Premium Essay

Discrimination In Court Cases

Submitted By
Words 1123
Pages 5
Court cases and legal issues regarding religious freedom and discrimination.

According to the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (CRA/ Title VII), religious discrimination is prohibited and employers are required to accommodate an employee’s earnestly held religious beliefs, observances, and practices, within reason, if honoring the accommodation would not impose any undue hardship on the organization.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has presented many claims and federal court cases that identified discrimination involving religion and ethnicity, so in a joint initiative, the Justice Department, The EEOC and the Labor Department implemented a strategy for increasing diversity sensitivity in an effort to combat cultural …show more content…
Litigation can be expensive and contentious, for all persons involved even if the cases are resolved in their favor. If the claim is based on race, color, or national origin, the legal process will not prolonged but if it is based on “failure to accommodate a religious practice or belief such as prayer in the workplace or schedule changes to avoid working on the Sabbath”, the employer need show that the accommodation will have a negative impact on the business under the Supreme Court’s decision in TWA v. Hardison 1977 (Malos 2010, p. 300). It may be easier to defend religious discrimination under Title VII if the accusations involve reasonable accommodation and retaliation for reporting the “alleged violation, opposing discrimination or harassment in the workplace, or cooperating in an investigation of any of the above.” To claim retaliation, the person filing the claim must then provide evidence of a correlation between a discrimination claim and retaliatory action such as, “demotion, termination, abusive treatment by supervisors or co-workers, and economic loss”(Malos 2010, p. …show more content…
Apple Computers, Nancy Zayed an Arab Muslim woman of Egyptian descent, experienced dramatic changes in her work environment after the events of September 11, 2001. Colleagues began asking her whether the Qur’an instructed Muslims to participate in suicide bombings. At one point, Apple requested information regarding her citizenship status, and placed patriotic colored ribbons outside most employees’ doors but excluded her, which singled her out based on her race, ethnicity, and religion. Zayed also claimed she received poor performance evaluations and was demoted despite never receiving any complaints from her superiors. Apple responded by identifying performance issues that they claimed had been on going. Zayed was ultimately terminated; “sued Apple under state and federal law for discrimination, harassment, retaliation, defamation, and infliction of emotional distress based on religion, national origin, gender, as well as failure to prevent harassment, failure to promote, and infliction of emotional distress under California state law” and the ruling was in her favor (Malos 2010, p.

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

The Legal Process

...Paper According to Bennett-Alexander and Hartman (2007), many forms of discrimination exist and different agencies can impose multiple penalties for noncompliance. In this paper, an employee named John wants to file a discrimination complaint against his employer. The following key elements will be discussed: (1) description of what is discrimination, (2) Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) process, (3) civil litigation process, and (4) court appearance. A summary and conclusion will finalize the paper. What is Discrimination According to the EEOC (2011), reprisals or disciplinary actions against employees based on color, race, age, religion, disability, sex or political affiliation is considered a form of discrimination. Discrimination can apply to retaliation for filing a charge of discrimination and can be associated to the hiring of employees. Understanding how discrimination affects the workplace is important to everyone and understanding how to file a complaint is equally important. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Process The EEOC was created in 1964 by the federal government and is used to help protect employees from discrimination. John wants to file a discrimination complaint, so he will have to provide his name, phone number, address, employers information, and a description of the discrimination violation. All complaints will be reviewed by the EEOC if the complaint has been...

Words: 915 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Employment Law

...Q1 – Understand the purpose of employment regulation and the way it is enforced in practice. Explain the purpose of employment law and how it is enforced. Describe the role played by the tribunal and courts system in enforcing employment law. Include how cases are settled before and during formal legal proceedings. (1.1, 1.2, 1.3) 1.1 – Explain the aims and objectives of employment regulation Employment law dates back to the 14th century, with the first labour legislation, the Ordinance of labourers passed in 1349 and consisted of regulations and price controls issued by King Edward 111. The purpose of the legislation was to maintain wages at rates to be fixed from time to time by the Justice of the peace. The ordinance was written in response to the outbreak of the plague in England. However, it wasn’t until the early 19th century that we begin to see the first significant change in employment law, the speed of change and innovation gave ever increasing legal protection to workers. Laws are critical in every society and country, they are created to ensure fairness and justice. In the instance of employment law they aim to protect both employers and employees, promoting ethical standards and protecting human rights. This of course can be said for the purpose of all legislation. There are four main sources of English Law, they are Statute (acts of parliament), Regulations (statutory), Common Law and Codes of Practice (e.g Acas). Statute law is led by government and is made...

