Chapter 42: Employment, Labor, and Anti-Discrimination Law

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering major federal labor laws, employment discrimination statutes, legal defenses, landmark judicial precedents, and statutory employee protections from Chapter 42.

Norris-La Guardia Act (1932)

A federal statute, also known as the Anti-Injunction Bill, that established U.S. policy supporting the freedom of labor to form unions without employer interference, banned yellow dog contracts, and withdrew the power of federal courts to issue injunctions in nonviolent labor disputes.

Yellow Dog Contract

An employment agreement through which an employer coerces an employee into promising not to join or remain a member of a labor union as a condition of employment.

National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)

A 1935 statute, also called the Wagner Act, that established federally protected Section 7 rights to self-organization, collective bargaining, and concerted activity; prohibited five unfair employer labor practices; and created the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)

The federal administrative body created by the National Labor Relations Act to monitor and administer employee rights, adjudicate unfair labor practice charges, and supervise secret-ballot representation elections.

Unfair Employer Labor Practices

Five unlawful employer practices under Section 8(a) of the NLRA: interfering with employees' rights to unionize/bargain collectively, dominating a union, discriminating against union members, discriminating against an employee who filed charges or testified under the Act, and refusing to bargain in good faith.

Labor-Management Relations Act (LMRA)

A 1947 federal statute, also known as the Taft-Hartley Act, that added seven unfair union labor practices, prohibited closed shops, permitted union shops, separated the NLRB's prosecutorial and adjudicative functions, and authorized an 80-day cooling-off injunction for strikes threatening national health or safety.

Unfair Union Labor Practices

Seven prohibited union actions under Section 8(b) of the NLRA/LMRA: coercing an employee to join a union; causing an employer to discriminate against a nonunion worker; refusing to bargain in good faith; levying excessive dues; featherbedding; recognitional picketing for an uncertified union; and engaging in secondary activity.

Secondary Activity

A strike, boycott, or picketing directed against an employer with whom the union has no direct labor dispute, in order to pressure that secondary entity into ceasing business with the employer that is the actual target.

Featherbedding

An unfair union labor practice under the LMRA that involves causing an employer to pay for work not performed or services not delivered.

Closed Shop

A prohibited collective bargaining agreement clause that mandates the employer hire only individuals who are already union members.

Union Shop

A permitted employment agreement allowing an employer to hire nonunion members, provided they join the union within a specified timeframe and maintain membership in good standing as a condition of continued employment.

Janus v. State, County, and Municipal Employees (2018)

A 5-4 Supreme Court ruling holding that state laws compelling non-member public sector employees to pay agency fees to a public union violate the First Amendment.

Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA)

A statute, also known as the Landrum-Griffin Act, aimed at eliminating labor union corruption through mandatory reporting requirements and a union member 'bill of rights' protecting free speech, voting, and fair disciplinary hearings.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

The federal administrative enforcement agency responsible for investigating discrimination charges, attempting conciliation, issuing regulatory guidelines, and filing lawsuits under federal anti-discrimination statutes.

Equal Pay Act

A statute prohibiting employers from paying unequal wages based on gender for substantially equal work requiring equal skill, effort, and responsibility performed under similar working conditions at the same establishment.

Equal Pay Act Defenses

The four statutory justifications an employer may assert to defeat a pay disparity claim: (1) a seniority system, (2) a merit system, (3) a system measuring earnings by quantity or quality of production, or (4) any factor other than sex.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

The federal statute prohibiting employment discrimination in hiring, firing, pay, promotion, and terms/conditions of employment based on race, color, gender, religion, or national origin for employers with 15 or more employees.

Pregnancy Discrimination Act

An amendment extending Title VII protections to pregnant women, barring adverse employment actions due to pregnancy and requiring employers to treat pregnancy-related conditions like any other temporary disability.

Disparate Treatment

A form of intentional discrimination under Title VII where an employer treats certain employees or applicants less favorably than others because of their protected characteristic, requiring proof of discriminatory motive.

McDonnell Douglas Framework

The burden-shifting framework established in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green (1973) where a plaintiff establishes a prima facie disparate treatment case, shifting the burden to the employer to state a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason, which the plaintiff must then prove is a pretext.

Disparate Impact

A theory of liability under Title VII where an employer adopts facially neutral employment rules or criteria that disproportionately exclude or harm a protected class and cannot be justified as job-related and consistent with business necessity.

Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ)

A statutory defense allowing an employer to discriminate on the basis of religion, sex, national origin, or age when reasonably necessary to the normal operation of the particular enterprise; this defense is explicitly unavailable for race discrimination.

