Civil Rights Terms and Definitions

Class Complaint/Class Action
A complaint articulated or filed by a group of people who feel that personnel or management policies or practices discriminate against them as a group. Members of the group believe that a characteristic they share -- race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability is the basis for the discrimination.

Reprisal/Retaliation
A complaint may be filed by an individual who alleges restraint, interference, coercion, discrimination or retaliation for raising a claim of discrimination; or for representing one who has alleged discrimination; or for advocating equal opportunity for others; or for acting as an EEO official in processing such complaints.

Employment agency
Means any person regularly undertakingwith or without compensation to procure employees for an employer or to procure for employees opportunities to work for an employer and includes an agent of such a person.

Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities
A person with a disability is defined as one who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of such person's major life activities, has a record of such impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment.

National Origin Discrimination
National origin discrimination has been broadly defined as including, but not limited to, the denial of equal employment opportunity because of an individual's or his/her ancestor's country of origin or because an individual has the physical, cultural, or linguistic characteristics of a particular national origin group.

Discrimination
Discrimination is defined in civil rights law as unfavorable or unfair treatment of a person or class of persons in comparison with others who are not members of the protected class because of race, sex, color, religion, national origin, age, physical/mental disability, or reprisal for opposition to discriminatory practices or participation in the EEO process.

Equal Employment Opportunity
The goal of laws which make some types of discrimination in employment illegal. Equal employment opportunity (EEO) will become a reality when each U.S. citizen has an equal chance to enjoy the benefits of employment. EEO is not a guarantee of employment for anyone. Under EEO law, only job related factors can be used to determine if an individual is qualified for a particular job.

Age Discrimination
Age discrimination is present if an individual covered under this provision is treated unfavorably in the terms and conditions of his/her employment because of his or her age. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) forbids discrimination based on age for those individuals who are 40 years of age or older.

Complaint
A complaint is a claim of illegal discrimination that is handled through an administrative procedure. A complaint may result when an employee believes he or she has been unfairly treated because of race, color, etc.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. The Civil Rights Act of 1991 (Pub. L. 102-166) (CRA) amends several sections of Title VII. These amendments appear in boldface type. In addition, section 102 of the CRA (which is printed elsewhere in this publication) amends the Revised Statutes by adding a new section following section 1977 (42 U.S.C. 1981), to provide for the recovery of compensatory and punitive damages in cases of intentional violations of Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Cross references to Title VII as enacted appear in italics following each section heading.