Title VII: the Force Against Discrimination Awakens

***DISCLAIMER: Welcome! This is a blog written by me, Michael Caligaris, a 2020 Juris Doctor Candidate from NKU Chase Law. This blog does not in any way constitute legal advice or services; instead, this blog is merely an examination of employment discrimination law in the US, past, present, and future. Enjoy!

Long Ago, in a Galaxy Far, Far Away…

There ruled an Empire of unforgiving, tortious, and malevolent Supreme Leaders who treated their laborers recklessly and openly discriminated against those who did not fall in line to do their bidding. They especially hated anyone who did not look like the clones in their Empire. Who were these mad kings, you may ask?

Going back to the start of American Big Industry, probably something along the lines of what this guy looked like:

And for a more recent example, please try and guess as to which relatively unassuming modern businessman may fit that description:

Answer: https://apnews.com/126e04e1358f4e0bb446da0f11315927

But then… out of the dark, deep oblivion of inequality came the formulation of a protective alliance, one that could wield the power of justice, summoning all the force of our Forefather’s Constitution to zap out evil! Nothing in our nation’s short history came even close to such far-reaching protection! Who are these brave allies, you ask? Well…

It isn’t this guy, unfortunately.

It’s not a person or persons, really. It's more of an idea. 

It’s the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency that administers and enforces civil rights laws against workplace discrimination.

The EEOC was created as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. As some may already know, this legislation was passed soon after President Kennedy’s assassination in November of the previous year. After his death, the legislation had almost died on the floor; and so, in order to preserve its survival, compromises on both sides of the aisle had to be made.

One of those compromises was in the employment section, the section that we refer to today as… Title VII (*echoing thrice* title seven, title seven, title seven). Title VII is the greatest ally to those in the workforce who feel disenfranchised, marginalized, or mistreated. It prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, religion, and retaliation for things such as filing a worker’s compensation claim. Consider this the EEOC’s lightsaber, if I am to carry on with this lazily-crafted analogy.

Notably, Title VII does not extend protection to instances of age discrimination—but that doesn’t mean it’s not protected by something else, which will be forthcoming in other installments of this blog!

On a final note, the compromising language of the 1964 Act is still the basis or framework for how the EEOC operates even today:

“That compromise resulted in a bill that eliminated any real enforcement authority for EEOC. Instead, EEOC a five-member bipartisan commission was left only with power to receive, investigate, and conciliate complaints where it found reasonable cause to believe that discrimination had occurred. Where EEOC was unsuccessful in conciliating the complaints, the statute provided only that individuals could bring private lawsuits, and where EEOC found evidence of "patterns or practices" of discrimination, EEOC could then refer such matters to the Department of Justice for litigation.”(source). 

In other words, the EEOC is the regulatory body in which, if you are wanting to bring a federal workplace discrimination claim, you must first go through the EEOC --which will hopefully advocate on the victimized employee’s behalf—and then, the EEOC may further grant the victimized employee the right to bring litigation in a state or federal court.

Yay Justice! Tune in next week as the dark forces bubble in their plot to take down… the LGBTQ community. (Only click for dramatic effect.)

In the meantime, leave a comment about your favorite Star Wars character, moment, or quote!

Until next time, treat everyone equally.

Michael