Question 1

Which of the following is true of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

Accepted Answer

Recruitment practices are particularly susceptible to claims of discrimination as barriers to equal opportunity. Statutes such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and others require, in part, that an employer not only recruit from a diverse audience but also design employment announcements that will encourage a diverse group of people to apply.

Question 2

In Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v.Consolidated Service System,the defendant was a janitorial firm owned by a Korean immigrant and staffed mostly with Korean immigrants.The court disagreed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)and found that the defendant's use of word-of-mouth recruiting did not cause:

Accepted Answer

In Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Consolidated Service System, the district court found that the discrepancies were not due to discrimination and the circuit court agreed. In this disparate treatment case, the court basically said that just because the end result is completely askew, it cannot draw a conclusion that discrimination was involved.

Question 3

In the context of employee discipline,positive discipline involves counseling or other interventions that increase in severity or demands,rather than punishments.

Accepted Answer

Progressive discipline involves a set of steps before a challenging employee will be terminated for poor performance. Positive discipline refers to a progressive discipline process that involves counseling or other interventions that increase in severity or demands, rather than punishments.

Question 4

An employer has the right to raise a question regarding gender in a job interview unless gender is a bona fide occupational qualification.

Accepted Answer

There are only a few questions that are strictly prohibited by federal law from being asked on an application and during the interview process. While most applicants are used to filling in the response to a question regarding gender on an application, an employer actually has no right to that knowledge unless gender is a bona fide occupational qualification.

Question 5

An employer is required to lower quality standards or qualifications in order to accommodate an individual employee's or applicant's needs.

Accepted Answer

An employer need not lower its standards or qualifications in order to accommodate an individual employee's or applicant's needs (such as a disability); but it must provide reasonable accommodations to enable the employee to perform her or his essential responsibilities, while not subjecting itself to an undue burden or hardship. The otherwise-qualified employee with a disability must be evaluated on reasonable job-related performance standards for the duties assigned to that position.

Question 6

A performance evaluation may be considered false where the rater does not include information that would explain or justify a poor appraisal.

Accepted Answer

A false performance evaluation does not necessarily contain false information, but it may evaluate an employee on improper criteria. An evaluation also may be considered false where the rater does not include information that would explain or justify a poor appraisal, such as the fact that the employee's poor task completion rate was due to a sight disorder, which has since been corrected.

Question 7

The Eating Club,a five-star restaurant,advertises for a job in the local newspaper as "Waiters needed.Experience required.Must look good in tuxedo." Ella has had experience working for a five-star restaurant and believes that she will look good in a tuxedo.However,when she applies for the job,she is rejected.Which of the following holds true in this scenario?

Accepted Answer

Ella has a cause of action against The Eating Club as the advertisement contains language that indicates a preference based on sex. Terms that at first appear innocuous are discouraging to one group or another as well, including "draftsman," "saleswoman," "repairman," "waiter," "host," and "maid." The announcement or solicitation should invite applications from all groups and should not suggest a preference for any one class of individual.

Question 8

In the absence of age as a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ),the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 prohibits discrimination against an individual _____ years of age or older.

Accepted Answer

In the absence of age as a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 prohibits discrimination against an individual 40 years of age or older. All employers of 20 or more employees are subject to the Act.

Question 9

In the context of employment discrimination,which of the following is true of the various recruitment practices?

Accepted Answer

While promoting from within the company is not in and of itself illegal, it also has the potential for discriminatory results, depending on the process used and the makeup of the workforce. A process that could avoid a finding of disparate impact would be to post a notice of position availability in which all employees are offered the opportunity to compete for open positions.

Question 10

The Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 prohibits the drug testing of federal employees under all circumstances.

Accepted Answer

In response to the growing problem of drugs in the workplace and injuries and accidents related to their use, former President George H. W. Bush enacted the Drug-Free Workplace Act in 1988, which authorized the drug testing (also called biochemical surveillance, in more legalistic terms) of federal employees under certain circumstances.

Question 11

Content validation with regard to preemployment tests is based on a careful job analysis that identifies important tasks behaviors and knowledge that a job requires.

