About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

26 Rutgers L. Rev. 741 (1972-1973)
Back Pay Awards under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

handle is hein.journals/rutlr26 and id is 747 raw text is: BACK PAY AWARDS UNDER TITLE VII OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964 GEORGE A. DAVIDSON* INTRODUCTION One of the remedies for employment discrimination provided in Ti- tle VII of the Civil Rights Act of 19641 is the back pay award.2 In the first few years of its existence, the back pay remedy attracted little attention. As originally enacted, Title VII provided only a mod- est role for government suits, and until recently relatively few private suits had reached the relief stage. Now back pay is in the headlines; AT&T's agreement to pay fifteen million dollars in back pay to settle a government suit was front page news.' With the expanded role for government suits created by the recent amendments to Title VII,4 the back pay award assumes increased importance. This article will dis- cuss the legal standards which should govern awards of back pay under Title VII. I. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY The nominal ancestor'5 of Title VII was H.R. 405,6 introduced by Representative James Roosevelt of California. As reported out by the House Education and Labor Committee, H.R. 405 provided for an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission patterned on the Na- tional Labor Relations Board.'7 Under H.R. 405, an administrator would investigate complaints and bring charges while a five member * Associate, Hughes Hubbard & Reed, New York City, N.Y. 1. 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000(e) et seq. (1970), as amended, Equal Employment Oppor- tunity Act of 1972, Pub. L. No. 92-261, 86 Stat. 103-13. 2. 42 U.S.C. § 2000(e)(5)(g) (1970), as amended, Equal Employment Oppor- tunity Act of 1972, Pub. L. No. 92-261, 86 Stat. 107. 3. See N.Y. Times, Jan. 19, 1973, § 1, at 1, col. 1. The government's suit was based both on Title VII and on the Equal Pay Act of 1963, 29 U.S.C. § 206(d) (1970). Although directed specifically at Title VII, much of the discussion in this article will also be applicable to back pay awards pursuant to the Equal Pay Act and other statutes prohibiting discrimination in employment, e.g., 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1983 (1970). 4. Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, Pub. L. No. 92-261, 86 Stat. 103-13, amending 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000(e) et seq. (1970). 5. Vass, Title VII: Legislative History, 7 B.C. IND. & COM. L. REV. 431, 433 (1966). 6. H.R. 405, 88th Cong., 1st Sess. (1963). 7. Berg, Equal Employment Opportunity Under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 31 BKLYN. L. REV. 62, 65 (1964). See Comment, Enforcement of Fair Employment Under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 32 U. CMi. L. REV. 430, 431-33 (1965).

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most