Gelato Cheese Company, a major processor of cheese sold throughout the United States, employs one hundred workers at its principal processing plant. The plant is located in Heartland Corners, which has a population that is 50 percent white and 25 percent African American, with the balance Hispanic American, Asian American, and others. Gelato requires a high school diploma as a condition of employment for its cleaning crew. Three-fourths of the white population completed high school, compared with only one-fourth of those in the minority groups. Gelato has an all-white cleaning crew. Has Gelato violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964? Explain.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

An employer can legally impose an educational requirement if the requirement is directly related to, and necessary for, performance of the job. In this situation, the employer is requiring a high school diploma as a condition of employment for its cleaning crew. A high school diploma is not related to, or necessary for, the competent performance of a job on a cleaning crew. Gelato as an employer falls under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Therefore, if someone were to challenge Gelato's practices, a court would be likely to consider the disparate impact that the educational requirement had on Gelato's hiring of minorities. Gelato's educational requirement resulted in its hiring an all-white cleaning crew in an area in which 75 percent of the pool of qualified applicants were minorities. Therefore, Gelato's educational requirement would likely be considered unintentional (disparate-impact) discrimination against minorities.