ABA Family Legal Guide

Law and the Workplace

On the Job

Discrimination in the Workplace

If an employer gives preferential treatment to a woman or minority employee under an AAP, isn't this reverse discrimination in violation of Title VII?

Not necessarily. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that voluntary AAPs remedying discoverable past discrimination are lawful. Evidence of such past discrimination might include obvious racial or sex imbalances in traditionally segregated job categories.

The question involves balancing the interest of minority employees in being free from the effect of unlawful discrimination with the employment interests of nonminority employees.