11.what is civil right, disparate, impact, affirmative action?

from chapter 17 summary:

The introductory story is about the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2009, the latest version of a bill to extend workplace civil rights protections to gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transsexuals. Americans with unalienable rights, or natural rights to which a person is entitled simply because he or she is human and that cannot be taken away by government. Natural rights exist on a higher plane than civil rights, or rights bestowed by governments on their citizens. Civil rights guarantees must be measured against the natural rights to which all persons are entitled. Spurred by the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, Congress passed the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964:

In the law was Title VII, a section prohibiting employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. As originally passed, Title VII was flawed as a legal tool to fight discrimination.

Title VII was intended to level the playing field for all workers by ending discrimination.

It outlawed disparate treatment, or unequal treatment of employees based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

It contained no means of fighting disparate impact, or discrimination caused by policies that apply to everyone and seem neutral but disadvantage a protected group. The Supreme Court remedied this deficiency in Griggs v. Duke Power Company (1971) when it struck down an employers high school diploma requirement in a geographic area where blacks had very low graduation rates. After the Griggs decision, Title VII outlawed disparate impact.

In 1978 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission defined illegal disparate impact in the 80 percent rule, as [a] selection rate for any race, sex, or ethnic group which is less than four-fifths (4/5) or (eighty percent) of the rate for the group with the highest rate...

As originally passed, Title VII did not require affirmative action, defined as policies that seek out, encourage, and sometimes give

preferential treatment to employees in the groups it protects (unless a federal court ordered it). However, two developments soon led to widespread affirmative action by companies. Basic arguments for and against affirmative action are grounded in three broad ethical perspectives.

Utilitarianism justifies affirmative action for those who believe it benefits the nation as a whole though inconveniencing some who do not fall into protected categories. Opponents of affirmative action say its benefits do not exceed its costs. Compensatory justice requires that those wronged by past discrimination be compensated, and affirmative action helps them. On the other hand, distributive justice requires that work benefits be distributed based on equal treatment and merit. Affirmative action seems to violate this. Conflict between these separate spheres of justice is what makes contrary views on affirmative action irreconcilable. Advocates of affirmative action say that it does not violate the rights of whites because it is benevolent of intent, unlike ill-intended discrimination based on race prejudice. Opponents argue that affirmative action violates the more fundamental right of equal treatment under the law.

from pp: civil right:

o The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was passed to prevent racial discrimination.
o o o o disparate impact: Title VII enforced a legal theory of disparate treatment When Title VII went into effect, employees could no longer engage in outwardly visible displays of discrimination The flaw in Title VII was that it contained no weapon to fight disparate impact In Griggs v. Duke Power, the Supreme Court held that diploma requirements and tests that screened out blacks or other protected classes were illegal unless employers could show that they were related to job performance or justified by business necessity The Griggs decision, and the legal theory of disparate impact it created, was necessary for Title VII to work In 1978 the EEOC defined illegal disparate impact for employers with a guideline know as the 80 percent rule affirmative action: Policies that seek out, encourage, and sometimes give preferential treatment to employees in groups protected by Title VIII The origin of most affirmative action in corporations is Executive Order 11246 from book: civil rights: p 588 rights bestowed by governments on their citizens

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disparate treatment: p 595, unequal treatment of employees based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. disparate impact: p 596 Discrimination caused by policies that apply to everyone and seem neutral but have the effect of disadvantaging a protected group. Such policies are illegal unless strongly job related and indispensable to conduct of the business. Disparate impact exists where an employment policy is apparently neutral in its impact on all employees but, in fact, is not job related and prevents individuals in protected categories from being hired or from advancing. affirmative action: p 597 Policies that seek out, encourage, and sometimes give preferential treatment to employees in groups protected by Title VIII

12.what are Jim Craw laws?

from ch 17 summary: Jim Crow laws, or measures legalizing segregation in public places, transportation, schools, and business. from pp: In the United States, the issue of slavery rose to a crisis in the Civil War In 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation Following the war, Congress passed three constitutional amendments designed to protect the rights of former slaves These amendments were supplemented by a series of civil rights acts passed by Congress With little enforcement of these laws, southern states adopted segregationist statutes called Jim Crow laws from book p.590: Measures enacted in the South from 1877 to the 1950s legalizing segregation in public places, buses, trains, restaurants, schools, and businesses. The term Jim Crow, taken from a song in a nineteenth century minstrel show, came to stand for the practice of discrimination or segregation. Southern states adopted segregationist statutes called Jim Crow laws. These laws institutionalized the idea that whites were superior to blacks by creating segregated schools, restrooms, and water fountains; in literacy tests that disenfranchised blacks; in restrictive deeds that prevented whites from selling property to blacks in certain neighborhoods; and in discriminatory hiring that kept blacks in menial occupations.

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13.What is corporate charter, importance of corporate governance?

Corporate governance is the exercise of authority over members of a corporate community based on formal structures, rules, and processes. This authority is exercised according to a body of rules that define the rights and powers of shareholders, boards of directors, and managers. In Figure 18.2 these parties are depicted as the corporate governance triangle.

The rules come from many sources including state charters, corporate bylaws, state and federal laws, stock exchange listing standards, and corporate governance policies.

The authority to govern is granted by the corporate charter, a document issued by a state to create a corporation.

The charter broadly specifies rights and responsibilities of stockholders, directors, and officers. Charters may also include provisions about such matters as annual meetings, the size of boards, and procedures for choosing or removing directors. More detailed rules of corporate governance are found in bylaws.

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from pp: Corporate governance: The exercise of authority over the members of a corporate community based on formal structures, rules, and processes The authority is based on a body of rules defining the rights and duties of shareholders, boards of directors, and managers Corporate charter: A document issued by a state government to create a corporation Corporate charters specify the purpose of the corporation and basic rights and duties of stockholders, directors, and officers Fiduciary responsibility: The legal duty of a representative to manage property in the interest of the owner Charters include provisions about numbers of shares and classes of stock authorized, dividends, annual shareholder meetings, the size of boards, and procedures for removing directors o Bylaws: Rules of corporate governance adopted by corporations States compete to attract the incorporation fees and tax revenues of corporations Corporate governance laws have been primarily the province of states, however, the Supreme Court has said that the Constitution empowers Congress to regulate corporations if it chooses Federal intervention generally comes in reaction to conspicuous failures of governance and imposes mandatory rules and restrictions duties of directors: Create governance policies for the firm, including compensation policies

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from book: corporate governance: p. 633 , same as pp definition. figure 18.2 p.634 the power triangle: Corporate governance is the exercise of authority over members of the corporate community. It based on rules that define power relationships between share-holders, boards of directors, and managers. corporate charter: p.634 same as pp definition. charter also called articles of incorporation. US corporations are chartered by state in which they incorporate. when a corporation is formed in a state, it is then governed by the state's law