1. Bryan County Sheriff’s Office

2. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
C. W. Von Bergen
Southeastern Oklahoma State University
December 10, 2009

3. Title VII of the CRA of 1964 Training for Bryan County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO)
Why training now?
Some U.S. history regarding equal opportunity
Title VII of the CRA of 1964
Sex and pregnancy discrimination
Bryan County Sheriff’s Office Sex and Pregnancy Anti-Discrimination Policy
Examination (90% minimum)

4. Title VII
Why Training Now?
As part of a consent degree between United States and the Bryan County Sheriff’s Department regarding a matter of employment discrimination based on sex and pregnancy
You will become familiar with:
Title VII’s prohibition on employment discrimination based on sex and pregnancy
departmental policies prohibiting employment discrimination based on sex and pregnancy
departmental policies and procedures for determining whether to place a pregnant employee on limited or light duty
departmental policies and procedures for submitting complaints of employment discrimination based on sex and pregnancy

5. Employment Rights: Some Values, Some History, and Some Laws
Title VII
Employment Rights: Some Values, Some History, and Some Laws
Key American Values
Civil Rights History
The Legal System in the U.S.

6. Some Key American Values
Title VII
Some Key American Values
Choice
Individual freedoms and rights
Optimism
Equality
Meritocracy—decisions made based upon talent, ability, and competence as demonstrated by past actions or by fair competition (merit).

7. Title VII
Discrimination
Discrimination simply means making distinctions; distinctions among people or classes in the workplace
Lawful discrimination based on merit and job-related factors in areas like:
who should get promoted
who should receive a pay increase or bonus
who will be laid off
other workplace activities

8. Civil Rights History Our Country’s Founding Civil War
Title VII
Civil Rights History
Our Country’s Founding
Civil War
Civil Rights Movement (1960s)
Race
Sex/Gender
1960s+ Struggles
Veterans
Older Americans
Disabilities
Sexual orientation

9. U.S. Legal System (equal opportunity)
Title VII
U.S. Legal System (equal opportunity)
Federal Level
The Constitution and Amendments
The legislative branch
The judicial branch
The executive branch
Department of Labor
Department of Justice
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
State Level
Oklahoma Human Rights Commission

10. Summary of Major EEO Laws and Regulations
Title VII

11. Cleveland Board of Ed. v. Lafleur, 414 U.S. 632 (1974)
Title VII
Cleveland Board of Ed. v. Lafleur, 414 U.S. 632 (1974)
Pregnant public school teachers challenged the constitutionality of mandatory maternity leave rules of the Cleveland, Ohio and Chesterfield County, Virginia School Boards.
The Cleveland school board required a pregnant school teacher to take maternity leave, without pay, for five months before the expected birth of her child. A Virginia county school board imposed a similar four-month leave requirement.
There were other arbitrary and mandatory requirements regarding when teachers could return to work.

12. Cleveland Board of Ed. v. Lafleur, 414 U.S. 632 (1974) cont’d
Title VII
Cleveland Board of Ed. v. Lafleur, 414 U.S. 632 (1974) cont’d
US Supreme Court held:
that the mandatory maternity leave rules were unconstitutional under the Due Process Clauses in the 5th and 14th amendments. Essentially, the rules were found to be too arbitrary (fixed dates chosen for no apparent reason) and irrebuttable (having no relation to individual medical conditions and with no way to make exceptions for good reason).

13. Cleveland Board of Ed. v. Lafleur, 414 U.S. 632 (1974) cont’d
Title VII
Cleveland Board of Ed. v. Lafleur, 414 U.S. 632 (1974) cont’d
Specifically, the Court said:
“This Court has long recognized that freedom of personal choice in matters of marriage and family life is one of the liberties protected by the Due Process Clause ... By acting to penalize the pregnant teacher for deciding to bear a child, overly restrictive maternity leave regulations can constitute a heavy burden on the exercise of these protected freedoms.” .. “(P)ublic school maternity leave rules directly affect "one of the basic civil rights of man,” “... the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires that such rules must not needlessly, arbitrarily, or capriciously impinge upon this vital area of a teacher’s constitutional liberty” (p. 9).

14. President Johnson Signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Title VII
President Johnson Signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964

15. A Historic Rights Act: The CRA of 1964
Title VII
A Historic Rights Act: The CRA of 1964
Created legal basis for nondiscrimination in
housing (Title [or chapter/section] III)
education (Title IX)
public accommodations (Title II)
federally assisted programs (Title VI)
employment (Title VII)
Single most important piece of legislation that has helped to shape and define employment rights is U.S.

16. The CRA of 1964 –Title VII Amendments to Title VII
Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1971
Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978
Civil Rights Act of 1991
Created EEOC to monitor and enforce compliance with Title VII (have a number of guidelines)
Created various protected classes
African Americans
Asian Americans
Indigenous Americans
Women

17. The Heart of Title VII—Section 703(a)
It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer—
“To fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his [sic] compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or
To limit, segregate, or classify his [sic] employees or applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his [sic] status as an employee, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”

18. The CRA of 1964: Kinds of Discrimination
Title VII
The CRA of 1964: Kinds of Discrimination
Disparate treatment: intentionally treating protected groups differently; unequal treatment
Retaliation: protecting workers from employers’ threats and other forms of intimidation aimed at discouraging workers from bringing to light acts they believe to be illegal
Disparate/adverse impact: applying the same standard to all workers/applicants but that standard affects a protected class member more negatively; unequal consequences or results

