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Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act was the first comprehensive federal legislation prohibiting discrimination. Title VII makes it an unlawful employment practice for any employer to engage in employment discrimination against any individual based on that person's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The prohibition against sexual discrimination includes pregnancy, childbirth or any "related medical conditions." Coverage under the statute is quite broad and, in general, applies to employers with at least 15 employees, employment agencies and labor organizations. A parent and a subsidiary corporation will be regarded as a single employer for purposes of Title VII, if the parent exercises the degree of control exceeding that normally exercised by a parent that is separate and distinct from the subsidiary corporate entity.

Race Discrimination

Title VII's prohibition against race discrimination extends to any racial group - minority or majority. Therefore, it is just as illegal to discriminate against a white applicant or employee on the bases of his or her race, as it is to discriminate against an African-American or other minority individual due to the color of their skin. The statute also bars discrimination against individuals due to their association with others in a protected class.

Sex Discrimination

Discrimination on the basis of sex clearly violates Title VII. Courts have had little problem requiring that persons of similar qualifications be given employment opportunities regardless of their sex.

Religious Discrimination

Title VII defines religion to include all aspects of religious observance and practice, as well as belief. The law is not restricted to typical forms of organized religion, but rather includes any "sincerely held" moral, ethical or religiously inspired belief - within certain limits. (For example, a belief that smoking marijuana-like substance is critical to one's faith has been turned down by the courts.) Federal courts also generally require that employees notify their employers about beliefs which may irritate co-workers or which require certain accommodations before they can have a Title VII claim for religious discrimination based on a failure to accommodate.

It should be noted that if the employee or applicant establishes that a particular policy infringes on a religious observance or practice, there may be liability unless the employer can establish that it cannot reasonably accommodate the religious practice without undue hardship. However, an employer does not have to violate seniority rights of coworkers in order to accommodate an employee's religious beliefs or practices, or to impose an undesirable shift on other employees to implement an accommodation. Further, courts have held that an employer does not have to incur more than minimal expenses in order to reasonably accommodate an employee. It is also acceptable for an employer to choose its plan of accommodation instead of the employee's plan, so long as the accommodation is reasonable.

Harassment

Harassment based on an individual's race, color, sex, religion or national origin is a form of unlawful discrimination under Title VII. This coverage is based on Title VII's express prohibition against discrimination due to such protected status in any "terms, conditions, and privileges of employment." Therefore, threats intimidation or coercion in the workplace based on such status are covered by the legislation.

Pregnancy Discrimination Act

Title VII was amended in 1978 to prohibit discrimination "because of or on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth or related medical condition." In essence, the amendment requires employers to treat pregnant women the same as other applicants and employees without regard to their pregnant condition. For example, this means that they cannot be terminated, or refused a job or promotion on the basis of their pregnancy. In addition, they normally cannot be required to take a leave of absence, the law does not require employers to institute "pregnancy" leave (unless the FMLA is implicated). However, the law does require that employers treat pregnancy as any other medical condition that would qualify a non-pregnant worker for a leave of absence- i.e., it entitles pregnant employees to the same medical leave benefits which may be offered to employees for other health conditions.

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