MHR 6401, Employment Law 1 Course Learning Outcomes for Unit II Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to: 2. Summarize Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 2.1 Determine the protected classes under Title VII. 2.2 Determine the range of actions to which Title VII applies, including the key areas of hiring, promotion, and protected activity. 4. Characterize conduct that violates the federal anti-discrimination laws in employment. 4.1 Describe how violations of Title VII by employers occur. 4.2 Explain the role of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in workplace discrimination issues. 6. Discuss the history of racial discrimination in employment in the United States. 6.1 Explain the importance of the passage of Civil Rights Act and its impact in eliminating racial discrimination in the workplace. Course/Unit Learning Outcomes Learning Activity 2.1 Unit Lesson Chapter 3 Chapter 7 Unit II PowerPoint Presentation 2.2 Unit Lesson Chapter 3 Chapter 7 Unit II PowerPoint Presentation 4.1 Unit Lesson Chapter 3 Chapter 7 Unit II PowerPoint Presentation 4.2 Unit Lesson Chapter 3 Chapter 7 Unit II PowerPoint Presentation 6.1 Unit Lesson Chapter 3 Chapter 7 Unit II PowerPoint Presentation Reading Assignment Chapter 3: Overview of Employment Discrimination, pp. 67–105 Chapter 7: Hiring and Promotion Decisions, pp. 223–257 UNIT II STUDY GUIDE Discrimination in the Workplace MHR 6401, Employment Law 2 UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title Unit Lesson The 1960s was a decade of great change in the United States, socially and politically. This unit introduces the law that has had the greatest impact on the employment relationship in the United States – Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The photograph reflects the signing of the Civil Rights Act into law by President Lyndon Johnson, with Martin Luther King, Jr. and Congressional supporters of the law looking on. Foretelling the passage of Title VII, President Franklin Roosevelt issued an executive order in 1941 prohibiting racial discrimination by federal defense contractors (National History Day, National Archives and Records Administration, & USA Freedom Corps, n.d.). Employers were slow to adopt change, and job advertisements before Title VII specified race and gender (Lytle, 2014). Women and racial minorities were deprived of equal opportunity in employment and employers missed broader pools of workers. Large pools of potential wage earners and consumers were essentially left out of the U.S. economy. Changes wrought by Title VII did not occur overnight; it has taken years for the law to develop, and it continues to develop and evolve today. This evolution occurs as demographic changes lead to ever- increasing diversity in the workforce. Women, ethnic minorities, and persons with disabilities continue to grow in the ranks of workers. This is not by ...

1. MHR 6401, Employment Law 1
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit II
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
2. Summarize Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
2.1 Determine the protected classes under Title VII.
2.2 Determine the range of actions to which Title VII applies,
including the key areas of hiring,
promotion, and protected activity.
4. Characterize conduct that violates the federal anti-
discrimination laws in employment.
4.1 Describe how violations of Title VII by employers occur.
4.2 Explain the role of the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC) in workplace
discrimination issues.
6. Discuss the history of racial discrimination in employment in
the United States.
6.1 Explain the importance of the passage of Civil Rights Act
and its impact in eliminating racial
discrimination in the workplace.

2. Course/Unit
Learning Outcomes
Learning Activity
2.1
Unit Lesson
Chapter 3
Chapter 7
Unit II PowerPoint Presentation
2.2
Unit Lesson
Chapter 3
Chapter 7
Unit II PowerPoint Presentation
4.1
Unit Lesson
Chapter 3
Chapter 7
Unit II PowerPoint Presentation
4.2
Unit Lesson
Chapter 3
Chapter 7
Unit II PowerPoint Presentation
6.1

3. Unit Lesson
Chapter 3
Chapter 7
Unit II PowerPoint Presentation
Reading Assignment
Chapter 3: Overview of Employment Discrimination, pp. 67–
105
Chapter 7: Hiring and Promotion Decisions, pp. 223–257
UNIT II STUDY GUIDE
Discrimination in the Workplace
MHR 6401, Employment Law 2
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
Unit Lesson
The 1960s was a decade of great change in the
United States, socially and politically. This unit
introduces the law that has had the greatest impact on