Words: 5009 - Pages: 21

Premium Essay

Peggy Young Petitioner V. UNITED PARCEL Service Case Study

...Case 1 PEGGY YOUNG, Petitioner v. UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC. No. 12-1226 SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES Statement of key facts of the case. Under 42 U.S.C.S&2000e (K)’s accommodation denial is disparate statement and the people with pregnancy should be accommodates and treated well, similar to others who could be unable to work or able to work. The employer did not grant the plaintiff the accommodation as he relied on legitimate and unbiased motives. The petitioner was required to present the suggested reasons. The issue prompting court review of the case. The case needed to be reviewed since the lower court improperly granted an employer the summary judgment since the pregnant employee was able to provide evidence that created a genuine dispute that the employer favored some employees whose situations could not be distinguished. Therefore, the employer argument that he was relying on legitimate non-discriminatory reasons needed also...

Words: 1535 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

The Legal Process Bus/434

...2010 Robert Lewandowski The Legal Process An epidemic began hundreds of years ago, and unfortunately is still prevalent today. This epidemic is discrimination, and it is alive and well in all aspects of our lives. Discrimination comes in different forms and types. When most people think of discrimination, think of race discrimination; however, discrimination comes in many different forms such as age, gender, sexual, sex, religious, pregnancy, disability, and retaliation discrimination. Some form of discrimination happens every day, and not every employee has the proper information to file a claim against an employer or company after they feel they have been discriminated against. This paper will attempt to give resources and information about different types of discrimination and avenues available to John who wants to file suit against his employer due to some sort of discrimination. There are local, states, and federal laws hold employers responsible under the law for violating the law. Employers are not allowed to discriminate against an employee under the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Discrimination goes outside of just current employees to the firing, promotion, and discipline of employees. John feels that he has been discriminated against. There are many different types of discrimination; the claim could be from a wide variety of areas. If John feels that he has been discriminated against, the first step he would take would be to file a claim...

Words: 1007 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Eeoc

...sometimes feel that employers engage in unfair practices. On rare occasion this may be true, there is something an employee can do. However, if the employee feels they have been treated unfairly because they are in a protected class, the employee has the ability to file a claim with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC). After the EEOC has followed their procedure, the employee may still file a claim in court to get a resolution. The EEOC is responsible for ensuring employers with more than fifteen employees are complying with federal laws of protection for protected individuals. They protect people that are based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, and disability. The law stops employers from hiring or firing of an individual base on their race, age, religion, national origin, color or sex. When a person feels that their rights have been violated, he or she may file a claim against the company. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was started to protect the rights of an employees in the workplace. If EEOC can not settle the case, then the matter will...

Words: 1403 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Eeoc Legal Issues

...Court Cases and Legal Issues Regarding Religious Freedom and Discrimination. According to the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (CRA/ Title VII), religious discrimination is prohibited and employers are required to accommodate an employee’s earnestly held religious beliefs, observances, and practices, within reason, if honoring the accommodation would not impose any undue hardship on the organization. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has presented many claims and federal court cases that identified discrimination involving religion and ethnicity, so in a joint initiative, the Justice Department, The EEOC and the Labor Department implemented a strategy for increasing diversity sensitivity in an effort to combat cultural...

Words: 1702 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Paper

...CHAPTER 27 EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION Only in recent decades have federal and state judicial decisions, administrative agency actions, and legislation restricted the ability of employers, as well as unions, to discriminate against workers on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, or handicap. This chapter concludes the discussion of the law relating to the employer-employee relationship by focusing on employment discrimination and related areas. The approach examines two spheres of this topic. First, the statutory framework for a number of federal laws is examined. Not surprisingly, the first statute addressed is Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This statue covers discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, and religion. Following the presentation of Title VII, the chapter discusses the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. A discussion of the legal aspects of harassment concludes the chapter. A class of persons defined by one or more of these criteria is known as a protected class. Several federal statutes prohibit employment discrimination against members of protected classes. The most important is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its amendments. Title VII prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or gender. Discrimination on the basis of age and disability are prohibited by the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967...