Bostock v. Clayton County (2020)

A landmark 6-3 Supreme Court decision holding that Title VII's prohibition against sex discrimination makes it unlawful for an employer to fire or discriminate against an individual for being gay, lesbian, or transgender.

Civil Rights Act of 1991 Damages Provisions

Provisions allowing victims of intentional discrimination under Title VII and the ADA to recover compensatory and punitive damages; damages are capped from $50,000 to $300,000 based on employer size for all protected classes except race, which has no statutory cap.

Reverse Discrimination

Affirmative action directing an employer to remedy underrepresentation of a protected class in traditionally segregated jobs by considering race or gender when hiring or promoting; tested under Title VII for private employers and strict scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause for public employers.

Sexual Harassment (Title VII)

An unlawful form of sex discrimination involving unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or sexual conduct that explicitly or implicitly conditions employment terms (quid pro quo) or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.

Comparable Worth

The concept that employers should provide equal pay for jobs of substantially equal overall value, evaluated using sex-neutral job criteria such as skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions.

Executive Order 11246 (1965)

A presidential order enforced by the OFCCP prohibiting employment discrimination by federal contractors based on race, color, sex, religion, or national origin, and requiring covered contractors to maintain affirmative action plans.

Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA)

A federal law prohibiting employment discrimination against individuals who are over 40 years of age; applies to private employers with 20 or more employees and all government entities.

Gross v. FBL Financial Services (2009)

A Supreme Court ruling establishing that mixed-motive claims are not actionable under the ADEA; the claimant must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that age was the 'but-for' cause of the challenged employment action.

Rehabilitation Act of 1973

A federal law assisting individuals with handicaps/disabilities by mandating affirmative action in hiring by federal agencies and contractors ($10,000 or more) and prohibiting discrimination in federally funded programs.

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)

Legislation prohibiting discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities across all terms and privileges of employment by employers with 15 or more employees, requiring employers to provide reasonable accommodations unless doing so causes undue hardship.

ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA)

A statute that broadened the definition of disability and major life activities under the ADA, mandating that impairments be evaluated without regard to the ameliorative effects of mitigating measures.

Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA)

A federal law that makes it illegal to discriminate against employees or applicants based on genetic tests or family medical history in any employment decision, while explicitly excluding disparate impact claims.

Employment at Will

A common law doctrine providing that an employment contract of indefinite duration may be terminated by either party at any time for good cause, no cause, or even a morally wrong cause, unless limited by statute, public policy, or express/implied contract.

Public Policy Exception

A recognized judicial exception to employment at will that protects workers from wrongful termination for refusing to violate a statute, exercising a statutory right, performing a statutory obligation, or reporting illegal employer actions (whistle-blowing).

Occupational Safety and Health Act

A statute enacted to assure safe and healthful working environments for workers, establishing OSHA and imposing a general duty on employers to provide workplaces free from recognized hazards causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm.

Employee Polygraph Protection Act

A federal statute restricting private employers from requiring lie detector tests for employment screening, while providing narrow exemptions for government entities, armored car/security firms, controlled-substance manufacturers, and ongoing theft investigations.

Workers' Compensation

A state-administered statutory system providing strict liability compensation to employees for injuries arising out of and in the course of employment, while eliminating common law tort claims and traditional employer negligence defenses.

Fellow Servant Rule

A common law tort defense that shielded employers from liability for an employee's work-related injury if that injury was caused by the negligence of a coworker.

Social Security Act of 1935

Federal legislation establishing social insurance financed by matching employer-employee payroll taxes, encompassing Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI), Disability Insurance (DI), Medicare, and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

A federal statute regulating nonagricultural child labor, establishing a federal minimum wage, and requiring overtime pay at 1.5 times the regular rate for hours worked beyond 40 hours per week.

FLSA Nonagricultural Child Labor Standards

A statutory tiered structure restricting employment outside agriculture: under 14 (newspaper delivery and acting only), 14-15 (limited hours outside school in nonhazardous jobs), 16-17 (any nonhazardous job), and 18+ (any job, hazardous or not).

Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN)

A federal statute requiring employers with 100 or more employees working a combined 2,000+ weekly hours to provide 60 days' written advance notice prior to implementing a covered plant closing or mass layoff.

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

A statute requiring employers with 50 or more employees to grant eligible workers up to 12 weeks of leave in a 12-month period for the birth/adoption of a child or to care for themselves or a close family member with a serious health condition.