Accepted Answer

Content validation is based on a careful job analysis and definition that identifies important tasks, behaviors and knowledge that a job requires. The test is then developed involving a representative sample of these tasks, behaviors, and knowledge.

Question 12

Ira is hired as a financial analyst at BrickBridge Investors under the employment condition that for the first three months she will not be eligible for any incentives.Based on Ira's performance during this three-month period,the company will classify her as a permanent employee,raise her salary by 10 percent,and provide her share of incentives.However,even after Ira performs above the standard during the first five months at her job,the company refrains from acting accordingly to avoid certain costs.Thus,Ira can avail a cause of action for:

Accepted Answer

Ira can avail a cause of action for intentional or negligent misrepresentation against BrickBridge Investors. A company representative who makes an intentional or negligent misrepresentation that encourages an applicant to take a job may be liable to that applicant for any harm that results. A misrepresentation need not actually be a false statement: Where a statement creates a false impression, the employer also may be liable for fraud if the employee's impression was reasonable.

Question 13

Employers are more limited in inquiring about a job applicant's convictions relevant to the job than about arrest records.

Accepted Answer

Asking a job applicant about an arrest record where the offense is not necessarily related to job performance may result in adverse impact. Note that arrests and convictions are not the same. Employers are more limited in inquiring about arrest records than about convictions relevant to the job.

Question 14

The Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 applies to private-sector employers.

Accepted Answer

The Drug-Free Workplace Act does not apply to private-sector employers. An increasing number of private employers have implemented drug programs for their employees.

Question 15

While promoting from within an organization may raise employee morale and encourage loyalty,the strategy has the potential to lead to either a real or perceived lack of balance or discriminatory impact.

Accepted Answer

While promoting from within an organization may raise employee morale and encourage loyalty, the strategy has the potential to lead to either a real or perceived lack of balance or discriminatory impact. Targeting recruitment and selection has been found to be the most effective way to reduce employment discrimination charges.

Question 16

The Americans with Disabilities Act provides that individuals who currently use illegal drugs are considered individuals with disabilities.

Accepted Answer

The Americans with Disabilities Act provides that individuals who currently use illegal drugs are not considered individuals with disabilities. However, if an employee or applicant is pursuing or has successfully completed a rehabilitation program and demonstrates that she or he has a disability based on prior use, she or he is covered by the Act and therefore entitled to reasonable accommodation.

Question 17

While interviewing Zarah Qazi for the post of marketing manager,the Vice President of Glowing Hair Products Inc.asks Zarah about the origin of her first name,if she is married,and if she plans to have children in the near future.Which of the following holds true in this scenario?

Accepted Answer

The questions asked by the vice president of Glowing Hair Products Inc. are not prohibited by federal law but they could be used as evidence of discrimination because they are not job related. Questions regarding age, sex, religion, marital status, nationality, and ethnicity are not prohibited by federal statute, but they raise some dangerous issues and employers are strenuously advised to avoid them. If questions are not related and, even if the employer does not base its employment decision on the responses to these inquiries, the selection process results in a disparate impact against a protected group, the employer could be liable.

Question 18

Under common law,employers can be found liable for fraud in recruitment if they:

Accepted Answer

A company representative who makes an intentional or negligent misrepresentation that encourages an applicant to take a job may be liable to that applicant for any harm that results. Where an employer is aware that the applicant is under a mistaken belief about the position or the company, the employer's silence may constitute misrepresentation.

Question 19

Federal statutes require that employers document the reasons for failing to hire any specific applicant.

Accepted Answer

No federal statute or guideline requires that employers document the reasons for failing to hire any specific applicant. However, it may be in the best interests of the employer to articulate the reasons in order to avoid the presumption of inappropriate reasons.

Question 20

An employee who is subject to discipline has a right to request that a co-worker be present as a witness during an investigatory interview.

Accepted Answer

An employee who is subject to discipline has a right to request that a co-worker be present as a witness during an investigatory interview. This right is not limited to employees who are union members: Nonunion employees have a right to representation under Epilepsy Foundation of Northeast Ohio v. NLRB.
Multiple Choice Questions

Quiz 4: Legal Construction of the Employment Environment