Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the centerpiece of efforts to end discrimination in the workplace. It prohibits discrimination in hiring, firing, promotion, and terms and conditions of work based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Ironically, the ban on sex discrimination was added to the act by amendment during the House floor debate by enemies of its passage, who believed that some members of Congress would vote against the bill if its protections were extended to women.
The place of women in the work world had been the product of an ideology that assigned man the role of breadwinner and woman the role of childrearer. Underlying this ideology was the belief that women and men are fundamentally different. Early Title VII litigators sought to dismantle sexual inequality in the workplace by attacking the assertion that men and women are fundamentally different. They argued that the antidiscrimination principle required that women and men similarly situated must be treated equally with respect to ability to perform a particular job.
Title VII enables employers to defend practices and policies that discriminate on the basis of sex where sex is found to be a bona fide occupational qualification. In the 1991 groundbreaking decision of International Union, UAW v. Johnson Controls, for example, the Supreme Court held that an employer must prove that a sex-based job qualification is related to the essence of the employer's business. The Court required the employer to prove that substantially all women are unable to perform the job's duties safely, efficiently, and without discrimination.
The Court also has sent a strong signal that sexual harassment is a serious violation of the law and that lower courts should cease putting legal roadblocks in the way of success. Title VII undoubtedly has improved the condition of women in the workplace. Much remains to be accomplished to "break the glass ceiling," including improving women's wages, providing job settings that accommodate work and family needs, and fully integrating women into traditionally male-dominated occupations.
Jane Dolkart
See also
Sexual Harassment.