4. the employment relationship in the United States –
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The
photograph reflects the signing of the Civil Rights Act
into law by President Lyndon Johnson, with Martin
Luther King, Jr. and Congressional supporters of the
law looking on. Foretelling the passage of Title VII,
President Franklin Roosevelt issued an executive
order in 1941 prohibiting racial discrimination by
federal defense contractors (National History Day,
National Archives and Records Administration, & USA
Freedom Corps, n.d.). Employers were slow to adopt
change, and job advertisements before Title VII
specified race and gender (Lytle, 2014). Women and
racial minorities were deprived of equal opportunity in
employment and employers missed broader pools of workers.
Large pools of potential wage earners and
consumers were essentially left out of the U.S. economy.
Changes wrought by Title VII did not occur overnight; it has
taken years for the law to develop, and it
continues to develop and evolve today. This evolution occurs as
demographic changes lead to ever-
increasing diversity in the workforce. Women, ethnic
minorities, and persons with disabilities continue to grow
in the ranks of workers. This is not by accident, but it is
because of protections for these groups that have
eliminated some of the barriers to entering the workforce and
excelling in their careers.
As explained in the readings for this unit, racial discrimination
appears in an infinite variety of contexts. For
the purposes of legal analysis, the courts analyze racial
discrimination in two ways: disparate impact and
disparate treatment (Walsh, 2016). Disparate treatment is
intentionally treating a person less favorably than a
person of a different race because of race. Disparate impact

5. occurs when a practice neutral on its face has an
adverse impact on a racial group. Disparate treatment can occur
when an employer fires a white employee for
theft from the employer but gives an African-American
employee a warning for the same conduct. Title VII
covers whites as well as persons of non-white races. Disparate
impact can result from a policy that requires
all male employees to be clean-shaven. This policy, although
race-neutral on its face, may have an adverse
impact on African-American men because many African-
American men have a skin condition that causes
their skin to be very irritated when they shave. (Note: Keep in
mind that disparate treatment and disparate
impact also apply in other areas of discrimination when any
protected class is affected, and it does not solely
apply to race.)
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC),
created by the Civil Rights Act to enforce Title
VII, has the authority to investigate charges of discrimination,
and files lawsuits to enforce individual rights.
The EEOC often takes interest in and pursues cases that involve
a policy that could affect a number of
workers. In a recent case, the EEOC sued an insurance company
for refusing to hire an African-American
applicant because she wore dreadlocks (EEOC v. Catastrophe
Mnmt. Sol., 2016). The employer’s grooming
policy required employees to be dressed and groomed in a
professional and business-like manner and stated
that hairstyles should reflect a business professional image and
that “excessive hairstyles or unusual colors”
were not acceptable. When an applicant who was offered the job
if she changed her dreadlocks hairstyle
refused to do so and was not hired, EEOC sued the employer
claiming that the application of the employer’s
grooming policy to dreadlocks discriminated against African-

6. Americans because the hairstyle is an outgrowth
of the natural texture of hair of African-Americans and
therefore racial in nature.
The lower court dismissed the case, and on appeal, the federal
appeals court stated that discrimination based
on black hair texture, such as a natural Afro, would be race
discrimination in violation of Title VII. The appeals
court found, however, that prohibiting a braided hairstyle
relates to a choice and does not violate Title VII.
Nevertheless, employers should realize that seemingly
innocuous policies, such as ones that regulate
appearance, can create problems and should be analyzed
carefully by human resources and legal
President Lyndon Johnson signs into law the Civil Rights Act
on July 2, 1964.
(Stoughton, 1964)
MHR 6401, Employment Law 3
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
professionals. In practice, such policies can discriminate or
have a disparate impact, which includes negative
aspects that far exceed the intent of the policy to regulate
professional appearance.

7. Another of EEOC’s important functions is to provide guidance
to employers on legal questions related to the
laws it enforces, which include all federal anti-discrimination
laws. EEOC has consistently supported a
broader definition of the term sex under Title VII, interpreting
it to include gender identity and sexual
orientation. Noting that Title VII does not expressly reference
sexual orientation or gender identity, EEOC
relies on case law finding that employment actions motivated by
gender stereotyping are unlawful under Title
VII by taking the position that Title VII prohibits
discrimination against gay and transgender applicants and
employees. Courts, however, have pushed back on EEOC’s
sometimes aggressive stances with respect to
the breadth of the law. As in the dreadlocks case above, an
appeals court in 2016 rejected EEOC’s argument
that Title VII prohibits sexual orientation discrimination. The
court was influenced by Congress’ consistent
failure to amend federal law to protect gay applicants and
workers (Hively v. Ivy Tech Cmty. Coll., 2016).
For now at least, protection for gay and transgender workers
and applicants resides at the local and state
levels. Many municipalities have such protections; some apply
only to public employees, while others cover
both private and public workers. At the state level, 20 states
have statutes that protect against discrimination
based on sexual orientation and gender identity; two states have
laws that protect only gay individuals.
Moreover, even though the law continues to evolve in this area,
for employers who operate in many states, it
is only practical to include these protections in their equal
employment opportunity and anti-harassment
policies and training.

