Understanding Title VII of the Civil Rights Act in Fire Services

1 Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Bobby Roseberry Fire Science Department, Eastern Gateway Community College FIR 202 Legal Aspects of Emergency Services Professor DeCarlo February 11, 2024

2 Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 When applying for a job, we all have heard or seen on the application that this employer is an equal employment opportunity. What this means is they will not discriminate against anyone and offer everyone the same opportunities when reviewing their application. The purpose of this paper is to identify and describe Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, discuss the elements of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and to identify and discuss how compliance with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 might look in the fire and emergency service discipline. Literature Review There are two significant provisions that are in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that directly affects emergency service providers. Title VII: Equal Employment Opportunity prohibits employment discrimination based on an employee and/or job applicant's race, color, religion, sex (gender), or national origin (West, 2022). Title VII provides coverage of employment decisions to include recruitment, selections, terminations, and other decisions that deal with terms and conditions of employment. Title VII provision applies to state and local government, educational institutions, and private employees that employ 15 or more employees (West, 2022). Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 includes the elements of discrimination and harassment. When looking at the element of discrimination there are several things that can fall within this element that are covered under Title VII. Any type of discrimination for employment that deals with hiring promotion or pay when using one's race, color, religion, sex (gender), national origin, or sexual preference. Requiring an employee or prospective employee to only speak english can also fall within the discrimination category unless the employer can prove that speaking english is necessary for conducting business (West, 2022). The other element is harassment and a hostile work environment. Harassment is a very common topic that we all have heard over the years, with sexual harassment being the most common type of harassment that

3 usually takes place in jobs. Sexual harassment can be committed by co-workers, supervisors, customers, or even the owners. It also does not have to be male on female, it can happen with male on male, female on female and even female on male. Sexual harassment is unwelcomed sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature (West, 2022). Can also be other harassment that is non-sexual that can be related to race, color, religion, pregnancy,national origin, age, disability or genetic information (Wesr, 2022). Some examples that may constitute illegal harassment are offensive jokes, slurs.epithets or name calling, intimidation, insults or put downs, offensive pictures or objects, and/or interference with work performance (West, 2022). Title VII of Civil Rights Act 0f 1964 is enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Complying with the rules and guidelines are very important for fire and emergency service departments to completely comply. If an employer knows about a law getting broken within the Title VII and does not act on it can be disciplined as by losing wages, be demoted, not being able to promote, or could be terminated. However if the supervisor can prove that all the correct steps were taken by them but the employee did not accept what needed to happen then the employee may receive some type of discipline. Conclusion If someone is going to take on a supervisor position then they need to make sure that they completely understand the rules and laws that are included with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Equal employment opportunities need to be offered to everyone no matter their race, gender, religion, color, or national origin because everyone has the same rights to be able to be employed and promoted if they are qualified for that position they are applying for. Iy and employer breaks the rules within the Title VII then they will face legal consequences as well as the department they are employed by.

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4 Reference West. G. (2022) Legal aspects of emergency services (2nd ed.) Jones & Bartlett

FIR202 Assignment #5

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