Chapter 18 Practice Exam
Matching Questions
Match the following terms with their definitions:
(1) A. Equal Pay Act.
(3) B. Right to sue letter.
(5) E. ADA.
1. Statute that prohibits an employee from being paid at a lesser rate than employees of the opposite sex for equal work.
3. Permission from the EEOC for a plaintiff to proceed with his case.
5. Statute that prohibits discrimination against the disabled.
True/False Questions
Circle true or false:
1. T F In a disparate impact case, an employer may be liable for a rule that is not discriminatory on its face.
3. T F If more whites than Native Americans pass an employment test, the test violates Title VII.
5. T F Employers do not have to accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs if doing so would impose an undue hardship on the business.
Multiple-Choice Questions
7. An employer can legally require all employees to have a high school diploma if:
(a) All of its competitors have such a requirement.
(b) Most of the applicants in the area have a high school diploma.
(c) Shareholders of the company are likely to pay a higher price for the company’s stock if employees have at least a high school diploma.
(d) The company intends to branch out into the high-tech field, in which case a high school diploma would be needed by its employees.
9. Which of the following activities would not be considered sexual harassment?
(a) Shannon tells Connor she will promote him if he will sleep with her.
(b) Kailen has a screen saver that shows various people having sex.
(c) Paige says she wants “to negotiate Owen’s raise at the Holiday Inn.”
(d) Nancy yells “crap” at the top of her lungs every time her rotisserie baseball team loses.
(e) Quid pro quo.
Short-Answer Questions
11. When Michelle told her boss that she was pregnant, his first comment was, “Congratulations on your pregnancy. My sister vomited for months.” Then he refused to speak to her for a week. A month later, she was fired. Her boss told her the business was shifting away from her area of expertise. Does Michelle have a valid claim? Under what law?
Answer: Under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, an employer may not fire a woman because she is pregnant.
13. Peter Oiler was a truck driver at the grocery chain Winn-Dixie. He was also a transvestite—he liked to dress as a woman. When his supervisor at Winn-Dixie found out about his cross-dressing, Oiler was fired. Is Winn-Dixie in violation of the law?
Answer: The court found for Winn-Dixie. Congress specifically excluded gender identity disorders from coverage under the ADA. Thus, the ADA does not apply in this case. Nor is being a transvestite a protected category under Title VII. Oiler v. Winn-Dixie La., Inc., 89 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1832.
15. When Thomas Lussier filled out a Postal Service employment application, he did not admit that he had twice pleaded guilty to charges of disorderly conduct. Lussier suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) acquired during military service in Vietnam. Because of this disorder, he sometimes had panic attacks that required him to leave meetings. He was also a recovered alcoholic and drug user. During his stint with the Postal Service, he had some personality conflicts with other employees. Once, another employee hit him. He also had one episode of “erratic emotional behavior and verbal outburst.” In the meantime, a postal employee in Ridgewood, New Jersey, killed four colleagues. The Postmaster General encouraged all supervisors to identify workers who had dangerous propensities. Lussier’s boss discovered that he had lied on his employment application about the disorderly conduct charges and fired him. Is the Postal Service in violation of the law?
Answer: The court held that Lussier had been dismissed solely because of his disability. The Postal Service was liable under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits federal agencies from discriminating against the disabled. Lussier v. Runyan, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4668 (D. Me. 1994).