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Are U.S. Employment Discrimination Laws Outdated?

In: Business and Management

Submitted By ambermyersj
Words 1355
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Are U.S. Employment Discrimination Laws Outdated? American race relations were not always as tolerant as one might suggest. It took centuries of legislative actions, court decisions and evolving public policy to arrive where the United States stands today. Legislation barring discrimination against minorities in the United States is nothing new. The Fifth Amendment of the U. S. Constitution states that “no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of the law.” The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery, and courts upheld that it bars racial discrimination. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 gave all persons the same right to make and enforce contracts and to benefit from laws. There were various laws and court decisions that made discriminating against minorities and women unlawful, but due civil unrest, Congress passed a multitude of new civil rights laws (Dessler, 2013).
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the nation's benchmark civil rights legislation, and it continues to resonate in America. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. It specifically states that it shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to refuse to hire or to discharge an individual or otherwise discriminate against any individual with respect to his/her compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Also it states that to limit, segregate, or classify his/her employees or applicant for employment in any way that would deprive any individual of employment opportunities because of the individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
The Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act bars discrimination on the part of most employers, including all public and private employers of 15 or

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