Equal Employment Opportunity, Diversity, and Inclusion
This domain tests the legal rules that make hiring, promotion, pay, and discipline defensible. Expect questions on protected classes, disparate treatment and impact, reasonable accommodation, harassment, retaliation, and the EEOC charge process.
Core rules
- Title VII prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin; the ADEA protects workers 40 and older, the ADA and ADAAA require reasonable accommodation for disability, the Equal Pay Act addresses sex-based pay, and GINA limits genetic information.
- Disparate treatment is intentional; disparate impact is a neutral policy with an adverse effect. The employer must show job relatedness and business necessity.
- The 4/5 rule: a protected group's selection rate below 80 percent of the highest rate suggests adverse impact.
- A BFOQ is narrow; customer preference or convenience does not justify it.
- Harassment requires unwelcome conduct based on a protected characteristic that is severe or pervasive or leads to a tangible employment action; retaliation for protected activity is separately prohibited.
- EEOC charges generally must be filed within 180 days, or 300 days where a state or local fair employment practice agency exists.
Worked example
A police department uses a written test. Sixty percent of male applicants pass, but only 40 percent of female applicants pass. The ratio is 40 divided by 60, or 0.67, below 0.80, so the test shows adverse impact under the 4/5 rule. The department should validate the test against job performance or adopt a less discriminatory, equally valid selection method. It cannot defend the test merely by saying it is objective. Reasoning: adverse impact is about outcomes, not intent; validation or a valid alternative is the defense.
Traps
- Treating affirmative action as a hiring quota; lawful plans are flexible and target outreach, not rigid quotas.
- Requiring accommodation only after an employee proves a diagnosis, instead of engaging in the interactive process.
- Assuming retaliation requires proof of underlying discrimination.
- Using the 4/5 rule as a final legal verdict rather than a screening flag.