Question

A publicly traded company operating over 800 restaurants nationally and in 15 foreign countries with 34,000 employees with a reported gross revenue of $1.25 billion dollars is the subject of this action.  This chain restaurant posted an internal announcement for a temporary summer position in its Park City, Utah resort location for employees in a nine state region. The position included company-provided housing and greater earnings. However, the announcement stated that only female employees would be considered because of concerns about housing employees of both genders together. The restaurant selected only women for those summer jobs. Two male employees were turned down for the opportunity. Please answer the following questions.

1) What federal law will the two male employees rely on in this action?

2) Can the two male employees bring an action in federal court immediately? If not, with what federal agency must they file a complaint first?

3) What is the statute of limitation of limitations on the filing of the complaint?

4) What doctrine will the male employees most likely use to prove discrimination and how will they go about proving it? How might the employer respond to or refute the allegations of discrimination?

5) How do you think the Court should rule and what is the basis for that ruling?

Answer 1

1. The 2 male employees who were rejected for the summer job, may rely on the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, 1964 as well as violation of Equal Employment Opportunities Act. The 2 male employees are citing for discrimination by the company.

2. The appointed federal agency for the employment and workplace discrimination cases is the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC). The 2 male employees will be required to register the discrimination complaint against the company with EEOC.

3. As a general practice, the statute of limitations for discrimination case is 180 days. The employees are required to file for the discrimination case within 180 days from the day, the incident of discrimination took place.

4. The employees can state that equal opportunity for the summer job was withheld from them, based on their gender. This will be in aligned with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act as well as Equal Employment Opportunities Act.

The employer may state that the hiring was conducted to increase diversity of the workplace and hence the eligibility criteria of being a female, was a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ). This cannot be considered as an act of discrimination by the company.

5. The court will rule in favor of the company. The court may check the diversity quotient of the company and may take the decision accordingly.