Employment Discrimination Law: Title VII and Civil Rights Statutes

Introduction to Employment Discrimination Law

The laws that cover employment discrimination are intended to address situations involving improper treatment arising from race, sex, religion, national origin, physical disability, and age. For applicable discrimination laws to apply, there must be an employment relationship between the individual allegedly being discriminated against and the appropriate employer. Under historical common law, laws regarding employment discrimination did not exist; therefore, the law that has developed arose out of the application of statutory enactments by the states and the federal government (Friedman, 2010).

Constitutional Foundations

Over the course of time, the courts have applied various portions of the U.S. Constitution and state constitutions to discriminatory situations involving actions taken by government employers. Addressing state constitutional situations is beyond the scope of this paper, but as to the U.S. Constitution, the courts have ruled that the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments limit the government's actions in regard to discriminating against its employees. Specifically, the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause (U.S. Const. amend. V) have been applied in such cases and have been extended to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment (U.S. Const. amend. XIV). In the private sector, all discrimination actions are statutorily based, and on the federal level there is a broad range of applicable laws. Which statute applies depends on the specifics of the alleged case.

Section 1981 of the U.S. Code

Section 1981 of the U.S. Code provides litigants with several remedies. The statute sets forth the required elements for proving a §1981 action (Civil Rights Act of 1866). These elements include a showing by the employee that the employer failed to hire, failed to promote, demoted the employee, or terminated the employee, and that race was a motivating factor in the employer's decision.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

The elements of a §1981 action often overlap with those of a Title VII action. Both statutes address racial discrimination, but the standards and protections are not identical. Section 1981 litigants, for instance, do not have to fulfill various prerequisites such as exhausting administrative processes before bringing an action in court. Additionally, Title VII only applies to employers with more than 15 employees, while §1981 actions have no such limitation.

Title VII is one of the related statutes of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (1964 Civil Rights Act). Under the provisions of Title VII, all employers involved in interstate commerce with more than 15 employees are prohibited from discriminating against their employees on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Title VII makes it illegal for employers and labor unions to discriminate in relation to hiring, discharging, compensating, or in providing the terms, conditions, and privileges of employment.

Conclusion

Depending on the nature of the complaint against an employer, the available remedies can be quite prolonged and complicated. Although remedies do exist, the process is not an easy one, and considerable thought should precede the decision to ultimately seek such a remedy (Wakefield, 2004).