19. Title VII: It is Illegal to Discriminate In
hiring and firing personnel
compensation, assignment, or classification of employees
transfer, promotion, layoff, or recall
job advertisements
recruitment
testing
use of company facilities
training and apprenticeship programs
fringe benefits
pay, retirement plans, and disability leave
other terms and conditions of employment

20. Title VII Exceptions employers with less than 15 employees
private clubs
religious organizations
places of employment connected to or near an Indian reservation
seniority systems
veteran’s preference rights
national security reasons
job relatedness (e.g., validated test scores, backgrounds)
business necessity (e.g., Hooters)
Bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ)

21. Title VII Addresses Three Key Areas of Sex Discrimination
General Sex Discrimination
Pregnancy-Based Discrimination
Sexual Harassment

22. General Sex Discrimination Covers Full Scope of Employment Relationship
Title VII
Advertising for available positions and specifying gender preferences.
Asking questions on applications that are only asked of one gender.
Asking questions in an interview that are only asked of one gender.
Requiring one gender to work different hours or job positions for reasons not related to their ability or availability for the job.
Disciplining one gender for an act for which another gender is not disciplined.
Providing or not providing training for one gender, while doing so for another.

23. General Sex Discrimination Covers Full Scope of Employment Relationship cont’d
Title VII
Establishing seniority systems specifically designed to give greater seniority to one gender over another.
Paying employees different wages based on gender, though the job one employee performs is the same or substantially the same as another.
Providing different benefits for one gender than another.
Subjecting one gender to different terms or conditions of employment.
Terminating the employment of an employee of one gender for reasons that would not serve as the basis for termination for an employee of another gender.

24. Pregnancy-Related Discrimination
Title VII
Pregnancy-Related Discrimination
Refusing to hire pregnant applicants
Terminating an employee on discovering that the worker is pregnant
Not providing benefits to pregnant employees on an equal basis with short-term disabilities of other employees.
Refusing to allow a pregnant employee to continue to work even though the employee wishes to do so

25. Pregnancy-Related Discrimination cont’d
Title VII
Eliminating the pregnant employee by moving her to a new job title with the same pay, then eliminating the position in a job restructuring or reduction in force
Evaluating the employee as not having performed as well or as much as other employees when the basis for the evaluation is the employer’s own refusal or hesitation to assign equal work to the employee, because the employee is pregnant and the employer feels the need to “lighten” the employee’s load, though the employee has not requested such.

26. Pregnancy-Related Discrimination cont’d
Title VII
Not providing the employee with lighter duty if needed, when such accommodations are made for employees with other short-term disabilities.
Not permitting the pregnant employee to be a part of the normal circle of office culture so she becomes less aware of matters of importance to the office or current projects, resulting in more likelihood that the employee will not be able to effectively compete with those still within the circle.
Not providing medical benefits to the husbands of female employees if they provide such benefits to the wives of male employees.

27. (beyond the scope of today’s training)
Title VII
Sexual Harassment
This includes practices ranging from direct requests for sexual favors to workplace conditions that create a hostile environment for persons of either gender, including same sex harassment.
Recent case: Crowley County (Colorado) Correctional Facility—$1.3 million fine
(beyond the scope of today’s training)

28. BCSO Sex and Pregnancy Anti-Discrimination Policy
Title VII
Discrimination against any individual with respect to such individual’s employment relationship based on such individual’s sex or pregnancy is prohibited
Any categorization of employees that adversely affects their employment relationship because of such individual’s sex or pregnancy is prohibited
It is expected that co-workers will treat each other with respect, dignity, and civility at all times
Pregnant employees shall be permitted to work as long as they are able to perform their duties. 

29. BCSO Sex and Pregnancy Anti-Discrimination Policy cont’d
Title VII
Workers are responsible for informing their supervisors of any physical condition that would impair their job performance.
Any employee who is temporarily disabled (unable to perform assigned duties) will be reassigned to a duty consistent with the employee’s physical ability during the period of disability.
Pregnant employees will not be singled out for special procedures to determine their ability to work. 

30. BCSO Sex and Pregnancy Anti-Discrimination Policy cont’d
Title VII
If an employee is temporarily unable to perform her job duties due to pregnancy, she shall be treated the same as any other temporarily disabled employee
A pregnant employee voluntarily seeking leave and/or sick pay because of her pregnancy shall be treated the same as any other employee seeking leave and/or sick pay because of any other physical condition
Like all short term disabilities, individuals taking pregnancy-related leave must have a medical release to return to work

31. BCSO Sex and Pregnancy Anti-Discrimination Policy cont’d
Title VII
If any employee has been absent from work as a result of a pregnancy-related condition and then recovers, she shall not be required to remain on leave until the baby’s birth
A job will be held open for a pregnancy-related absence for the same length of time as jobs are held open for employees on sick or disability leave
Accrual and crediting of seniority, vacation calculation, pay increases, temporary disability benefits, and other considerations for pregnancy-related absences shall be treated the same as any other temporarily disabled employee

32. Submitting Complaints of Discrimination
Title VII
Submitting Complaints of Discrimination
Submit to
Timeframe
Immediate supervisor
Sheriff or County Commissioners
Oklahoma Human Rights Commission
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Within 6 months of alleged act
Within 180 days of alleged act
Within 300 days of alleged act

33. Examination No time limit; should take 10-15 minutes to complete
Title VII
Examination
No time limit; should take minutes to complete
Open book; use your notes
You must score 90% or greater before you leave

34. Copy of Supreme Court Ruling in Cleveland Board of Ed. v. Lafleur
Title VII
Copy of Supreme Court Ruling in Cleveland Board of Ed. v. Lafleur