Legal Issues in Industrial/Organizational Psychology

(INP 5131)

 

Instructor: Dr. Stephen J. Vodanovich

 

Phone: 474-2944  Building 41, Room 220 (Office)

e-mail: svodanov@uwf.edu

 

Required reading:  Gutman, A., Koppes, L. L., & Vodanovich, S. J. EEO Law and Personnel Practices  (3rd ed.). Taylor and Francis Publishers. 

Also, Supreme Court cases, Guidelines, Laws, and Acts (see below).  Additional readings, summaries, and short presentations may be assinged

for extra credit based on emerging issues.

Web site for the book (includes cases, laws, guidelines, etc.)

 

Primary Learning Objectives

Students should be able to:

           

1)  Explain the major legal issues in EEO law, including the importance and complexity of these issues.

2)  Summarize and evaluate the content of primary legal sources (e.g., Acts, Guidelines, Court cases).

3)  Discuss the impact of court cases, guidelines, etc. for individuals, organizations, and society.

4)  Discuss the connection between the use of statistics (e.g., reliability, adverse impact) and validity (e.g., content,

      criterion-related) and EEO law.

5)  Particiapate in discussions regarding the major legal issues involved in various court decisions and laws.

6)  Succinctly review the legal status of a given issue and evaluate its strengths and weaknesses.

7)  Give a formal presentation and/or debate on the major aspects of a given court case and discuss/debate the merits of

     the positions taken by both the petitioner and defendant.

8)  Provide recommendations for how organizations can implement practices and procedures that

      allow them to comply with EEOC regulations and help prevent various forms of discrimination.

 

~ Legal Dictionaries ~

NOLO Legal Dictionary

Duhaime's Law Dictionary

Law.com Dictionary

~Legal Sources on the Web ~

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Supreme Court Home

Scotus (Supreme Court of the U.S.) Blog

Find Law

Legal Information Institute at Cornell University

v/lex (Case law and other legal sources)

Oyez Project(Contains audio files of oral arguments and/or opinions of court cases. All links to such files below are from the Oyez Project)

Open Jurist (Case Law, U.S. Code)

UScourts.gov (Federal courts, rules, policies)

DCI Consulting Blog (News and information regarding EEO/Affirmative Action topics)

Justia.com (Cases, Codes)

Department of Labor (Laws & Regulations)

Occupational Safety & Health Administration

Department of Justice

National Archives & Records Administration  (Federal Regulations, Public Laws)

 