8. In addition to the breadth of coverage of Title VII,
developments in technology are forcing EEOC and
employers to rethink how the law applies to recruitment and
hiring. In its Strategic Enforcement Plan: Fiscal
Years 2017-2021, EEOC (n.d.) places emphasis on breaking
down barriers in recruiting employees. The
strategic plan makes clear that EEOC will target class-based
practices that have a disparate impact on racial,
ethnic, and religious groups, as well as on female, older, and
disabled workers. Interestingly, EEOC holds that
the increasing use of data-driven selection devices is an area of
significant concern (EEOC, n.d.). In a panel
discussion to flesh out its initiatives, panelists discussed how
algorithms and mining of Internet data for
applicants who match a profile of a successful employee and/or
a match with the employer’s culture could be
unlawful discrimination (Mintzer, 2016). An EEOC panelist
discussed a hypothetical technology company
populated mainly with young white and Asian-American male
workers. The company wants its new workers to
fit into the company culture. Using technology to locate
candidates who bike to work and seek benefits such
as games and happy hours over childcare and health insurance
benefits, could, in the EEOC’s view, illegally
screen out women and older workers.
The EEOC is not naïve. It recognizes that new technological
tools in hiring and recruiting are inevitable and
have advantages for employers in efficiency and improved
selection. EEOC Chairwoman Jenny Yang (as
cited in Mintzer, 2016) recognized as much by saying that this
information has the potential to fuel technology
that can help employers and recruiters to decrease partiality in
their human resources functions. However,
employers, in their rush to make big data part of their human
resources professionals’ toolkits, must take care

9. to ensure that those tools are not used carelessly and that they
are free of adverse impact on
protected groups.
While Title VII had its 50th anniversary in 2014, there are still
important questions left unanswered through
EEOC interpretation and judicial decision. In addition, as the
nation and its workers become more diverse and
attitudes evolve, the law will continually be required to evolve
as well. Stay tuned!
References
EEOC v. Catastrophe Mnmt. Sol., No. 14-13482 (11th Cir. Sept.
15, 2016).
Hively v. Ivy Tech Cmty. Coll., No. 15-1720 (7th Cir. July 28,
2016).
Lytle, T. (2014, May 21). Title VII changed the face of the
American workplace. HR Magazine. Retrieved from
https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/pages/title-
vii-changed-the-face-of-the-american-
workplace.aspx
MHR 6401, Employment Law 4

10. UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
Mintzer, R. (2016, October 17). EEOC takes on emerging issues
in new strategic enforcement plan.
Corporate Counsel. Retrieved from
http://www.corpcounsel.com/id=1202770111946/EEOC-Takes-
on-Emerging-Issues-in-New-Strategic-Enforcement-
Plan?slreturn=20161007141257
National History Day, National Archives and Records
Administration, & USA Freedom Corps. (n.d.). Executive
Order 8802: Prohibition of discrimination in the defense
industry (1941). Retrieved from
https://ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=72
Stoughton, C. (1964). Lyndon Johnson signing Civil Rights Act,
July 2, 1964 [Photograph]. Retrieved from
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lyndon_Johnson_sign
ing_Civil_Rights_Act,_July_2,_1964.jp
g
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (n.d.).
Strategic enforcement plan: Fiscal years 2017-–
2021. Retrieved from
https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/plan/upload/sep-2017.pdf
Walsh, D. J. (2016). Employment law for human resource

11. practice (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Suggested Reading
The following PowerPoint presentations are supplements to the
textbook chapter readings and are provided
for further knowledge and review of the unit materials.
Chapter 3:
Click here to access the PowerPoint presentation.
Click here to access a PDF file of the PowerPoint presentation.
Chapter 7:
Click here to access the PowerPoint presentation.
Click here to access a PDF file of the PowerPoint presentation.
Learning Activities (Nongraded)
Nongraded Learning Activities are provided to aid students in
their course of study. You do not have to submit
them. If you have questions, contact your instructor for further
guidance and information.
At the end of each chapter of your textbook, scenario-driven
questions provide legal issues and realistic
situations that relate to employment law. Exploring these
questions allows you the opportunity to further your
understanding of the concepts in each chapter and prepares you
for similar situations you may encounter in
your workplace.

12. eview the Chapter 3 questions in your textbook on pages
106–108.
257–260.
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70588571_1
https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-
70588559_1
https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-
70588572_1
https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-
70588560_1