Final Employment Law Complete Test Bank Chapter 51

Business Law, 17e (Langvardt)

Chapter 51 Employment Law

1) Workers' compensation protects not only employees, but independent contractors as well.

2) Workers' Compensation basically is a social compromise.

3) The amount recoverable by an injured employee under each category of damages from a workers' compensation system is frequently more than or at least equivalent to what would be obtained in a successful negligence suit.

4) Recovery for occupational diseases is usually allowed under the workers' compensation system.

5) All 50 states have a workers' compensation system.

6) Mr. Blue is driving to work and gets into an accident. Since he was on his way to work Mr. Blue will be able to recover damages through his state's workers compensation system.

7) Although the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) administers the Occupational Safety and Health Act, OSHA is not empowered to inspect businesses to enforce those regulations.

8) The Occupational Safety and Health Act applies to all employers engaged in a business affecting interstate commerce.

9) The Family and Medical Leave Act requires employers to pay employees while they take leave for one of the reasons stated in the Act.

10) Unemployment compensation is provided entirely at the federal level, and the states have no role to play in this matter.

11) The Fair Labor Standards Act requires double-pay for all working hours in excess of 40 per week.

12) An individual can sue a former employer for OSHA violations that the individual witnessed.

13) Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act forbids employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.

14) Title VII disparate impact suits involve situations in which an employer has treated an individual differently because of the person's race, sex, color, religion or national origin.

15) The Age Discrimination in Employment Act protects people aged 40 and over from age discrimination.

16) The Equal Pay Act prohibits sex discrimination regarding pay.

17) Drug and alcohol testing of public employees is unconstitutional.

18) The Employee Polygraph Protection Act makes it illegal for an employer to require a prospective employee to take a lie detector test.

19) Under the public policy exception to employment at will, most courts limit "public policy" to the policies advanced by existing law.

20) The employment-at-will doctrine says that either party can terminate an employment contract of indefinite duration without incurring any legal liability to the other party.

21) Which of the following statements about nineteenth-century law and employee injuries is false?

A) Employees never had problems with proving the employer's negligence.

B) A slight degree of contributory negligence on part of the employee would provide the employer with a complete defense.

C) The fellow-servant rule excused an employer from liability when an employee's injury resulted from the negligence of a coemployee.

D) Employers had an implied assumption of risk defense under which an employee assumed all the normal and customary risks of his employment simply by taking the job.

22) Workers' compensation systems have failed to eliminate which of the following employer defenses?

A) Injuries resulting from employee horseplay

B) Implied assumption of risk by the employee

C) Injuries resulting from the negligence of the employee

D) Injuries resulting from the negligence of a coemployee

23) While in the course of employment with Marco, Inc., Payne was injured. Marco has complied with the state's mandatory workers' compensation statute. Marco's workers' compensation carrier has asserted the following defenses to Payne's claim for workers' compensation benefits:

I. Marco was free from any wrongdoing.

II. Payne assumed the risk by disregarding Marco's safety procedures.

III. Payne's injury was intentionally self-inflicted.

Which defense(s) asserted by the workers' compensation carrier, if proven, will prevent Payne from recovering?

A) I only

B) II only

C) III only

D) I and II

24) Under which of the following situations is an employee most likely to recover under a workers' compensation system?

A) Injuries suffered while traveling to work

B) Injuries resulting from employee horseplay

C) Intentional self-inflicted injuries

D) Injuries related to occupational diseases

25) Which of the following is generally an available method of complying with a state's workers' compensation statute?

A) Maintenance of a contingency fund by the employee

B) Participation in the state insurance fund by the employer

C) Participation in a federal insurance fund by the employee

D) Purchase of private insurance by employees

26) In which of the following situations will a state make an award of workers' compensation to an injured worker, if the state is using an "increased risk" test to define the relationship between an injury and the nature of employment?

A) A secretary is assaulted by a trespasser in an accounting firm.

B) A security guard employed by a software company is assaulted by a trespasser.

C) Two employees engage in an arm wrestling match and are injured as a result.

D) An employee attempts to impress his co-worker by placing a lit match close to his hand and is burned as a result.

27) For a worker to succeed in obtaining a workers' compensation award, the worker must demonstrate that:

A) the employer was at fault in causing the accident.

B) the injury was work-related.

C) he/she was not at fault in contributing to the accident.

D) the injury was due to a coemployee's actions.

28) For an employee to recover under a workers' compensation system, what percentage of negligence must the employer be found guilty of?

A) The employee does not need to prove employer negligence

B) The employer must be 51% negligent for the injury

C) The employer must be more than 30% negligent for the injury

D) The employer must be more than 75% negligent for the injury

29) An employee cannot sue her employer for a violation of ________.

A) OSHA

B) FLSA

C) ERISA

D) FMLA

30) The federal and state governments are exempt from which of the following acts?

A) The Family and Medical Leave Act

B) The Fair Labor Standards Act

C) The Equal Pay Act

D) The Occupational Safety and Health Act

31) Social Security is mainly financed by ________.

A) FICA

B) ERISA

C) FLSA

D) FMLA

32) Unemployment compensation is administered by ________.

A) the Social Security System

B) the states

C) the Secretary of Labor

D) the federal government

33) Which of the following statements is generally correct with respect to unemployment compensation?

A) An employee who voluntarily quits work without a reasonable cause is entitled to unemployment compensation.

B) An individual who has been discharged from employment because of work-related misconduct is ineligible for unemployment compensation.

C) The maximum period during which unemployment compensation may be collected is uniform throughout the United States.

