Book Opener

Cesar ChavezUnions exist withinmany industries. In1952, a migrant workernamed Cesar Chavezbegan working for theethical treatment offield workers. By 1972,he was the presidentof the United FarmWorkers Union. Becauseof Cesar Chavez’sefforts, field and citrusworkers have betterpay and working conditions.Cesar Chavez isthe first union leaderin U.S. history to behonored with a stateholiday. In California,Cesar Chavez Day iscelebrated on March 31.Do you think thatCesar Chavez shouldalso be recognizedwith a nationalholiday? Why orwhy not?Get InvolvedDo a report on CesarChavez, and share it inclass. Ask your parentsand neighbors aboutthe advantages anddisadvantages ofbelonging to a union.applied for a position as an auto mechanic at his shop, Waltherrefused to consider her as a candidate, in spite of her excellentqualifications and experience. He later told an employee that he“didn’t believe in hiring female mechanics.” Walther chose tohire a young male mechanic who had little experience and formaltraining. If sued, Walther could be found guilty of practicing discriminationthrough disparate treatment.Employers have a defense against the charge of disparate treatment.This defense is termed a bona fide occupational qualification(BFOQ) . If the employer can show that the qualification in question isa bona fide (good faith) employment qualification, then the discriminationmay be justified. For example, requiring that all applicants for ajob modeling women’s bathing suits be female would be a bona fideoccupational qualification. However, the BFOQ defense can never beused to justify discrimination based on race.Disparate Impact Discrimination can also take place via disparateimpact , which is indirect discrimination. Discrimination through disparateimpact occurs when an employer has an employment policy orcriteria that appears neutral on the surface but has an unfair impact onthe members of one or more of the protected classes. For example, anemployer who only hires people who are over six feet tall may be discriminatingthrough disparate impact.Example 5. Marcus Kachur, the owner of Allied Trucking andHauling, stipulated that all employees must be able to benchpress150 pounds. Nearly all women who applied at Kachur’sfirm were unable to meet this requirement. Kachur justified hispolicy by stating that employees needed to be able lift heavy objectsto perform their daily job duties. However, Kachur’s employeeswere primarily in charge of driving goods to theirdestinations. Very seldom did Kachur’s employees actually loador unload goods. If sued, Kachur could be found guilty of practicingdiscrimination through disparate impact.Employers have a defense against a charge of disparate impact, knownas business necessity . If the employer can show that qualification isrequired to perform the job, then it may be permitted despite its disparateimpact on a protected class. For instance, a requirement that all applicantsfor a job as a surgeon have a medical degree might have a disparate impacton one of the protected classes. However, because a medical degree isneeded to do the job, this qualification is a business necessity.468 Unit 4: Being an Agent and Getting a Job