Title VII in the Workplace
The last decade has produced an explosion of racial employment discrimination lawsuits. These lawsuits have resulted in record breaking settlements. By federally mandating every business to review the history, impact and proposed policy of Article VII these lawsuits may subside. Reviewing Title VII is a step corporate America must soon make or continue to loose much needed revenue. This paper will cover the history of Title VII, the impact of Title VII in the workplace, who is and who is not covered under Title VII as well as propose policies that companies should have in place to avoid Title VII violations.
I. The History of Title VII
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 formally began to be developed in the 1960's. Though affirmative action efforts began before the great burst of civil rights statutes in the 1950's and 1960's, they did not truly take hold until it became clear that the anti-discrimination statutes alone were not enough to break past standings of discrimination.
For much of this century, racial and ethnic minorities have confronted exclusion both within the legal system and socially. Both African Americans and Hispanic Americans were segregated into low paying jobs which were primarily agricultural in nature. Asian Americans were forbidden from owning land, and worked fields to which they could not own. The first significant wave of progress in enhancing employment opportunities by race came during the labor shortage of WWII.
In July, 1963, in the midst of the civil rights campaign in Birmingham, Alabama, President John F. Kennedy appeared on national television to propose the civil rights bill.
Another milestone was the civil rights movement ?Brown vs. the Board of Education, an ...