Question

Carla McFarland was an associate professor of English literature at Highland College. She was the only single person in her department. Consequently, she was frequently assigned classes late in the evening, on weekends, and during the summer semester. She was also called upon to pick up visiting professors and serve as their escort and guide during their stays at the college. She received extra duty as adviser to the The Highland Review, the college's literary magazine. When McFarland complained about the unequal treatment, she was told that the married professors had family responsibilities that she did not have, which took up much of their time and prevented them from having the flexibility that she had. Thus, she would continue to carry the extra load. McFarland filed a complaint with the EEOC.

Can discrimination based on an employee's status as a single person be considered unlawful under the Civil Rights Act? Explain. Is this a case of disparate impact or disparate treatment? Explain. Final answer must be 3 sentences minimum.

See Wilson, Robin. Singular Mistreatment: Unmarried Professors Are Outsiders in the Ozzie and Harriet World of Aca- deme." The Chronicle of Higher Education (23 April 2004): A10-A12

Answer 1

1) In this case the female professor has to do a lot of extra work.

(a) Frequent assignment of duties, late in the evening.
(b) Assigning extra classes on weekends and summer semester.
(c) Responsibilities like picking up visiting professors and providing them guidance.
(d) Additional duty as an adviser for the college literary magazine department.
(e) The college authorities pointed out, her marital status as their justification for the above extra work.

This scenario is a clear violation of the Civil Rights Act where it is specifically mentioned that any discrimination based on the marital status is unlawful. So the lady professor can file a complaint against the college management. This is a case where law authorities can take appropriate actions against the college for violation of law.

2) As per the US labor law a Disparate Impact is the unintentional discrimination in workplaces. This is not applicable here because the college authorities are doing it intentionally.

Disparate Treatment refers to the act of intentionally discriminating employees which is against the rules of the Civil Rights Act. Here the professor was being discriminated against due to her marital status. So this is the case of Disparate Treatment which is a violation of law.