FEDERAL LEGISLATION
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
(ADEA), as amended. 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq., prohibits discrimination with respect to persons ages 40 and older. This Act applies to employers that have twenty or more employees and who engage in interstate commerce.
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
(ADA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101-12217, prohibits discrimination against any qualified individual with a disability because of that disability. The ADA is based on the anti-discrimination principles of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794. It extended coverage to both private and public employees and employees who are associated with disabled individuals (i.e., an immediate family member).
Copyright Act
(Also see Article, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution). 17 U.S.C. § 107, addresses fair use of copyrighted work which includes use for criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship or research.
The Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act and the Campus Security Act
Amending the Higher Education Act of 1965 (at 20 U.S.C. § 1092 (f)), the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act requires institutions to provide information on the number and types of crimes on and near campus (Title II of Pub. L. No. 101-542 (1990).
The Campus Security Act (also known as the Clery Act), as amended by the Higher Education Amendments of 1992 (Pub. L. No. 102-325), imposes requirements on institutions for preventing, reporting and investigating sex offenses on campuses.
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974
(ERISA or the Pension Reform Act), 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq., establishes minimum “standards of conduct, responsibility, and obligation for fiduciaries of employee benefit plans. These requirements apply to private institutions.
Equal Pay Act of 1963, enacted as § 6(d) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
(EPA), 29 U.S.C. § 206(d), prohibits discrimination in pay on the basis of sex. Applies as long as an employer is engaged in interstate commerce. For pay issues related to race discrimination, employees must utilize Title VII.
The Fair Labor Standards Act
(FLSA), 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq., establishes the minimum hourly wage and overtime pay requirements for certain employees. The law does not apply to independent contractors. The higher pay rate prevails if federal and state law conflict. Requires records to be kept of nonexempt employees’ hours worked and wages paid.
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
(FERPA), 1974, 20 U.S.C. § 1232 (g), also called the Buckley Amendment, applies to any educational institution receiving federal funds. The Act contains requirements regarding the maintenance and disclosure of student records.
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
(FMLA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 2601 et seq., applies to organizations that have had fifty or more employees within a seventy-five mile radius for each working day during each of twenty weeks or more during the preceding year. Establishes the ability of employees to take up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave in any twelve-month period for: a) the birth of a child; b) the adoption of a child or placement for foster care; c) care for a spouse, child or parent with serious health conditions; or d) serious health condition of the employee. Employees are entitled to reinstatement to an equivalent position once they return from FMLA leave and employers must maintain the health benefits to which the employee was entitled prior to taking FMLA leave.
The Federal Tort Claims Act
Federal legislation that determines the circumstances under which the United States waives its sovereign immunity and agrees to be sued in court for money damages. The federal government retains it immunity in cases of intentional torts by its employees or as a result of a “discretionary function” of a federal employee or agency.
42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1983
Section 1983 of the Federal Civil Rights Act prohibits any person acting under color of state law from depriving any person of their constitutional rights or rights issued under federal law. Section 1981 applies to employment contracts and, unlike Section 1983, private actors. It also is not limited to individuals acting under color of state law. Neither section applies to the federal government – although the federal government can be sued directly under the Constitution for violations.
The Federal Unemployment Tax Act
(FUTA), 26 U.S.C. § 3301 et seq., establishes a federal program to compensate people temporarily unemployed. States administer. Exclusions include employees of churches or religious conventions, associations and/or organizations and entities primarily operated, supervised, controlled or principally supported by a church or religious convention or association.
The National Labor Relations Act
(LMRA), as amended by the Labor Management Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 141 et seq., governs unionization and collective bargaining matters in the private sector, including private education. States are also subject to the dictates of the act. The NLRA protects the rights of employees to organize, or choose not to organize, and protects commerce in times of labor disputes. Managerial employees are not protected by this Act.
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970
(OSHA), 29 U.S.C. § 651 et seq., requires private (postsecondary) institutions to “furnish to each of [its] employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm. Health and safety standards promulgated by the U.S. Secretary of Labor (§ 665) must also be followed, as well as a retaliation clause protecting employees who report violations.
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
29 U.S.C. § 794: “No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States… shall, solely by reason of his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
“No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
As amended, 12 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin (extended in 1972 to cover private and public educational institutions).
It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer –
(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin; or
(2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees or applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972
a) No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance….
Trademarks
Section 43 (a) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125 (a)., creates a federal cause of action for unfair competition in interstate commerce activities. It forbids unfair trade practices involving infringement (use) of trade dress, service marks or trademarks. U.S.C. § 1127 defines trademark as any word, name, symbol or device, or any combination thereof, used to identify and distinguish goods, including a unique product, from those manufactured or sold by others.