Employment Law for Business 7th Edition by Bennett Alexander - Test Bank

Employment Law for Business 7th Edition by Bennett Alexander – Test Bank

 

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Sample Questions Are Posted Below

 

Chapter 05

Affirmative Action

 

 

True / False Questions

1. (p. 207)If a female or minority is in an applicant pool with other non minority or female candidates, affirmative action requires the female or minority to be hired automatically.
   FALSE

 

Difficulty: 1 Easy

2. (p. 214)An affirmative action plan should be designed to remedy past discrimination.
   FALSE

 

Difficulty: 1 Easy

3. (p. 221)All federal employment discrimination statutes, except the Rehabilitation Act, have affirmative action requirements.
   FALSE

 

Difficulty: 3 Hard

4. (p. 221)Under Executive Order 11246 federal contractors must agree not to discriminate in hiring on the basis of race, color, religion, gender or national origin.
   TRUE

 

Difficulty: 1 Easy

 

 

5. (p. 223)The Admiralty Aircraft Company builds airplanes for the U.S. Navy. It has been determined that Admiralty has an under representation of women in executive positions. According to federal regulations, Admiralty must establish placement goals for female executives and use quotas to achieve those goals.
   FALSE

 

Difficulty: 3 Hard

6. (p. 214)As a carpenter, Millie Mandel, a woman, is a member of a group defined by a protected trait (sex) that has been traditionally underrepresented in her union’s apprenticeship program. However, Millie has not been a victim of sex discrimination by the union. Therefore, Millie is excluded from enjoying the benefits of any affirmative action plan designed to redress the historical under representation of women in the union’s carpenter apprenticeship program.
   FALSE

 

Difficulty: 3 Hard

7. (p. 226)One-for-one hiring is rarely used and only in long-standing cases of under-representation.
   TRUE

 

Difficulty: 2 Medium

8. (p. 226-227)If there has been a finding of past discrimination, the Civil Rights Act of 1991 made it legal to adjust or alter the scores of employment related tests on the basis of race, color, religion, gender or national origin.
   FALSE

 

Difficulty: 3 Hard

9. (p. 221)Affirmative action applies to all employers engaged in interstate commerce.
   FALSE

 

Difficulty: 2 Medium

 

 

10. (p. 231, 247)In, United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO v. Weber, the court ordered judicial affirmative action after the court’s orders had been ignored for 18 years.
    FALSE

 

Difficulty: 3 Hard

11. (p. 237)Under the Jobs for Veterans Act of 2002, a company that has a contract with the Federal government, is required to develop an affirmative action plan for qualified disabled veterans without showing that they are underrepresented in the employer’s workforce.
    TRUE

 

Difficulty: 3 Hard

 

Multiple Choice Questions

12. (p. 202)The ______ Amendment abolished slavery in 1865.
    A. Fourth
    B. Thirteenth
    C. Fourteenth
    D. Twenty-First

 

Difficulty: 2 Medium

13. (p. 205)Segregation in the workplace was legal in many parts of the United States until
    A. the 1954 Supreme Court case of Brown v. Topeka Board of Education.
    B. the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
    C. the 1979 Supreme Court case of United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO v. Weber.
    D. the 1971 Supreme Court case of Griggs v. Duke Power.

 

Difficulty: 2 Medium

 

 

14. (p. 212)Research shows that
    A. Nearly 90 percent of jobs are filled through word-of-mouth recruiting.
    B. Women and minorities are frequently routed into career paths like customer relations and human resources, which do not lead to top level jobs.
    C. There is little correlation between what African American and white workers score on employment tests and how they perform in the workplace.
    D. All of the above.

 

Difficulty: 1 Easy

15. (p. 221)An affirmative action program can be created by
    A. coverage of an employer under Executive Order 11246.
    B. a judicially ordered remedy for a finding of discrimination under Title VII.
    C. voluntary affirmative action by an employer.
    D. All of the choices are correct.

 

Difficulty: 1 Easy

16. (p. 222, 225)Northpoint is a federal contractor located in Washington, D.C., with 562 employees, of which 77 are engineers. Northpoint receives millions of dollars in contracts every year. Nearly fifty percent of the population of Washington, D.C. is African-American and nearly thirty percent of the population of the Washington, D.C. metro area is African American. However, none of the engineers employed at Northpoint is African-American. Northpoint
    A. can adopt a voluntary affirmative action plan to increase the percentage of African American engineers.
    B. can adopt a voluntary affirmative action plan after analyzing the availability of African American engineers in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
    C. Both A and B
    D. must adopt an affirmative action plan.

