WGU C233 Employment Law Final
Review Questions With Solved
Solutions.
Employing fewer than 10 employees so the ADEA does not apply - Answer Which employer action is a
possible employer defense to a claim asserted under the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act
(ADEA)?
Integrated enterprise - Answer Two corporations have combined their management and operations
into a single place with 30 total employees. Which type of business relationship is formed that now
requires both companies to comply with federal employment law?
Does the employee meet the eligibility requirements? - Answer An employee claimed the need for
special treatment based on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. What is the first question a human
resources professional should ask to determine if this law applies to the employee?
Economic realities test - Answer Which test is used to distinguish an independent contractor from an
employee?
Pervasive conduct
Unwelcome conduct - Answer Which two types of conduct make a company liable for race-based
harassment?
Yes. Because the agency is a government entity, the employees are protected from drug searches unless
there is reasonable suspicion that they are engaged in drug use. - Answer A government agency wants
to drug test its employees, but it is concerned about legal ramifications of possible privacy concerns
regarding its testing. To address these concerns, the firm conducts pre-employment drug screening and
random drug testing of employees each quarter. Should the firm be concerned about legal challenges to
its policy?
Medical records - Answer Which type of information is covered by the Fair Credit Reporting Act?
,An individual HR employee who fails to check a new worker's eligibility to work in the United States may
face civil liability. - Answer Which penalty is imposed by the Immigration Reform and Control Act?
Layoffs due to a severe unforeseen loss of capital - Answer A manufacturing firm with 370 employees
plans to close one of its plants and lay off 56 employees. To facilitate the plant closure and allow its
employees time to seek other employment, the firm gives the employees 40 days' notice of the
impending closure. Because of financial troubles, the firm is not providing severance packages. Which
circumstance allows the firm to take these actions without violating the Worker Adjustment Retraining
Notification (WARN) Act?
Judicial authority
Executive authority
Rule-making authority - Answer Which three types of statutory authority does the National Labor
Relations Board (NLRB) have?
Provide the NLRB with contact information of workers eligible to vote in the election - Answer What
are the employer's responsibilities after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has authorized a
union election?
The union may call a strike.
The employer may lock out the union workers.
Either party may resume discussions with the other. - Answer Which three outcomes are legally
possible if parties cannot resolve one or more mandatory issues during collective bargaining negotiations
and reach a deadlock?
The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service must be notified. - Answer After good faith
negotiations, an employer and a labor union cannot resolve an issue and have reached an impasse. What
does the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) require in this situation?
requiring workers to work more than eight hours per day or more than forty hours per week. This is not
so. The FLSA does require that overtime be paid, and that it is earned on a weekly, not daily, basis. -
Answer There is a misconception that the FLSA prevents employers from
,continual training requirement
Under this requirement, employers are required to provide training to workers on a periodic basis and
whenever an employee is hired or transferred to a new job assignment. - Answer The ______________
is the most frequently violated OSHA regulation.
Contributory negligence-the worker's errant conduct that contributes to the injury
Assumption of the risk-the worker knew and accepted the risk of potential injury; and
Fellow servant rule-another employee, not the employer, caused the injury.
Additionally, there were no national safety standards for the workplace, so work safety regulations and
remedies to injured workers were uneven. - Answer In common law, an injured employee could make a
tort claim against an employer for negligence if the employer's breach of the duty to provide a safe
workplace caused the worker's injury. However, three employer defenses severely limit the relief an
injured worker could obtain. These are:
The plant shutdown or layoffs are due to a natural disaster
The firm experiences a severe and unforeseen loss of capital
When the company is faltering and giving notice would prevent obtaining capital to continue operations
- Answer The WARN allows for an employer to escape the notice requirements if:
100 employees to provide detailed written advance notification of plant closings and mass layoffs to
affected employees, union bargaining units, and state and local government officials at least 60 days
prior to the closing. Employers are prohibited from plant closings or mass layoffs until the end of the 60-
day notice period. - Answer WARN requires employers with over
the negative referral provided by the former employer was in response to an employee's claims of
discrimination or acts of whistleblowing. The U.S. Supreme Court held that the term "employees" as
used in the retaliation section of Title VII extends to former employees. - Answer In a retaliation
referral claim, a former employee must show that
were inadequate.1 - Answer According to a survey done by Salary.com, some 90 percent of employee
performance appraisals
- case involving disparate treatment discrimination arising out of performance appraisals actually
involving a lack of appraisals.
, - a woman lawyer in a prestigious New York City law firm was able to show that over a twelve-year
period she received, after repeated requests, only one performance appraisal before she was
terminated, while during the same time period two younger male counterparts each received nine
appraisals. Moreover, the sole appraisal Esterquest received did not include a plan for remediation of her
performance deficiencies or a path to promotion, which was included in other employee's evaluations.
Under these circumstances she was able to show age and gender discrimination. - Answer Esterquest v.
Booz, Allen & Hamilton
Citizenship for specific federal jobs and public policy functions
English proficiency to the standard necessary to carry out essential business operations - Answer The
IRCA prohibits employers from discriminating in employment on the basis of nation of origin or
citizenship, with some exceptions. Unlike Title VII, the IRCA does allow an employer to discriminate in
favor of a citizen over a legal alien when both are equally qualified. There are two bona fide occupational
qualifications which come into play under IRCA:
- the Supreme Court has provided some leeway in using race and gender in employment decisions
without invoking reverse discrimination. For example, in voluntary affirmative action plans, private
employers may lawfully use race and gender in employment decisions where there has been a historical
"manifest imbalance" in the workplace when that effort is limited in duration and scope and when it is
not a quota system - Answer United Steelworkers v. Weber, 443 U.S. 193 (1979); Johnson v. Santa Clara
County Transportation Agency 480 U.S. 616 (1987)
- reverse discrimination suit
- the Supreme Court upheld Michigan's voter-approved Proposal 2, which made unlawful any
discrimination or preferential treatment based upon a class characteristic in public education,
government contracting, and public employment. This had the specific effect of undoing Michigan's
university admissions rubrics, which allowed for consideration of race and gender in evaluating college
applications. The general effect of this was to put into question whether other university applications
systems nationwide, which allow for preferences, are valid - Answer Schuette v. Coalition to Defend
Affirmative Action, __ U.S. __(2014)
- candidates for firefighting positions in New Haven, which was seeking to promote the hiring of non-
white firefighters, were required to complete a validated qualification test. When the test revealed that
non-white applicants did not perform as well as white candidates, the city threw out the test as a
qualifying mechanism and started the hiring process anew.
- The Supreme Court held that New Haven had violated Title VII because the test was valid and the
decision not to use it was "race-conscious." - Answer Ricci v. DeStefano, 557 U.S. 557 (2009)
