Equal Opportunity Guidance

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was landmark legislation in the United States. It outlawed racial segregation in schools, public places, and employment. The act was designed to help African Americans; however, the bill was amended prior to passage to protect women. It also included white pe for the first time. Furthermore, it created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency responsible for enforcing Title VII.

The act prohibits employment discrimination based on the following:

• Race
• Color
• Religion
• Sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, and pregnancy)
• National origin.

The law prohibits reprisal or retaliation for participating in the EEO process or for opposing any unlawful employment practices covered by Title VII. It also requires employers to reasonably accommodate applicants and employees sincerely held religious practices, unless doing so would cause undue hardship on the employer's business operations.

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act

This law amended Title VII to make it illegal to discriminate against a person because of pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition. The law also makes it illegal to retaliate against a person because the person complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit.

This law protects men and women who perform substantially equal work in the same establishment from sex-based wage discrimination. Equal work means that the jobs being compared required equal skills, effort and responsibilities, and are performed under similar working conditions. The law specifically prohibits employers from paying employees of one sex less than those of the opposite sex who perform equal work.

This law prohibits employment discrimination against persons 40 years of age or older in the United States. The ADEA includes a broad ban against age discrimination and also specifically prohibits:

• Discrimination in hiring, promotions, wages, or firing/layoffs.
• Statements or specifications in job notices or advertisements of age preference and limitations.
• Denying benefits to older employees.
• Mandatory retirement in most sectors, with phased elimination of mandatory retirement for tenured workers

Mandatory retirement based on age is permitted for executives over age 65 in senior policy-making positions and eligible for a pension over a minimum yearly amount. It also applies to pilots 60 years of age and older.

The ADA provides a wide range of civil rights protection for individuals with disabilities (mental and/or physical impairments that limit major life activities). Titles I and V prohibit employment discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities in private businesses and in state and local governments, but who are otherwise qualified for employment.

The ADA prohibits discrimination in all employment practices, including:

• Job application procedures
• Hiring
• Firing
• Training
• Compensation
• Advancement
• Any other terms, conditions, or privileges of employment.

The ADA does not require preferential treatment of individuals with disabilities, as employers are free to select the most qualified applicant for the position. However, it does prohibit discrimination based solely on a candidate's real or perceived disability.

This law prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities who work in the federal government.

This is a United States statute passed in response to a series of Supreme Court decisions which limited the rights of employees who had sued their employers for discrimination. The Act was the first effort since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to modify some of the basic procedural and substantive rights provided by federal law in employment discrimination cases. It provided the right to trial by jury on discrimination claims and introduced the possibility of emotional distress damages, while limiting the amount that a jury could award.

The 1991 Act combined elements from two different civil rights acts of the past: The Civil Rights Act of 1866 (or "Section 1981") and the Employment-related provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (or "Title VII").

The two statutes, passed nearly a century apart, approached the issue of employment discrimination very differently:

By the time the 1991 Act was passed both allowed for an award of attorney's fees.

This law makes it illegal to discriminate against employees or applicants because of genetic information. Genetic information includes information about an individual's genetic tests and the genetic tests of an individual's family members, as well as information about any disease, disorder or condition of an individual's family members (i.e. an individual's family medical history). The law also makes it illegal to retaliate against a person because the person complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit.

Section 301 of the Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 (the No Fear Act), requires federal agencies to post statistical data pertaining to complaints of employment discrimination filed against it by employees, former employees and applicants for employment under 29 C.F.R. Part 1614. The specific data to be posted is described in section 301(b) of the Act and 29 CFR 1614.704. The required summary statistical data for EEO complaints filed against CDC is available on the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act and No Fear Act page.

In addition, Section 302 of the No Fear Act requires CDC to post government-wide, summary statistical data pertaining to hearings requested under 29 C.F.R. Part 1614 and appeals filed with EEOC. The specific data to be posted is described in section 302(a) of the Act and 29 CFR 1614.706. That data is also available on the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act and No Fear Act page. The posting of EEO data on agency public websites is intended to assist Congress, federal agencies and the public to assess whether and the extent to which agencies are living up to their equal employment opportunity responsibilities.

The Architectural Barriers Act (ABA) requires access to facilities that are designed, built, altered, or leased with federal funds. The Access Board is the federal agency responsible for enforcing the ABA. The accessibility standards and information about filing a complaint may be found on the Access Board's website.