Words: 10203 - Pages: 41

Premium Essay

Legal Process

...and employee. “The main body of employment discrimination laws consists of federal and state statutes. The United States Constitution and some state constitutions provide additional protection when the employer is a governmental body or the government has taken significant steps to foster the discriminatory practice of the employer” (Cornell Law, 2011). The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which was given enforcement authority by Congress in 1972, “is responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person’s race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information” (EEOC, 2011). This paper will cover the process of an employee who goes by the name of John and works for a private sector organization, feels that he has been discriminated against by his employer and wishes to file a discrimination complaint against the employer he works for. This paper will also analyze and explain the entire discrimination complaint and civil litigation processes as it would potentially apply to John and his employer through the first steps of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission up to the United States Supreme Court Level. Body The E.E.O.C. (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) of the United States of America has the authority to investigate charges of discrimination against employers who must have a minimum of...

Words: 1251 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Racist

...Race Discrimination in the Workplace by In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Race Discrimination in the Workplace Introduction Intraracial discrimination is not a topic generally considered at large; however, this is not proof that it does not exist. Amongst Caucasians, intraracial tensions between members of diverse nationalities have resulted in war and conflict for centuries—a good example of this is the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. However, the present paper is concerned with intraracial discrimination within the African-American community. Because African-Americans have historically been victimized by racial discrimination coming from Caucasians, it is unusual to think of racial discrimination within their own community. Yet the fact that African-Americans were historically introduced to American society as the slaves of Caucasians “forced them to view themselves negatively while viewing their white counterparts positively” (Smith, 2004, p. 1). This dynamic created an inherent and conflicted valuation of whiteness and caused divisiveness between African-Americans based on skin color variations. The cause of intraracial discrimination between African-Americans may be due to the fact that lighter-skinned African-Americans have historically received preferential treatment over darker-skinned African Americans (Washington, 2000; Goldsmith, Hamilton, and Darity, 2007; Darity and Mason, 1998). A study of wage earnings between Caucasian...

Words: 1567 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Freedom of Conscience Amendment

...controversy of discrimination has run rampant through politics, business, and other areas whose functions are integral to the survival of the nation. On January 21, 2014, Pennsylvania State Representative Gordon Denlinger proposed an amendment to the state Constitution regarding state discrimination laws known as the “Freedom of Conscience Amendment.” According to Denlinger, this new section in Article I of the Pennsylvania Constitution “Will prohibit government from punishing an individual or entity if the individual or entity makes hiring or other employment decisions, or provides services, accommodations (including housing accommodations), advantages, facilities, goods or privileges based on sincerely held beliefs.” Assuming that the state legislature passed this Amendment to the state Constitution, it is necessary to determine whether or not it would survive a legal challenge to its constitutionality in the Supreme Court. After analyzing cases of precedent in the area of racial discrimination as well as the Commerce Clause in the United States Constitution, it is evident that Rep. Denlinger’s Amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution would be struck down and ruled unconstitutional. Before exploring the justifications behind ruling Rep. Denlinger’s Amendment unconstitutional, it is imperative to see how and why the Supreme Court can make a judgment on the constitutionality of laws, as well as why the challenging of this law specifically takes place in the Supreme Court. The Supreme...

Words: 986 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Employment Discrimination

...Employment Discrimination in the Ethnically Diverse Workplace Tanya Kateri Hernandez Fordham University School of Law, THERNANDEZ@law.fordham.edu Follow this and additional works at: http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/faculty_scholarship Part of the Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons, and the Labor and Employment Law Commons Recommended Citation Tanya Kateri Hernandez, Employment Discrimination in the Ethnically Diverse Workplace , 49 Judges' J. 33 (2010) Available at: http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/faculty_scholarship/14 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by FLASH: The Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship and History. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of FLASH: The Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship and History. For more information, please contact tmelnick@law.fordham.edu. .. . .......... By Tanya Kateri Hernandez a1cial integrto has long been the touchstone of racial progress in the 0 workplace. But integration is only the beginning of the struggle to end racial discrimination. As workplaces become more diverse, they do nor necessarily becomie less racially discriminatory. Diverse workplaces may be characterized by antagonism between people ofdifferent races. Interethnic discrimination may exist along side the discrimination that has traditionally occurred between blacks and whites, i.e., non-white racial and ethnic groups may engage in disparate-treatment employment discrimination actionable...

