Pynes Text, the Author Provides

¶ … Pynes text, the author provides an overview of EEOC laws. Please summaries these laws and explain the two theories that support allegations of discrimination. What factors do you believe should be considered in alleged cases of discrimination and why? Finally, identify significant trends related to diversity and describe what SHRM initiatives have been established to meet these challenges. The EEOC enforces laws that protect historically discriminated-against groups in the workplace.

These laws include Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which "makes it illegal to discriminate against someone on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin," and also illegal to retaliate against a person who complains or files a lawsuit about discriminatory workplace practices (Laws enforced by the EEOC, 2011, EEOC). This law requires accommodation for an employee's religious practices so long as it does not cause undue hardship to the employer's business.

This law was amended in Sections 102 and 103 of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 to "permit jury trials and compensatory and punitive damage awards in intentional discrimination cases" (Laws enforced by the EEOC, 2011, EEOC). Since the historic 1964 Civil Rights Act, categories of protected employees have expanded. Sections 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 made it illegal for the federal government to discriminate against the disabled, and required federal employers to make reasonable accommodations for a disability so long as it did not cause undue hardship for the employer.

Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) expanded the 1973 Rehabilitation Act to make discrimination against persons with disabilities illegal for private sector employers (Laws enforced by the EEOC, 2011, EEOC).

Discrimination against women was prohibited by The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA), making it illegal for employers to pay different wages to men and women if they perform equal work in the same workplace and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act bolstered the EPA by making it illegal to discriminate against a woman because of pregnancy, childbirth, or a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth.

Another protected group is that of older Americans: The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) protects people who are 40 or older from discrimination because of age. Allegations of discrimination can be justified based upon an argument of disparate impact and disparate treatment. Disparate treatment is the more familiar of the two concepts: it is when an employer treats a member of a protected category differently than other employees, such as prohibiting women from working in certain occupations outright.

For a case of disparate treatment to be valid in a court of law, the employer must manifest a clear discriminatory intent (Payne 2009: 56). Disparate impact is when the policies of the employer have a disparate impact upon a historically-discriminated against group (Payne 2009: 57). Disparate impact allegations do not have to prove intentional employer bias. For example, In the case of the 1971 U.S. Supreme Court case Griggs v. Duke Power Co., the Court found that the requirement that all applicants possess a high school diploma requirement resulted in discrimination against African-Americans.

34% of white males in the state had completed high school while only 12% of African-American males had high school diplomas. Given that the power company "did not demonstrate [a] link between high school diploma and job performance" this was found to be discriminatory (EEO, 2001, HR Guide to the Internet) In light of cases such as.