Skip to content
Solved Assignments

Analysis of Employment Discrimination Cases: Title VII and Legal Defenses

Legal analysis of workplace discrimination and defense strategies

Preview 3 of 9 pages

See the first 3 pages exactly as they appear in the document.

  1. Page 1
    Read page 1 as text

    Analysis of Employment Discrimination Cases: Title VII and Legal Defenses 1. (TCO B) DePeters, Co. is sued for sex discrimination on the grounds that too few women are hired because fewer women than men achieve passing scores on a required manual dexterity and physical strength test. DePeters, Co. offers in its defense that even though fewer women score high enough on the test, a greater percentage of the passing women are hired. The company maintains that, as a result, the percentage of women in the workforce mirrors the percentage of available women in the labor pool. A group of women who took the test and failed file suit. Explain the basis for the cause of action, and analyze the merits of the cause of action, employer defenses, and likely outcome. Support your response with applicable law. Student Answer: This group would be filing under a case of: "Disparate impact" which is a methodology for establishing that an employer has engaged in discrimination against a specific group of employees or job applicants of the same race, ethnicity, religion or sex that does not require evidence that the employer intended to discriminate. The disparate impact methodology has long been recognized as a means of proving these forms of discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. Section 2000e et seq. ("Title VII") (Gibbonslaw.com). The group's cause of action is: 1) they feel the female sex was discriminated against and 2) they were not hired as it states, "...a group of women who took the test and failed filed suit." As an employer defense there are several case points to make:

  2. Page 2
  3. Page 3
    Read page 3 as text

    1)"...a greater percentage of the passing women are hired." This means more women per applications are hired than men who pass - defense would be no discimination here 2)there is a test in place for all applicants which is a required manual dexterity and physical strength test - if someone cannot pass this test how will they actually perform the job. The job is not promoted as come to work and let someone else work for you. The most likely outcome for this case would be: 1) The company will allow it to head to court 2) The judge will favor DePeters Co. because they treat ALL applicants the same testing the same for male and female and will find no discimination present because a greater percentage of women who pass the test over that of the male applicants. 3) No just cause for Disparate Impact (http://www.gibbonslaw.com/news_publications/articles.php?action=display_publ ication&publication_id=1729) Instructo r Explanat ion: (Chapter 6) The women would file suit alleging a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, alleging that the test has a disparate impact upon women. Even though a greater percentage of the passing women are hired, the employer's process of arriving at the bottom - line figures should be scrutinized for disparate impact. This situation is similar to the case of Connecticut v. Teal, 457 U.S. 440 (1982), where the Supreme Court held that the "bottom - line" result does not preclude employees from establishing a prima facie case, nor does it provide the employer with a defense. Although the percentage of the women in the workforce mirrors the percentage of available women in the labor pool, the test still results in fewer

6 more pages in the full document

Unlock it once and it stays in your library, ready to chat with or turn into flashcards.

Unlock the full document

More Civil Law study materials

See all

Study this document with CramX

Once it is in your library, every tool can work from it.