Approximate Timeline
Date	Chapter	Topic	Slides, Cases, Links
8/22	-----	Introduction and Syllabus Review Overview of Legal System	TIP Extent of Coverage of Legal Issues in I/O Programs Biographies of Current Supreme Court Justices Interviews with Justices:   Chief Justice Roberts (Link) Justice Kennedy (Link) Justice Thomas (Link) Justice Ginsburg (Link) Justice Bryer (Link) Justice Alito (Link) Justice Sotomayor (Link) Justice Kagan (Link) Supreme Cout Justice Seating Test Introduction
8/24	1	Regulatory Agencies (e.g., EEOC, OFCCP) Overview of 6 Dimensions Title VII Overview Amendments	Chapter 1 Slides Civil Rights Act of 1964 Glossary of Legal Terms All Constitutional Amendments
8/29	1	Test 1 (Chapter 1)
8/31	2	Major Title VII Judicial Scenarios Bona Fide Occulational Qualifications (BFOQ) and Disparate Treatment	Disparate Treatment and Mixed-Motive Slides McDonnell-Douglas v. Green (1973) Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins (1989) Click here to listen to the oral argument in Price Waterhouse Desert Palace, Inc. v. Costa (2003) Click here to listen to the oral argument and/or decision in Costa   Uniform Guidelines Questions and Answers Interpreting the Uniform Guidelines   SIOP Principles
9/5		No Class - Labor Day	-----
9/7	2	Major Title VII Judicial Scenarios Mixed Motive and Pattern or Practice Cases	Pattern & Practice Slides   Teamsters v. United States (1977) Hazelwood School District v. United States (1977)   Wal-Mart Stores v. Dukes, et al. (2011) Click here to listen to the oral argument in Wal-Mart v. Dukes   TIP Summary of Wal-Mart v. Dukes (Gutman)    BFOQ Slides . Dothard v. Rawlinson (1977) Click here to listen to the oral arguments in the Dothard case . Automobile Workers v. Johnson Controls (1991)
9/12	2	Major Title VII Judicial Scenarios Adverse Impact	Adverse Impact Slides Griggs v. Duke Power Co. (1971)   Click here to listen to the oral argument in the Griggs case Connecticut v. Teal (1982) Click here to listen to the oral argument in the Teal case  Watson v. Fort Worth Bank and Trust (1988) Click here to listen to the oral argument in the Watson case         Watson Review in TIP
9/14	2	Major Title VII Judicial Scenarios Adverse Impact	Wards Cove Packing Co. v. Antonio (1989) Click here to listen to the oral argument in Wards Cove          Wards Cove Review in TIP TIP Not Your Old Adverse Impact (Tonowsk, 2014) TIP Summary of Stagi v. Amtrack (Adverse Impact) Disparate Impact and CRA-91 article ||  CRA-91 Analysis (BNA) Civil Rights Act of 1991 Uniform Guidelines Q&A
9/19	-----	Test 2 (Chapter 2)
9/21	3	Major Title VII Protected Class Issues Sexual Harassment and Racial Harassment	Sex Discrimination Slides Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson (1986) Click here to listen to the oral argument in the Vinson case Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Incorporated, et al. (96-568) Click here to listen to the oral argument in the Oncale case  TIP  Gutman--- Unresolved Issues in Same-Sex Harassment Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC   EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch   EEOC Compliance manual - Religious Discrimination ~ Presentation/Debate ~   Vance v. Ball State University (2013) Vance: Andrea Corneliuss                                                                            Ball State: Zachary Eddy
9/26	3	Major Title VII Protected Class Issues Pregnancy Discrimination, Family and Medical Leave Act, Adjusting Test Scores, Exclusionary Rules	FMLA Slides Family and Medical Leave Act (Public Law 103-3) ~ Presentation/Debate ~   Young v. UPS (Pregnancy Discrimination)     Click here to listen to the oral argument and/or decision in Young v. UPS   Young: Heather Joness UPS: Jared Vandam                                                                                          SC Ruling in Young v. UPS: A Major Victory for Pregnanct Employees (Gutman)
9/28	3		Adjusting Scores, Exclusionary Rules ~ Presentation/Debate ~ Ricci v. DeStefano (2009)    Click here to listen to the oral argument in Ricci v. DeStefano   Ricci: Sinan Julnes DeStefano: Carey Faust
10/3	5	Equal Pay Act (1963)	Equal Pay Act (Public Law 88-38) EPA Slides Corning Glass Works v. Brennan (1974) Click here to listen to the oral argument in the Corning case
10/5	5	Equal Pay Act (1963)	~ Presentation/Debate ~   Ledbetter v. Goodyear Rubber Co. (2007) Click here to the oral argument in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Ledbetter:  Amaris Bronner Goodyear: Michael White   Lilly Ledbetter Testimony Before Congress   Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (H.R. 11) Q&A Compliance Manual on Compensation Discrimination
10/10	-----	Test 3 (Chapters 3 & 5)
10/12	6	Age Discrimination in Employment Act (1967; ADEA)	Age Discrimination in Employment Act (Public Law 90-202) ADEA Slides Western Air Lines, Inc. v. Criswell (1985)   O'Conner v. Consolidated Coin Caterers Corp (1996) Click here to listen to the oral argument in the O'Conner case
