregation of US military

• “Separate but equal” doctrine struck down in Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Civil Rights Act 1964

• Title VII covers employment practices

• Protected characteristics: race, color, religion, sex, national origin

• Virtually every employment decision covered

• Not all organizations covered – excluded are small employers (less than 15), Indian nations, religious organizations, political offices

Two pairs of Federal Laws

– Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967

– Older Workers Protection Act of 1990

– Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973

– Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

Age Discrimination in Employment Act 1967

• Cover firms of 20 or more employees

• Covers workers 40+ years old

• Original upper limit of coverage (age 65) was phased out

• No affirmative action requirement

• Coverage for states was modified through case law

Americans with Disabilities Act 1990

• Affects many aspects of public life

• Huge untapped pool of talented Americans

• Unemployment rates 70+%

• Defining “Disability” (firms 15+ employees covered)

– Physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities

– A record of such impairment– Being regarded as having such an impairment

ADA 1990

• Screening, with or without “Reasonable Accommodation”

• Sexual orientation not part of law

• AIDS-Related Cases

• Obesity

• Genetic Discrimination

• Courts have affected state coverage here also

• Courts have also narrowed disability definition

Two Book-end CRA cases

• Griggs v Duke Power 1971

– Griggs and others sued for race discrimination– Case defined adverse impact– Case also defined shifting burden of proof– Use of statistical information to prove illegal

discrimination

Second CRA bookend case

• Wards Cove v Atonio 1989

– Atonio and others sued for race discrimination– Used statistical data to prove point– Court reversed standard, requiring more than

statistical data to make prima facie case– Also reversed shifting burden of proof, requiring

plaintiff to ‘prove’ guilt– Lead to CRA revisions in 1991