Civil Rights Acts of 1964 & 1991
Show the major tenets of Title VII of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and the Civil Rights Act of 1991. Then, take on the role of supervisor of a unit in a computer software company which has approximately 200 employees. You have been told by your boss that you must downsize your unit, in order to help the company save money in these "tough economic times." After reviewing the matter with the other managers in your organization, you decide that you will have to terminate 4 employees. These employees just happen to be of African-American descent and they are all over 40 years of age. After notifying the employees, they object to being terminated. You claim that you are entitled to let them go. What parts of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 1991 apply and what parts of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967 may apply? What issues do you believe the EEOC will use to decide whether to pursue the case? Do you think that your decision will prevail, and why or why not, based on these Acts and how the courts have typically decided these types of cases? Do you think that the ultimate decision will be "just" for the parties involved?