 

Difficulty: 3 Hard

 

 

17. (p. 229)Apex Community Hospitals has contracts with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) to provide health care for veterans. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs found that Apex misrepresented the results of its affirmative action plan. Apex can be subject to the following remedies.
    A. Civil penalties.
    B. Canceling of the contracts and debarment from future contracts until such time as the Secretary of Labor is satisfied that Apex will comply with its obligations under Executive Order 11246.
    C. Criminal proceedings.
    D. All of the choices are correct.

 

Difficulty: 2 Medium

18. (p. 231)Go Orange Electronics has been manufacturing computers since 1979. It employs approximately 2700 employees. In 1987, the company’s EEO Department advised management that 97% of the company’s supervisors were white, although the company’s workforce was 38% other than white. The company decided to implement a voluntary affirmative action plan which would reserve 25% of each supervisory training class for blacks and other minorities until such time as the percentage of minorities that were supervisors was representative of the available minorities in the local labor force.
    A. this affirmative action plan is illegal because it sets a quota for the number of minorities allowed in the class.
    B. this affirmative action plan is illegal because it discriminates against white men.
    C. this affirmative action plan is legal because it is temporary, doesn’t unnecessarily infringe on the rights of white employees, and is designed to eliminate the racial imbalance in supervisory positions.
    D. this affirmative action plan is legal because it only sets aside 25% of the class for minorities.

 

Difficulty: 2 Medium

19. (p. 214)Affirmative action is used:
    A. when there is a need to address past employment discrimination.
    B. when there is a demonstrated under representation or a finding of discrimination.
    C. when employers, private or public, are motivated to achieve racial balance in the workplace.
    D. All of the above.

 

Difficulty: 2 Medium

 

 

20. (p. 225)To determine if there is an under representation of women or minorities in its workforce, an employer should look at the difference between
    A. the number of women and minorities in the workforce and the number of white males in the workforce.
    B. the availability of women and minorities in the labor pool from which employees are hired and their presence in the workforce.
    C. the number of women and minorities in the workforce and the number of white males in the labor pool from which employees are hired.
    D. the number of women and minorities in the labor pool from which employees are hired and the number of white males in the workforce.

 

Difficulty: 3 Hard

21. (p. 229)Milltown County Police Department is not complying with its own voluntary affirmative action plan to increase representation of women and minorities in the police department. Penalties for not complying with its plan include:
    A. Publication of noncompliance in the local newspaper
    B. Criminal prosecution
    C. Debarment
    D. None of the above.

 

Difficulty: 3 Hard

22. (p. 233)Reverse discrimination:
    A. has never been acknowledged by the courts as a valid claim.
    B. occurs when a lawsuit is brought by a majority member claiming that he/she is a member of a protected class.
    C. occurs when a lawsuit is brought by a majority member claiming that he/she has been adversely affected by the use of an affirmative action plan.
    D. None of the above.

 

Difficulty: 1 Easy

 

 

23. (p. 238)“Valuing diversity” is a concept that
    A. represents the “politically correct” attitude to adopt in the workplace, but has no connection to eliminating employment discrimination.
    B. encourages ethnic groups to form their own organizations to promote their culture in the workplace in an effort to combat discrimination.
    C. encourages all members of the workforce to learn to accept, appreciate and value the contributions that result from a diverse workforce.
    D. All of the choices are correct.

 

Difficulty: 3 Hard

24. (p. 221)Executive Order 11246 requires all federal contractors
    A. with 50 or more employees and a non-construction contract of $10,000 or more to develop a written affirmative action plan.
    B. with 50 or more employees and a non-construction contract of $50,000 or more to develop a written affirmative action plan.
    C. to draft an affirmative action plan regardless of the number of employees or the size of the contract.
    D. None of the choices are correct.

 

Difficulty: 3 Hard

25. (p. 225)Employer instituted quotas are
    A. required by Title VII and Executive Order 11246.
    B. not required by Title VII but are permitted by Executive Order 11246.
    C. not required by Title VII or by Executive Order 11246.
    D. permitted by Title VII but not required by Executive Order 11246.

 

Difficulty: 2 Medium

 

 

26. (p. 230)Judicial Affirmative Action is a remedy imposed by the courts when
    A. workplace discrimination has been found in violation of Title VII and an affirmative action plan is the appropriate remedy.
    B. Federal contractors fail to comply with Executive Order 11246.
    C. voluntary affirmative action plans result in reverse discrimination.
    D. voluntary affirmative action plans fail to eliminate workplace discrimination.

