2. Chapter Objectives
After reading this chapter, you will know the
following:
• Key legal issues in employment for sport
managers
• Relevance of the doctrine of employment at will
• Primary issues in employment discrimination
• Key legal issues relevant to sexual harassment
• The main elements of federal employment
legislation
3. Employment Issues
• An employee is fired from a job.
• A qualified employee is not hired for a job.
• A qualified employee is not promoted.
• An employee’s work situation is made so bad that
he or she must quit.
• An employee is injured during the scope of
employment.
• An employee is injured due to conditions at the
workplace.
• Monitoring.
4. Topics of Employment Law
• Employment at will
• Hiring, promotion, and retention
• Sexual harassment
• Employment laws
– Employee Health and Safety
– Others
5. The Employment Relationship
• Contractual in nature
• Involves an express or implied agreement to
perform personal services: Agreement
should cover salary, work duties, benefits
• Who is an employee? A university
scholarship athlete?
(continued)
6. The Employment Relationship
(continued)
• Employment-at-will doctrine: Either the employer or
employee may terminate the employment
relationship at any time and for any reason.
• Exceptions:
– Federal legislation
– Implied contract
– Public policy
(continued)
7. The Employment Relationship
(continued)
• Application of federal law: Civil Rights Act,
Americans with Disabilities Act, OSHA
(workplace safety)
• Injury on the job: Workers’ compensation
– Liability
• Tort: Determined by whether act was in scope of
employment, vicarious liability
• Contract: Agency principles
8. Issue
• Is a football player an employee of the university
that he attends and for which he competes?
• Coleman v. Western Michigan; Economic Reality
Test:
1. The proposed employer’s right to control or dictate the
activities of the proposed employee
2. The proposed employer’s right to discipline or fire the proposed
employee
3. The payment of “wages” and, particularly, the extent to which
the proposed employee is dependent on the payment of wages
or other benefits for his daily living expenses
4. Whether the task performed by the proposed employee was an
integral part of the proposed employer’s business
9. Employment Laws
• Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA)
• Typical health and safety concerns?
• Twofold purpose:
1. To require employers to meet certain specific,
federally mandated safety standards
2. To impose a general duty on employers to keep
their workplace safe
• Protects employees who file complaints and
requires record keeping (11 or more
employees)
10. Hiring, Promotion, and Retention
• Discrimination (laws and protected
classes):
– Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII); EEOC
• Race, color, and national origin
• Gender
• Religion
– Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
– Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Affirmative action
11. Discrimination:
1964 Civil Rights Act (Title VII)
• Protected classes
– Race, color, and national origin
– Gender
– Religion
• State laws may expand the categories of
protected classes (e.g., sexual orientation)
12. Discrimination
• Treating employees or job applicants
unequally on the basis of a personal
characteristic or trait
– How do we find that discrimination occurred?
– Directly: Employer’s discriminatory words or actions
(you were not hired because you are . . .) or policy
– Indirectly (most common)
• Disparate treatment
• Disparate impact
13. Discrimination Claims
Disparate Treatment
• Prima facie case
1. A member of a protected class: Race, color,
national origin, religion, and gender
2. Applied and was qualified
3. Was rejected by the employer
4. Position remained open or was filled by a person
not in a protected class
• Victim files a claim with the EEOC or files a
lawsuit
14. Defenses
• Used to justify a discriminatory practice
• Bona fide occupational qualification:
Identifiable characteristics reasonably
necessary to the normal operation of a
particular business:
– Gender: Fitness trainers at a single-sex health club
– Race: Not a BFOQ
15. Discrimination Claims
Disparate Impact
• Employers’ workforce must reflect the same
percentage of members of protected
classes as the local labor market
• Challenges
– Statistical analysis
– Defining the local labor market
• Prima facie case
– Employment practice has a discriminatory effect
– Connection shown between the employment
practice and disparity
16. Defenses: Business Necessity
• Used to justify a discriminatory effect
• A valid business reason for choosing someone
outside of protected class
– Gender: Because of height, weight, and strength requirements,
most firefighters hired were men.
– Religion: Because of faith-based days of worship, more hires
are not of a particular faith.
– Race: Because business had a valid reason to hire only
workers with a high school diploma, most workers were
nonminority.
– Age (under the ADEA): Because a job required strength and
endurance, most workers were under the age of 60.
17. Discrimination: Age (ADEA)
• Prohibits employment discrimination on the
basis of age for people 40 and over
• Applies to businesses with 20 or more
employees and whose activities influence
interstate commerce
• Prima facie case:
– 40 years old or older
– Applied and was qualified
– Rejected in circumstances that implied
discrimination
18. Discrimination: Disabilities
• Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
(ADA) Title I: Employment
– Process
• Prove a disability: Substantially limits one or more major life
activities
• Prove qualified for the job
• Prove denied job because of disability
– Reasonable accommodation
• Employer finds work responsibilities and environments that
place disabled employees in a position to be successful in
performing job functions
• Undue burden
19. Sexual Harassment
• Constructive discharge
• Title VII of the CVA; EEOC
• Elements of sexual harassment:
1. Unwelcome sexual advances
2. Not desired by the employee (victim)
3. Conduct that creates a hostile or abusive work environment
4. Can arise from either verbal or physical conduct
• Types:
– Quid pro quo
– Hostile work environment
20. Employment Laws
• COBRA requires that employer continue
medical coverage (for a limited time) at
option of terminated employee
• HIPAA: Prohibitions on exclusion from
medical coverage, and medical record
confidentiality
• FMLA: Unpaid leave of 12 weeks for family
or medical reasons
• Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): Child
labor, overtime, and minimum wage
