44.312 Security Management

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Employment Laws (continued)

• Key laws to consider include:
  • Title VII, Civil Rights Act of 1964 (as amended)
    • prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in any employment practice that includes hiring, firing, promotions, transfers, and other employer activities throughout the employee's tenure with the organization
    • an unlawful employment practice is established when complaining part or group of individuals show race, religion, sex, or national origin was a motivating factor in employer's discriminatory practices
    • complainants can file with Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
    • claims based on:
      • disparate treatment
        intentional discrimination against an individual who belongs to a protected class -- this is what most people think of in terms of job discrimination
        • can be based either on direct or circumstantial evidence
        • example of direct discrimination: employer who refused to hire female candidate because she told interviewer she planned to have children. Company later told her that this would interfere with company needs.
        • prima facie:
          person must prove s/he is:
          • member of a protected group
          • suffered from adverse employment action
          • was qualified
          • treated less favorably that member s of other classes
          • must prove employer's policy contained hidden intent to discriminate
        • If these things are established, employers must show it had legitimate and non-discriminatory reason for the action
      • disparate impact:
        when an entire group of claimants under Title VII are somehow discriminated against.
        • usually happens when employer does something that "may appear to be 'neutral' or nondiscriminatory on its face, but somehow adversely affects a protected group to a greater degree then the balance of the population"
        • often easier than case of disparate treatment to prove, because of their scope.
        • To prove, claimants must show:
          • membership in protected class
          • employer has a "neutral" employment practice
          • this practice has disproportionate negative effect on that protected class.
          • Example: employer has created non-job-related physical agility test as screening tool that results in most female applicants failing.
        • How courts can determine disparate impact:
          • "let the statistics speak for themselves" -- i.e., if organization employs very few, if any individuals from protected groups. Usually compare percentage of individuals who passed test, rather than selection rates of percentage of individuals hired.
            Boston graduates second consecutive all-white class of firefighters

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