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New act clarifies disparate-impact law

Article Abstract:

The Civil Rights Act of 1991 will have a significant effect on 'disparate-impact' employment discrimination cases. The act reverses the Supreme Court's 1989 decision in Wards Cove Packing Co v Atonio, which reduced employers' burdens in disparate-impact suits by returning to the model established in Griggs v Duke Power Co (1971). Employers may not have to use hiring quotas to avoid disparate-impact cases, but the federal courts will have to decide whether a group of hiring practices, rather than a single practice, can be held to have a disparate impact on employment and advancement for women and minorities.

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Open questions abound on the 1991 Act

Article Abstract:

Ambiguities in the 1991 Civil Rights Act have raised many questions that will eventually be answered in the appellate courts. The liability of individuals for decisions made while acting as employers has been limited to $300,000, but the limits and causes of liability are unclear. A higher burden of proof is required in awarding punitive damages, but what constitutes proof is not adequately defined. The effects of the act on affirmative action programs and employees hired before the act became law are also discussed.

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Sexual harassment laws face lax enforcement

Article Abstract:

Sexual harassment was made a violation of Title VII in 1980, with implementing guidelines from the EEOC. Documentation of the problem has been profuse since then, with surveys by the US Merit Systems Protection Board, the ABA Young Lawyers Division, and the National Assn of Female Executives. All of this study does not seem to have helped, because there is still a presumption that the complainants are not trustworthy or credible and that women should try to adapt to the work environment in male-dominated jobs.

Sexual harassment

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