 

Difficulty: 3 Hard

27. (p. 207)One of the commonly held myths about affirmative action is
    A. that it cannot eliminate discrimination in the workplace without a diversity component.
    B. that it requires employers to hire unqualified minorities and women instead of qualified white males.
    C. that it is allowed only when there is demonstrated under representation or a finding of discrimination.
    D. All of the choices are correct.

 

Difficulty: 1 Easy

28. (p. 227)A “corporate management compliance evaluation” is
    A. an evaluation used to determine if federal contractors have developed the required affirmative action plan.
    B. an evaluation used to determine whether there are artificial barriers preventing women and minorities from being promoted to mid and senior level management positions.
    C. an evaluation used to determine if the federal contractor has achieved the placement goals set by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.
    D. an evaluation of the federal contractor’s report addressing the under representation of women and minorities as it relates to availability in the workforce.

 

Difficulty: 3 Hard

 

 

29. (p. 234, 249, 253)Nurses at City Hospital must successfully pass a test to be promoted. The test was job related and professionally developed and validated. This year, the city discovered that African American and Hispanic nurses taking the test scored significantly lower than white and Asian nurses. Therefore,
    A. based on Ricci v. DeStefano, the city should ignore the test scores in making promotions to avoid discrimination against the African American and Hispanic nurses.
    B. based on Ricci v. DeStefano, the city should use the test scores in making promotions to avoid discrimination against the white and Asian nurses.
    C. based on Johnson v. Transportation Agency, Santa Clara County, the city should ignore the test scores in making promotions to avoid discrimination against the African American and Hispanic nurses.
    D. based on Johnson v. Transportation Agency, Santa Clara County, the city should use the test scores in making promotions to avoid discrimination against the white and Asian nurses.

 

Difficulty: 3 Hard

30. (p. 207, 227)Title VII:
    A. prohibits discrimination and prohibits affirmative action.
    B. prohibits discrimination and requires reverse discrimination.
    C. prohibits discrimination and requires affirmative action.
    D. prohibits discrimination and permits affirmative action.

 

Difficulty: 2 Medium

31. (p. 230)In Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, the U.S. Supreme Court held that:
    A. affirmative action can be used to further the educational goal of a diverse student body.
    B. only race-neutral affirmative action is permissible under the Constitution.
    C. only race-conscious affirmative action is permissible under the Constitution.
    D. affirmative action in publicly funded schools is unconstitutional.

 

Difficulty: 2 Medium

 

 

32. (p. 202)Research has shown that the group that has made the most gains under affirmative action is
    A. African-American men.
    B. African-American women.
    C. White women.
    D. Asian men.

 

Difficulty: 1 Easy

33. (p. 221)Executive Order 11246
    A. regulates federal government contractors and lawsuits by private employees.
    B. allows private employees to sue the Secretary of Labor to compel federal contractors to comply with the provisions of the Order.
    C. is administered by the Secretary of Labor and the Office of Special Counsel.
    D. prohibits the use of affirmative action plans.

 

Difficulty: 1 Easy

34. (p. 247)Abigail Adams University has done a self audit and identified a conspicuous racial imbalance in that 85% of their department chairs and deans are white men. They voluntarily institute a plan that mandates that future selections of department chairs and deans will be on a 1 to 1 basis until an appropriate ratio is achieved. Mike Rogers, a white male professor, has applied for a position as a dean and is rejected. He subsequently discovers that a less qualified black female was promoted into the spot he sought. If Professor Rogers files a claim based on discrimination, he will
    A. lose because suits based on reverse discrimination are barred by Title VII.
    B. win because Executive Order 11246 requires that affirmative action plans be permanent rather than temporary.
    C. win because one-for-one hiring, training or promotion programs are disfavored by the courts except to remedy long-standing resistant cases of under representation.
    D. lose because temporary plans to remedy existing injustices are permitted based on United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO v. Weber.

 

Difficulty: 3 Hard

 

 

35. (p. 223)In 2000, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs issued a comprehensive set of changes to its regulation. The changes were designed to
    A. force more employers to implement voluntary affirmative action plans.
    B. change the attitude of employers so that affirmative action plans are perceived as a management tool to ensure equal employment opportunity.
    C. require all employers to seek technical assistance from the OFCCP in order to reduce the number of “faulty” affirmative action plans.
    D. All of the choices are correct.

