Legal Issues Assignment

Legal Issues Assignment

The main company of discussion is American Freight Furniture and Mattress. The company faced a lawsuit due to its practice of sex discrimination against women job applicants (Hahn, Truman, & Williams, 2018). The main parties involved in the case were American freight furniture and mattress (AFFM) versus Equal employment opportunity commission (EEOC). The lawsuit favored EEOC, which saw AFFM pay up to $5 million to cover the case (U.S EEOC, 2022). EEOC accused AFFM of sex discrimination against female job applicants based on their gender and the general stereotype that females cannot do some jobs done by males.

The court established that American freight had a pattern and tendency of gender discrimination against qualified female applicants. Most applications from females were discarded without due consideration (U.S EEOC, 2022). The lawsuit found that managers of various branches of American freights make inappropriate comments against female job seekers. Managers developed a typical stereotype that females cannot do a great job as can get done by male employees. A general overview of the company's branches established that no woman got hired for any sales position there. Therefore, EEOC accused American freights of violating the provisions of Title VII (Bishop et al., 2021). The Act illegalize segregation against females as far as equal employment opportunities are concerned.

The lawsuit between American freights, and EEOC formed the basis of arguments on the essence of Tittle VII (U.S EEOC, 2022). The Act aimed to eliminate any form of employment barriers in the US employment market and ensure that every citizen enjoys opportunities. The provisions of the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act stipulate employment aspects that discrimination is considered unlawful. The areas include hiring and firing, employment advertisements, retirement plans, employee compensation, training, and internship programs (Benokraitis & Feagin, 2019). All employers are required by the newly established law to adhere to Title VII, which is the central pillar of EEOC.

Title VII of Act provides various grounds upon which employment practices would be considered discriminatory. They include any form of harassment based on race, color, nationality, sex, any employment decision based on gender stereotype, denial of an employment opportunity because of marital status, or any other employment decisions that discriminate based on sex and other aspects (Bishop et al., 2021). The lawsuit by EEOC against American freights got determined that the freight and furniture company must establish an EEOC department that ensures the provisions of Title VII are complied with at all levels of the recruitment process (Hahn et al., 2018). As a result, the American freights company signed a consent to ensure female employees got recruited in the sales and warehouse department (U.S EEOC, 2022). In addition, American freight also signed a decree that will ensure previously qualified female applicants get a job whenever opportunities arise in the company.

In conclusion, EEOC sought to end the stalemate of employment bias against female job applicants practiced by American frieghts. EEOC accused American freights of violating the provisions of Title VII that provided for equal employment opportunities. Many qualified female job applicants missed employment because of sexual discrimination by the management of American freights. Litigation against the company established that they denied not only female applicants jobs in sales and warehouse departments but also made vulgar comments against them. Therefore, American freights signed a decree to ensure equal employment opportunities moving forward. The company also got compelled to reconsider previous female job applicants in their subsequent recruitments.

References

Benokraitis, N. V., & Feagin, J. R. (2019). Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity: Action, Inaction, Reaction: Action, Inaction, Reaction. Routledge.

Bishop, E. B. J., D’arpino, E. M. M. A., Garcia-Bou, G., Henderson, K., Rebeil, S., Renda, E., & Wind, N. (2021). Sex discrimination claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Georgetown journal of gender and the law, 22, 369.

Hahn, R. A., Truman, B. I., & Williams, D. R. (2018). Civil rights as determinants of public health and racial and ethnic health equity: health care, education, employment, and housing in the United States. SSM-population health, 4, 17-24.

U.S EEOC, (2022).  American Freight Furniture and Mattress to Pay $5 Million to Settle Nationwide EEOC Sex Discrimination Suit. Press release.