Illegal Discrimination Under Title VII - A Simple Definition

What is Title VII Discrimination?


Must Start With Filing Charge With EEOC

Title VII, initially known as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and later amended to encompass statutes such as the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, makes it illegal to discriminate against employees because of their age, sex, race, pregnancy, religion, national origin or disability.

An employee believing he/she has been a victim of discrimination must, before taking any court action, first file a Charge of Discrimination with EEOC and/or Pennsylvania's Human Relations Commission.

What is Illegal Discrimination Under the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

Are You Different?

An illegal act of discrimination prohibited by Title VII is an intentional act by a decision-maker within a company that impairs the employment rights of an individual. Such acts, frequently in the form of demotion, lack of promotion, suspension, discharge, etc., are referred to as "adverse employment actions."  Such adverse employment actions are illegal IF they are undertaken because of the employee's age, race, sex, pregnancy, national origin, religion or disability.

For simplicity's sake, we will in this Post use the word "termination" as a catch all for all adverse employment actions.

"Pretext" the Key to Proving Discrimination Under Title VII

One proves illegal discrimination by proving that the employer's STATED reason for the termination was bogus, AND THAT THE EMPLOYER KNEW IT WAS BOGUS. In essence, you must prove that the employer made up the reason for the termination.  This is known as a "pretextual termination."

NOTE:  This post does not address the principle of constructive discharge.  In general, a constructive discharge (i.e. an involuntary quit) takes place where an employer's actions are such that no reasonable person would remain employed.  If a constructive discharge is proven, then it is treated the same as a termination.

It is not enough to prove that the employer's reason for adverse employment action was wrong - that will not prove pretext.  It is relatively easy in many cases to cast great doubt on the facts the employer relies upon to provide the basis for the termination. No, in order to prove pretext, one must prove that the reason provided by the employer for the adverse employment action was either a lie or the product of an intentional decision to accept as truth a set of facts that the employer had reason to believe were untrue. 

Courts know that humans make mistakes, and that sometimes companies give bogus reasons for a termination for a variety of reasons (i.e. didn't want to hurt the employee's feelings, were looking for any reason at all to get rid of the employee because they simply did not get along with or were not liked by their boss, were misled by another employee who claimed that the fired employee did something that he/she actually did not do, simply misperceived the employee's performance and quality of work, etc.).  That is why the standard for proving discrimination cases is so hard to satisfy.

If merely proving that an employee was fired for a bad or incorrect reason was enough to prove a discrimination claim, well, the courts would be overflowing and virtually shut down by cases (this type issue is usually dealt with at unemployment hearings - in any given large city, there are 100+ unemployment hearings every day!).



If They Fired you BECAUSE of This, You May Have a Good Claim

No, in order to prove you were fired for an illegal discriminatory reason, you must in essence prove that the employer first made the decision to fire you because of your [age, sex, race, etc.], and then later came up with a reason to fire you that was in essence designed to hide its true motivation.  In other words, you must prove that the employer intentionally made up a pretextual reason for firing you, and that the decision (or at least desire/intention) to fire you existed in advance of the infraction that allegedly led to the termination.

How Do You Prove That an Employer's Reason for Firing You Was Pretextual?

How do you prove that the calculated decision to fire you was due to your age, race, sex, etc.?  Not that easy!  However, here are 3 common indicators that employee-side lawyers look for:

1) ratios within the workplace that demonstrate a preference for a class of employees that is different from that of the complainant (i.e. most managers are men, white, etc.);

2) comments suggesting prejudices made within the workplace (i.e. "when do you plan on retiring?', "this is not a job for a woman!"); or,

3) "comparators," i.e. people occupying a similar job to that of the terminated employee who are of a different race, sex, etc.  More specifically, we look for comparators who "got away with" conduct similar to that which resulted in the claimant's termination, despite the fact that management knew what they had done.  Here is an example: Woman age 30 on Internet everyday, and management knows about it and does not discipline her.  Woman age 58 "caught" on Internet one time, and is immediately fired.

John A. Gallagher is an employment lawyer who represents employees in Pennsylvania.

Click Here if you have questions about any aspect of employment law, from wrongful termination, to wage and overtime claims, to discrimination and retaliation laws, to Family and Medical Leave…

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