 

Difficulty: 3 Hard

36. (p. 228)Powhatan College has become aware of under-representation of Native Americans in its workforce in the Southwestern United States. It is considering a number of steps to increase the number of Native Americans in its workforce.
    A. recruiting at community events near or on Native American reservations and at Indian tribal colleges.
    B. rating all applicants on a one hundred point scale and giving Native American applicants twenty points automatically based on their national origin.
    C. designating specific positions to be filled by Native Americans.
    D. All the choices violate the law.

 

Difficulty: 2 Medium

37. (p. 228, 233)Affirmative action plans
    A. must follow strict guidelines to ensure that plan can withstand a challenge based on reverse discrimination.
    B. can be adopted by an employer even though a Title VII claim has not been filed.
    C. can include on-the-job training for women and minorities.
    D. All of the choices are correct.

 

Difficulty: 1 Easy

 

 

38. (p. 247)In Local 28, Sheet Metal Workers v. EEOC,
    A. the court ordered the union to participate in an affirmative action plan designed to increase its black membership.
    B. the court held that the union could not be ordered to allow blacks to join as a remedy for past discrimination.
    C. the court held that the union could not be compelled to allow blacks to join because the current employees were not victims of past discrimination.
    D. All of the choices are correct.

 

Difficulty: 2 Medium

39. (p. 214, 228, 231)Voluntary affirmative action plans
    A. are used to remedy current-day discrimination.
    B. allowed if the employer has discovered an under representation of women and minorities.
    C. are used by employers to prevent Title VII lawsuits.
    D. All of the choices are correct.

 

Difficulty: 2 Medium

40. (p. 221)Executive Order 11246
    A. is enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for complaints by Federal employees.
    B. as currently used, was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
    C. does not allow employees to file private lawsuits for violations of the order.
    D. None of the choices are correct.

 

Difficulty: 2 Medium

41. (p. 202)“Jim Crow” laws
    A. were used after slavery was abolished to segregate blacks from whites.
    B. were used after slavery by blacks to assert their rights in society.
    C. were only used to segregate the public schools after reconstruction.
    D. None of the choices are correct.

 

Difficulty: 1 Easy

 

 

42. (p. 228)White Swan Motors practice of hiring only applicants recommended by its employees has been found to have an adverse impact on non-white applicants. White Swan plans to implement a voluntary affirmative action plan. Which of the following actions is not available to White Swan as part of its plan?
    A. Training and programs, including on-the-job training, for minorities to enable them to develop the skills and experience necessary to perform jobs at White Swan.
    B. Recruiting activity that is extensive and focused on identifying minority applicants for jobs at White Swan.
    C. Designate certain positions at White Swan to be filled by minority applicants.
    D. Training of existing employees on the elements of the affirmative action plan.

 

Difficulty: 2 Medium

43. (p. 233)Reverse discrimination cases are approximately
    A. 12 percent of the EEOC’s case load and are rarely found to be meritorious.
    B. 3 percent of the EEOC’s case load and are often found to be meritorious.
    C. 3 percent of the EEOC’s case load and are rarely found to be meritorious.
    D. 12 percent of the EEOC’s case load and are often found to be meritorious.

 

Difficulty: 1 Easy

44. (p. 223)In order for an affirmative action program to meet Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program requirements, it should
    A. develop and implement internal auditing systems that periodically measure the effectiveness of the company’s affirmative action plans.
    B. set a placement goal for women and minorities for every occupation in the company.
    C. appoint a Diversity Coordinator and a Diversity Council with representatives from all parts of the company.
    D. show that the company has made at least a minimal effort to promote affirmative action.

 

Difficulty: 3 Hard

 

 

Essay Questions

 

45. (p. 225)Distinguish between quotas and affirmative action goals.

A quota is a specified number of individuals, belonging to groups defined by protected traits that must be accorded the benefit of an affirmative action plan. Goals are targets or objectives to be strived for, without the specification of strict numerical events that must occur along the way to the achievement of the goals. Goals are appropriate for voluntary affirmative action plans, but quotas are appropriate only in very rare cases of court ordered affirmative action plans when there has been a long-standing violation of the law and other remedies will be insufficient.

 

Difficulty: 2 Medium

46. (p. 231, 249)The Fairview County Public Library has 516 employees, including 163 librarians. A study of the library staff reveals that 3 out of 30 supervisors in the library branches are male although men make up 25% of the branch librarians. In order to increase the number of male supervisory librarians, the library decides to implement an affirmative action plan that would consider gender as one component of the decision when promoting librarians. Is this affirmative action plan valid? Explain your answer.