10/17	6	Age Discrimination in Employment Act (1967; ADEA)	Smith v. City of Jackson (2005)  Click here to lsiten to the oral argument in Smith v. CIty of Jackson   TIP On The Legal Front (Gutman, July 2005) Smith v. City of Jackson --- Adverse Impact in the ADEA --- Well Sort Of Meacham v. KAPL (2006)  Click here to lsiten to the oral argument inMeacham v. KAPL Gross v. FBL Financial Services (2009) --- Mixed-Motive Click here to listen to the oral argument in Gross v. FBL
10/19	6	Age Discrimination in Employment Act (1967; ADEA)	--- Bona Fide Seniority System (BFSS) & Bona FIde Occupational Qualification       (BFOQ) Defenses --- Older Workers Benefits Protection Act (OWBPA) --- Bona Fide Benefits Plan (BFBP) Defense
10/24	-----	Test 4 (Chapter 6)
10/26	7	Affirmative Action	Executive Order #11246 as amended Affirmative Action Slides Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978) Click here to listen to the oral arguments and/or decision in the Bakke case United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO-CLC v. Weber (1979) Click here to listen to the oral argument in the Weber case Johnson v. Transportation Agenc (1987) Click here to listen to the oral argument in the Johnson case
10/31	7	Affirmative Action	Gratz v. Bollinger (2003)   Click here to listen to the oral arguments and/or decision in Gratz v. Bollinger TIP On the Legal Front article in The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist summarizing the Gratz, Grutter, and Costa rulings (October, 2003) Grutter v. Bollinger (2003)   Click here to listen to the oral arguments in Grutter v. Bollinger Schuette v. BAMN (2013) a.k.a. as Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (2016) Click here to listen to the oral arguments in Fisher v. UT (2016)
11/2	-----	Test 5 (Chapter 7)
11/7	8	Americans With Disabilities Act (1990) and American WIth Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA, 2008)	Americans With Disabilities Act, 1990 (Public Law 101-336) ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) TIP ADAAA Summary Article (Dunleavy & Gutman, 2009) ~ Presentation/Debate ~   Sutton v. United Air Lines, Inc. (1999) Click here to listen to the oral argument in the Sutton case Sutton: Sarah Rich UAL: Amanda Yazejian Rehabilitation Act of 1973: Section 501 & 505 | Section 503| Section 504  Disability Slides Enforcement Guidance: Disability-related inquiries and medical examinations under the ADA Employer Responsibilities Under the ADA
11/9	8	Americans With Disabilities Act (1990) and American WIth Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA, 2008)	PGA Tour v. Martin (2001) Click here to listen to the oral argument and/or decision in the Martin case McKay v. Toyota (1997) TIP Gutman --- On the Legal Front: Two January 2002 Supreme Court Rulings: Toyota v. Williams & EEOC v. Waffle House   Summers vs. Altarum Institute Corp., No. 13-1645 (4th Cir. January 23, 2014)
11/14	8	Americans With Disabilities Act (1990) and American WIth Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA, 2008)	Toyota v. Williams (2002)   Click here to listen to the oral argument and/or decision in the Toyota v. Williams case U.S. Airways v. Barnett (2002) Click here to listen to the oral argument and/or decision in the Barnett case Section 508 of RE-1973 (as amended) -- Requires federal government to guarantee that electronic and information technology that it develops, purchases, maintains, or uses is accessible to people with disabilities.   Section 508: The Law (U.S. Access Board) Link Section 508 Requirements and Responsibilities -- Link
11/16	-----	Test 6 (Chapter 8)
11/21	9	Retaliation	Retaliation Slides Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company v. White (2006) Robinson v. Shell Oil (1997)   Thompson v. North American Stainless (2011) Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics (2011)
11/23		No Class
11/28	9	Retaliation	EEOC: Facts About Retaliation EEOC: Retaliation Discrmination Section 8 of the EEOC Compliance Manual on Retaliation ~ Presentation/Debate ~   Univeristy of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar (2013)   Click here to listen to the oral argument in UT SW Medical Center v. Nassar   Nassar: Holly Atkinson                                                                                 UT SW Medical Center: Cassidy Beale                                                               Vodanovich, S. J., & Piotrowski, C. (2014). Workplace Retaliation: A Review of Emerging Case Law.  The Psychologist-Manager Journal, 17, 71–78.
11/30	-----	Test 7 (Chapter 9)

 

Some Important Links: 

Student Disability Services

Student Grievence Process

University Evacuation Procedures

 

~ Grading Criteria ~

Tests (90% of grade)  -- Combination of multiple choice and short essay format Presentation/Debate: (10%) Class attendence is required.  Each unexcused absence will result in a 1/2 letter grade reduction in the final grade

*** Please note that makeup tests will not be given.