Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was created in 1972 with an amendment to the Civil Rights Act. The EEOC was given the authority to monitor discrimination and file lawsuits to correct discriminatory practices in the workplace. This amendment was also responsible for affirmative action, an activist approach to correcting discrimination. Affirmative action pressures employers to actively recruit and give preference to minorities in order to correct previous prejudice in employment. Although highly controversial, affirmative action is practiced commonly in business. 

Gonzales, Claire. Example MCS Disability EEOC Guidance Letter. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. July 24,1996. www.jan.wvu.edu/letters/EEOC Lette r M CS Disab ilityj uly 9 6. doc. 

Title 29—Labor (This important title includes Dept, of Labor Regulations, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission rules, and Occupational Safety ... 

Think about how you will handle such a question if it comes up. You might ask how the information relates to the job, tactfully change the subject, or even answer the question if you feel comfortable doing so. For more information on illegal interview questions, visit the website of the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), at xvww.eeoc.gov. Many of the websites listed in Appendix B also provide information on illegal interview questions. 

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2010). Charge statistics. Retrieved from http //www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/ enforcement/ charges, elm... 

Acquire an understanding of the functions of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. 

The administration and enforcement of the ADEA is currently housed with the EEOC on the federal level. This has not always been the case. The ADEA was originally administered and enforced by the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor, and the Fair Labor Standards Act structure and mechanisms were utilized. With the Reorganization Plan No. 1 in 1978, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was provided authority over the ADEA and established its own guidelines. However, the ADEA must still be enforced through the procedures established under the Fair Labor Standards Act rather than those of Title VII, with other similar federal antidiscrimination laws. ... 

Within the wage and hour area, safety professionals should be aware of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which is an adjunct to the ELSA. This law addresses discrimination in wage rates based on the sex of male and female employees doing jobs that require equal skills, efforts, and responsibilities and performed under similar working conditions, unless the company or organization can justify the difference through one of the exceptions. Safety professionals should be aware that in 1978, the administration and enforcement of the Equal Pay Act was transferred from the U.S. Department of Labor to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. ... 

The initial place to start for safety professionals is with the federal or state agency responsible for administration and enforcement of the law. For the ADA, safety professionals should be aware that the federal agency responsible for administration and enforcement of the ADA is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and information can be found on its website www.eeoc.gov. Prudent safety professionals should monitor the EEOC website as well as recent case decisions to ensure the most current information regarding the ADA. Additionally, safety professionals should also be aware that individual states may also possess laws that parallel or are more stringent than the federal level ADA, and information can usually be found on the individual state agency s website. 

Section 101(8) defines a qualified individual with a disability as any person who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the employment position that such individual holds or desires. Consideration shall be given to the employer s judgment as to what functions of a job are essential, and if an employer has prepared a written description before advertising or interviewing applicants for the job, this description shall be considered evidence of the essential function of the job. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) provides additional clarification of this definition an individual with a disability who satisfies the requisite skill, experience and educational requirements of the employment position such individual holds or desires, and who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of such position. ... 

ENFORCEMENT BY ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION—Any Presidential appointee may file a complaint alleging a violation, not later than 180 days after the occurrence of the alleged violation, with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or such other entity as is designated by the President by Executive Order, which, in accordance with the principles and procedures set forth in sections 554 through 557 of title 5, United States Code, shall determine whether a violation has occurred and shall set forth its determination in a final order. If the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or such other entity as is designated by the President pursuant to this section, determines that a violation has occurred, the final order shall also provide for appropriate relief. 

B) LAW APPLICABLE—Chapter 158 of title 28, United States Code, shall apply to a review under this section except that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or such other entity as the President may designate under paragraph (2) shall be an agency as that term is used in chapter 158 of title 28, United States Code. 

Safety professionals should be aware that the primary governmental agency on the federal level tasked with enforcing Title VII, ADA, and the related laws and regulations is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (hereinafter referred to as the EEOC). An overview of the responsibilities, authorities, and locations of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as identified on the EEOC website follows next. 

These stark disparities, the Court acknowledges, sufficed to state a prima facie case under Title VII s disparate-impact provision. See ante, at 2678 ( The pass rates of minorities. .. f[e]ll well below the 80-percent standard set by the [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ] to implement the disparate-impact provision of Title VII. ). New Haven thus had cause for concern about the prospect of Title VII litigation and liability. City officials referred the matter to the New Haven Civil Service Board (CSB), the entity responsible for certifying the results of employment exams. 

In order to defend against a claim of discrimination under Title VII, safety professionals must possess a thorough and complete understanding of the claims process as identified by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Although many states permit employees to proceed directly to state court for claims of discrimination utilizing individual state antidiscrimination laws, many claims are initiated at the federal level with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. 

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) regulation authorizing refusal to hire an individual because his performance on the job would endanger his own health owing to a disability did not exceed the scope of permissible rulemaking under Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 2 et seq., 42 U.S.C.A 12101 et seq. 29 C.F.R. 1630.15(b)(2). 

The enforcement policy of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission accords with this conclusion. On January 24, 1990, the EEOC issued a Policy Guidance in the light of the Seventh Circuit s decision in the present case. App. to Pet. for Cert. 127a. The document noted For the plaintiff to bear the burden of proof in a case in which there is direct evidence of a facially discriminatory policy... 

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