Yes, the Supreme Court held in Johnson v. Transportation Agency, Santa Clara County, California that a public employer could consider gender under its voluntary affirmative action plan as one factor of a promotion decision. The court compared this case to Weber stating that the voluntary affirmative action plan designed to redress a “conspicuous imbalance” in traditionally segregated job categories represented a moderate, case-by-case approach to a gradual improvement in the representation of women and minorities. In this situation, librarians are a category of employment in which females predominate, making it arguably reasonable to create a voluntary affirmative action plan for males.

No. Students may also want to assert that the imbalance found in the Fairview library system is not due to historical discrimination against white males. Instead, the imbalance is a reflection of past limitations on the occupations available to women, as well as the lifestyle choices made by women and men in the workplace. Affirmative action plans are part of an effort to ensure equal opportunity in the workplace and to make up for the present lingering effects of past discrimination. Men have not had to face the same employment barriers as women. Therefore, an affirmative action plan for men is not permissible.

 

Difficulty: 3 Hard

 

 

47. (p. 231, 233)What is “reverse discrimination” and how should an employer respond to an employee’s claim of reverse discrimination?

Reverse discrimination refers to an instance where a member of a majority group alleges that anti-discrimination laws have caused her or him to suffer discrimination. It usually occurs in connection with a claim that the complainant has been adversely affected by the use of an affirmative action plan. An employer should be able to respond to a claim of reverse discrimination by showing the justification for the affirmative action plan. Specifically, the employer must show that the plan complies with the requirements for a voluntary affirmative action plan as articulated by the Supreme Court in Weber: (1) that the plan was implemented to address the present day effect of discrimination; (2) that the plan is temporary; (3) that the plan does not unnecessarily trammel the rights of white employees.

 

Difficulty: 2 Medium

48. (p. 249)Why did the Supreme Court, in Johnson v. Transportation Agency, Santa Clara County, California, determine that a public employer could appropriately take gender into account under its voluntary affirmative action plan as one factor of a promotion decision?

The Court said the plan, voluntarily adopted to redress a “conspicuous imbalance in traditionally segregated job categories,” represented a “moderate, flexible, case-by-case approach to effecting a gradual improvement in the representation of minorities and women.” Consistent with Weber, the plan was acceptable because

1. It did not unnecessarily trammel male employees’ rights or create an absolute bar to their advancement.
2. It set aside no positions for women and expressly stated that its goals should not be construed as quotas to be met.
3. It unsettled no legitimate, firmly rooted expectation of employees.
4. It was only temporary in that it was for purposes of attaining, not maintaining, a balanced workforce.
5. There was minimal intrusion into the legitimate, settled expectations of other employees.

 

Difficulty: 2 Medium

 

 

49. (p. 222)AlphaOmega Defense is a federal contractor located in Chicago. It has noticed an under representation of women and minorities in middle and top level jobs within the company. Should AlphaOmega adopt an affirmative action plan? If so, what should it consider?

If AlphaOmega has contracts with the federal government for more than $10,000, it must comply with Executive Order 11246. If it has a non-construction contract with the federal government for $50,000 or more, it must have a written affirmative action plan within 120 days of the beginning of the contract. The plan must be developed following the rules set forth in the Code of Federal Regulations. The plan must have quantitative and qualitative components. AlphaOmega must prepare an organization profile and a job group analysis. It must determine if there is an under representation of women and minorities when compared with their availability in the local labor market. It should then develop placement goals to reflect the reasonable availability of women and minorities in the geographic area.

 

Difficulty: 2 Medium

50. (p. 210, 228, 241)Describe some lawful steps that an employer can take to bring qualified women and minorities into a workplace from which it has been determined that they have previously been excluded.

An employer can take actions that will increase the interest and availability of applicants who are women or minorities. For example, the employer can expand outreach to groups the employers has not generally made an effort to reach. This can be done by advertising in publications that have audiences of female or minority readers. Recruiting can be conducted at meetings of organizations that have high attendance by women or minorities at colleges and universities that emphasize the enrollment of women and minorities, such as all female colleges or historically black colleges and universities. Also, an employer can establish programs for mentoring, training, and management development of women and minorities. All of these steps are designed to bring into the workplace groups which the employer previously left out of the employment process.

 

Difficulty: 2 Medium