1. Chapter 6
Hiring, Promotion, Termination,
Compensation, and Leave
Darrell Kelton
SM 405
Sport Law

2. Hiring, Promotion, and Termination
Decisions
• Discrimination should never
factor into an organizations
Hiring, Promotion and
Discrimination based on
• Race
• Gender
• Age
• Disability
• Compensation

3. Discrimination based on race
• Race based discrimination can be extremely
hard to prove especially with high profile
jobs(Coaches, Athletic Directors)
• Federal laws are in play to prevent race based
discrimination
-Title VII

4. Title VII
• Protects Race, race, color, religion, sex,
national origin
• Impacts employers that effect interstate
commerce
• Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission(EEOC) is the federal agency
responsible for enforcing Title VII

5. Proof of discrimination
Disparate treatment -direct
evidence
When an employer is accused
of intentionally discriminating
against an employer it must be
proved through direct
evidence of intent
Disparate treatment- Inference
The majority of time direct
evidence is hard to come by in
discrimination cases, when this
is the cases intent can be
proved through the McDonnel
Douglas test
Bona fide occupational qualification defense(BFOQ)
“The employer must show that the alleged
discrimination was justified because members of the
excluded protected class could not effectively
perform the essential job functions.

6. Title IX
• Title IX prevents any program receiving federal
financial assistants from discriminating based
on sex
• Three pronged test to show compliance with
title IX

7. Equal protection clause
• The Equal protection clause(EPC) is a part of the
fourteenth amendment
• Only applies in cases where the state or federal
government are the employer
• The majority of the sport cases that deal with the EPC
deal with race and sex
• The test established to determine whether the EPC has
been violated
-Strict Scrutiny
-Intermediate Scrutiny
-Rational basis review

8. Discrimination based on age
• Many older employees are being let go
because younger staffs are usually cheaper
• The Age and Discrimination in Employment
(ADEA) protects employees ages 40 and older
• There are defenses that allow employers to let
go of older employees without legal
consequences
-Good Cause Defense
-Reasonable factors other than age defense

9. Discrimination Based on Disability
• Two major federal Statutes are in place to
protect people with disabilities from
discrimination
- section 504 of the Rehabilitation act
- Americans with Disabilities act of 1990
• Employers cannot terminate someone with a
disability based off of that disability if they are
cable of doing there job

10. Defenses
• Significant risk exception is common in sport
disability cases, does the disability pose a
direct effect to others
• “Employer can show could also show that the
disabled person was fired or not hire because
she could not perform essential functions of
the job” (Sharp et al, P. 124)

11. Compensation Discrimination
• In the 1990’s many female college basketball
coaches filled suits, pay wasn’t comparable to
men’s team coaches even though they were
doing the same job
-Suits can be filled under Title VII, the Equal
Pay Act of 1963, and Title IX
-Resulted in the equal pay act (differentials
permitted, Merit/seniority)

12. Employee Leave
• “Sometimes employees are subject to
employment discrimination because of their
desire to take an extended leave of absences
because they are pregnant or because they
must contribute to the childcare needs of the
family”

13. Pregnancy/Family Leave
• “Pregnancy discrimination claims increased by 31%
from 1992-2005” (Sharp Et al, P. 128)
• Some employers do not feel responsible for long
maternity leaves
• Some employers feel that employee will become less
dependable after child birth
• Pregnancy discrimination act (PDA) was added to title
VII in 1978
• “For Employees who have worked at least one year, the
family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 guarantees up to
12 weeks unpaid leave per year” (Sharp Et Al ,P. 129)