Words: 3823 - Pages: 16

Premium Essay

Ricci V. Destefano

...Ricci v. DeStefano Jennifer Drab Baker College Abstract Ricci v. DeStefano is case based on reverse discrimination. The New Haven firefighters that brought this suit against the city did so on the belief that the city in its efforts to avoid litigation violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Reverse discrimination is a term that is used widely; however, it is very difficult to move forward with this claim in a court of law. The New Haven firefighters that brought the suit had their case heard before the Supreme Court of the United States. This was not a case that the justices took lightly; they asked many difficult questions, which looked at many different aspects of Title VII. The answer from the high court is that rejecting the test scores in fear of Title VII litigation is not grounds enough to disqualify candidates that qualified for promotion. In the end, the high court upheld the firefighters claim that the city’s rejection of the exam scores violated the rights of those that qualified based on the exam. Introduction Ricci v. DeStefano, is case of reverse discrimination within the fire department of New Haven, Connecticut. This case is an illustration that affirmative action does not always result in fairness. New Haven city officials created a very comprehensive written examination for testing those fire fighters that were looking to be promoted to captain and lieutenant (Epstein, 2009). Unfortunately, the examination showed that there was disparity...

Words: 3478 - Pages: 14

Free Essay

Business Law Final Research Paper

...Corporation SUBJECT: Employment Law – Racial Discrimination and Retaliation DATE: May 10, 2015 Proposed Question Will Samuel prevail in a lawsuit against ABC Corporation (ABC) for racial discrimination and retaliation? Short Legal Answer No, Samuel will not prevail in his Racial Discrimination and Retaliation lawsuit against ABC because the actions of ABC did not fall within the statutory definition of Disparate-impact discrimination. Facts of the Claim Samuel is African-American who has worked for ABC for three years. All of Samuel’s performance evaluations have been good. He applied for several positions in other departments and was turned down for each one. He believes it is because he didn’t have the experience required to do the job since he does not have experience working in those departments. A coworker, however, has suggested it is because Samuel is African-American. He applied for a supervisory position in his own department, for which he thinks he is qualified. He did not get the position; however, a white male in his same department was hired for the position. All of the supervisors in his department are white and minorities hold all of the menial jobs. When he complains to the Human Resource Department, he does not get a response. His supervisor appears to be retaliating by finding fault in his work after he complained to the Human Resource Department. Research in Support of My Answer Appellate Cases In Carryl v MacKay Shields, LLC, Carryl, the...

Words: 2426 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Supreme Court Sides with Walmart

...Video Case Study: Court Systems and Jurisdiction—Supreme Court Sides with Walmart 1. This story is about the Supreme Court’s decision. What process did this case have to go through to get to the Supreme Court? The U.S. Constitution establishes the Supreme Court, which is authorized by it to hear original and appellate cases. Original cases are heard only by and are sent directly to the Supreme Court. Appellate cases are those cases which were heard by a lower court, decided on by the lower court, but an appeal was requested so the Supreme Court could hear it. That request is a writ of certiorari. The Supreme Court orders the lower court to send the case files for review. The Supreme Court usually does not hear appellate cases unless it might impact the nation, a major class of Citizen or State law (US Courts, n.d.). This Wal-Mart case falls within the Appellate jurisdiction. 2. In the story, two justices wrote differing opinions about the issue. Discuss the differences between a majority opinion, a concurring opinion, and a dissenting opinion. What effect does each type of opinion have on the state of the law in America? The majority opinion is the official ruling of the case where more than half of the Justices agree on the decision and explain the legal basis used to come to that decision. A concurring opinion is when one or more of the majority Justices agree with the ruling but used a different legal rationale to come to their ruling decision. A dissenting...

Words: 716 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Case Study of Johnson Control

...Environment of Business Abstract This paper is generally about the case analysis about the supreme court case Automobiles Workers v. Johnson Controls, Inc. based on the legal documents, such as the Civil Rights Acts of 1964, and Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1987. This case is focus on the primary prospective of the Pregnancy Discrimination between the employers and employees, providing the elaborate and personal comprehension of this case issues, and then describes the inspiration refined from this case. Contents 1.Introduction 2 2. Case analysis 3 2.1 The procedure of the case receiving 3 2.2The related legal document analysis 5 2.2.1 The Civil Right Act of 1964 (Title VII) 5 2.2.2 The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 7 2.3 The causation analysis of the supreme court’s decisions based on personal comprehension 8 3. The inspiration of the case 10 4. Conclusion 11 Reference 11 Automobile Workers v. Johnson Controls, Inc, 499U.S.187 (1991) 1.Introduction Presently, the employment relationship is becoming a hot-button topic among the public, protecting the employees’ legitimate interest detailed reform and implementation in the field of the law. This supreme court case is generally about the equal employment relationship between the employers and employees. It happens between the Automobile...

Words: 2692 - Pages: 11