USA EEO and Legal Compliance 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A company requires all applicants to pass a physical strength test. If women fail this test at a significantly higher rate than men, the employer must show the test is:
- Administered by a licensed physician
- Validated as job-related and consistent with business necessity (Correct answer)
- Approved by the Department of Labor
- Identical to tests used by competitors
Correct answer: Validated as job-related and consistent with business necessity
Under disparate impact doctrine, selection procedures must be job-related and consistent with business necessity if they screen out protected groups at higher rates.
Question 2: What is 'quid pro quo' sexual harassment?
- Offensive jokes told in the workplace
- Unwelcome touching between coworkers
- Conditioning employment benefits on submission to sexual advances (Correct answer)
- Displaying inappropriate images in the workplace
Correct answer: Conditioning employment benefits on submission to sexual advances
Quid pro quo harassment occurs when a supervisor links job benefits or detriments to an employee's acceptance or rejection of sexual advances.
Question 3: Which of the following is an example of reasonable accommodation under the ADA?
- Eliminating an essential function of a job
- Providing a modified work schedule for an employee with a disability (Correct answer)
- Hiring a less-qualified applicant over a more-qualified one with a disability
- Reassigning all duties that require physical activity
Correct answer: Providing a modified work schedule for an employee with a disability
A modified work schedule is a common form of reasonable accommodation that does not eliminate essential job functions.
Question 4: Under the Equal Pay Act, pay differences between men and women doing substantially equal work are permissible if based on:
- The employee's gender or family status
- Seniority, merit, quantity/quality of production, or a factor other than sex (Correct answer)
- Department budget allocations
- Market salary surveys only
Correct answer: Seniority, merit, quantity/quality of production, or a factor other than sex
The Equal Pay Act allows wage differentials based on seniority, merit, production-based systems, or any factor other than sex.
Question 5: An employer fires an employee the day after the employee files an internal discrimination complaint. This is most likely an example of:
- Constructive discharge
- Disparate treatment
- Retaliation (Correct answer)
- Wrongful termination under the ADEA
Correct answer: Retaliation
Retaliation occurs when an employer takes an adverse action against an employee for engaging in protected activity such as filing a discrimination complaint.
Question 6: Which law requires covered federal contractors to take affirmative action to employ qualified individuals with disabilities?
- Title I of the ADA
- Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act (Correct answer)
- The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act
- Executive Order 11246
Correct answer: Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act
Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act requires federal contractors and subcontractors to take affirmative action for qualified individuals with disabilities.
Question 7: A supervisor creates a hostile work environment by repeatedly making racially offensive remarks. The employer may be liable even if upper management was unaware because:
- Employers are always strictly liable for supervisor misconduct
- Supervisors are agents of the employer and their acts can be imputed to the company (Correct answer)
- The EEOC requires automatic employer liability for all harassment
- Title VII does not require actual knowledge
Correct answer: Supervisors are agents of the employer and their acts can be imputed to the company
Supervisors act as agents of the employer, and under certain circumstances, their harassing conduct can be legally attributed to the organization.
USA EEO and Legal Compliance 3
A company requires all applicants to pass a physical strength test.
If women fail this test at a significantly higher rate than men, the employer must show the test is: