Jentz-11e
Appendix I:
Sample Answers for End-of-Chapter
Questions with Sample Answer
Chapter 34: Employment Discrimination
34–2. Question with Sample Answer
Chinawa, a major processor of cheese sold throughout the United States, employs one hundred workers at its principal processing plant. The plant is located in Heartland Corners, which has a population that is 50 percent white and 25 percent African American, with the balance Hispanic American, Asian American, and others. Chinawa requires a high school diploma as a condition of employment for its cleaning crew. Three-fourths of the white population complete high school, compared with only one-fourth of those in the minority groups. Chinawa has an all-white cleaning crew. Has Chinawa violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964? Explain.
Sample Answer:
An employer can legally impose an educational requirement if the requirement is directly related to, and necessary for, performance of the job. In this situation, the employer is requiring a high school diploma as a condition of employment for its cleaning crew. A high school diploma is not related to, or necessary for, the competent performance of a job on a cleaning crew. Chinawa obviously comes under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, as amended. Therefore, if someone were to challenge Chinawa’s practices, a court would be likely to consider the disparate impact that the educational requirement had on Chinawa’s hiring of minorities. Chinawa’s educational requirement resulted in its hiring an all-white cleaning crew in an area in which 75 percent of the pool of qualified applicants were minorities. Therefore, Chinawa’s educational requirement would likely be considered unintentional (disparate-impact) discrimination against minorities.