When was equal opportunity act passed

President George H. EEOC is given responsibility for enforcing Title I of the ADA which prohibits private employers, state and local governments, unions and employment agencies from discriminating against people with disabilities in employment.

Title I does not become effective until two years after the President signs the bill July 26, Congress passes the Civil Rights Act of CRA to overrule several decisions by the United States Supreme Court that had made it more difficult for employees to prevail in job discrimination lawsuits. President George W. Bush signs into law the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of Congress created the U. Originally, EEOC was authorized only to investigate and conciliate complaints of employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.

If EEOC's conciliation efforts failed, the charging party was obligated to file a private suit to obtain relief. The amendments also authorized EEOC to commence pattern or practice suits against private employers.

Further, the act lowered the coverage threshold under Title VII for employers and unions from 25 to 15 employees or members. During that time, enforcement duties regarding the employment practices of the federal government also were transferred to EEOC from the former Civil Service Commission.

Title I of the ADA [10] took effect on July 26, , and prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities in job application procedures, hiring, firing, advancement, compensation, fringe benefits, job training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment.

The CRA of expanded the coverage and relief of Title VII and overturned several Supreme Court decisions that had limited the scope of federal laws addressing employment discrimination.

The CRA of broadened the jurisdiction of EEOC by applying equal employment opportunity coverage to persons employed extraterritorially and to persons serving on the staffs of or appointed by state and local elected officials, as well as Senate and presidential staff. The law also made clear that the EEOC administrative process is the means for resolving such claims. Under Executive Order EEOC has responsibility for developing and implementing policies to maximize effort, promote efficiency, and eliminate conflict and duplication among the various agencies in the federal government responsible for implementation and enforcement of EEOC legislation.

Finally, EEOC is responsible for the annual review and approval of the equal employment opportunity plans, including affirmative employment components, of each department and agency of the federal government. EEOC enforces federal prohibitions against employment discrimination through investigation, conciliation, mediation, litigation, outreach, education, and technical assistance.

The field offices receive and investigate complaints of discrimination and issue determinations of cause or no cause. If EEOC determines that there is reasonable cause to believe that discrimination has occurred, it will encourage the employer to voluntarily cease the unlawful employment practice through conciliation or other means. After discrimination complaints are investigated initially within each agency's internal EEO process, complainants can elect to have a hearing before an EEOC administrative judge.

Congress passed the Equal Pay Act of EPA , which protected men and women from sex-based wage discrimination for performing the same job. This Act was the first national civil rights legislation that focused on employment discrimination.

Just months later, in August of , almost , Americans marched in Washington, D. This was the largest protest for racial equality in U. LaFleur , allowed public employers to use carefully constructed affirmative action plans to remedy specific past discrimination that resulted in women and minorities being under-represented in the workplace Johnson v.

Transportation Agency, Santa Clara County , and upheld state and local laws prohibiting gender discrimination. By the late s all branches of the Federal government and most state governments had taken at least some action to fulfill the promise of equal protection under the law. The EEOC served as the agent of implementation and complaint.

Its activism divided liberals and conservatives, illuminating their differing views about the proper scope of government. In general, political liberals embraced the creation of the EEOC as the birth of a Federal regulatory authority that could promote the goal of equality by designing policies to help the historically disadvantaged, including women and minorities.

In contrast, political conservatives saw the EEOC as a violation of their belief in fewer government regulations and fewer Federal policies. To them, creating a strong economy, free from government intervention, would produce gains that would benefit the historically disadvantaged.

Even the non-ideological segment of the American population asked: What should government do, if anything, to ensure equal protection under the law? Links go to DocsTeach, the online tool for teaching with documents from the National Archives. Civil Rights Act of Engrossing Copy of H. The "Rights in America" page on DocsTeach includes other primary sources and document-based teaching activities related to how individuals and groups have asserted their rights as Americans.