D) Federal law determines the maximum amount of unemployment compensation paid by a state.

34) Which of the following statements about the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) is accurate?

A) ERISA does not impose fiduciary duties on pension fund managers.

B) ERISA does not allow pension plan participants to sue employers.

C) ERISA does not require employers to establish or fund pension plans.

D) ERISA does not guarantee employee participation in pension funds.

35) The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulates wages and hours by entitling covered employees to a time-and-a half rate for work exceeding ________ hours per week.

A) 55

B) 37.5

C) 45

D) 40

36) ________ prohibited federal court enforcement of yellow-dog contracts.

A) The National Labor Relations Act

B) The Railway Labor Act

C) The Norris-LaGuardia Act

D) The Fair Labor Standards Act

37) Featherbedding was declared an unfair labor practice by the ________.

A) Landrum-Griffin Act

B) Wagner Act

C) Norris-LaGuardia Act

D) Taft-Hartley Act

38) ________ established an 80-day cooling-off period for strikes that the president finds likely to endanger national safety or health.

A) The Norris-LaGuardia Act

B) The Wagner Act

C) The Taft-Hartley Act

D) The Landrum-Griffin Act

39) Congress enacted the ________ after congressional investigations during the 1950s uncovered corruption in internal union affairs and revealed that the internal procedures of many unions were undemocratic.

A) Norris-LaGuardia Act

B) Landrum-Griffin Act

C) Taft-Hartley Act

D) Wagner Act

40) For a business to be covered under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) how many employees must the business employ?

A) 50 or more

B) 5 or more

C) 75 or more

D) 2 or more

41) Which of the following is one of the four material elements required for meeting the substantially-equal-work condition for application of the Equal Pay Act?

A) Equal training opportunities

B) Equal remuneration

C) Equal responsibility

D) Equal bonus structure

42) Which of the following statements about the Equal Pay Act (EPA) is accurate?

A) An employee may recover liquidated damages under the EPA.

B) The EPA requires that private plaintiffs submit their complaints to the EEOC.

C) Employee suits under the EPA are for unpaid wages or overtime.

D) The EPA is enforced by the Labor Department.

43) Which of the following entities does Title VII cover? Assume that the entity in question discriminates on one of the bases forbidden by Title VII.

A) An individual who employs 5 people.

B) A corporation employing 10 people.

C) A labor union with 20 members.

D) A private college with 12 employees.

44) The usual Title VII suit is a suit brought by ________.

A) the EEOC

B) the Department of Labor

C) the states

D) a private plaintiff

45) Which of the following relieves an employee of the hassle of separately filing charges under Title VII with the EEOC and with the state agency?

A) Featherbedding by the EEOC

B) Worksharing agreements of the EEOC

C) A "right-to-sue" letter by the EEOC

D) Yellow-dog contracts of the EEOC

46) Under Title VII, when can a private plaintiff file a lawsuit?

A) Within 90 days of receiving the "right-to-sue" letter

B) Within 120 days of filing a charge with the EEOC

C) Within 120 days of receiving the "right-to-sue" letter

D) Within 90 days of filing a charge with the EEOC

47) Identify the type of employers covered by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

A) Employers with 3 employees or more and engaged in an industry affecting intrastate commerce.

B) Employers with 15 employees or more and engaged in an industry affecting interstate commerce.

C) Employers with 30 employees or more and engaged in an industry affecting intrastate commerce.

D) All employers engaged in industries affecting interstate commerce.

48) A plaintiff will succeed against her employer in a disparate treatment case under Title VII if she can prove that:

A) her employer does not pay her well.

B) her workload is very high.

C) her employer rarely approves her requests for leave of absence.

D) her employer discriminates against her on the basis of race.

49) Which of the following is least likely to be forbidden by Title VII?

A) Discrimination against a man solely because of his gender.

B) Discrimination against a woman solely because she is a lesbian.

C) Discrimination against a woman solely because of her religion.

D) Discrimination against a person of French ancestry because he "talks like an Englishman."

50) An employer is most likely to raise the ________ defense for a mixed-motives disparate treatment claim under Title VII.

A) seniority

B) various merit

C) same-decision

D) BFOQ

51) The Naples Police Dept. (NPD) has 55 officers and 30 support personnel. NPD has just adopted new hiring standards for new police officers. These include a minimum height of 5'8" and a minimum weight of 160 pounds. Susan is a recent graduate with a Bachelor's Degree in Police Science. She wants to get a job as a police officer in Naples. However Susan is only 5'5" and weighs 130 pounds. If Susan brings a legal challenge to NPD's new hiring standards, what legal basis might she have?

A) Disparate treatment

B) Disparate impact

C) Irrational standards

D) Irrational policy

52) In which of the following situations is an employer least likely to be able to escape Title VII liability on the basis of a BFOQ defense?

A) Where the alleged BFOQ promotes an accountancy firm's newly adopted goal of fetal protection.

B) Where the alleged BFOQ is needed in an all-male prison which houses sex offenders.

C) Where a man is denied work as an undergarment fitter for female customers at a department store.

D) Where a French restaurant denies a German chef a job as a "French Chef."

53) What type of damages can a plaintiff recover under Title VII when the defendant discriminated with malice or with reckless indifference to the plaintiff's rights?

A) Compensatory damages

B) Nominal damages

C) Punitive damages

D) Contemptuous damages

54) Which of the following is NOT true about Title VII?

A) It forbids discrimination on the basis of national origin.

B) It prohibits discrimination on the basis of homosexuality or transsexuality.

C) It prohibits racial discrimination against whites.

D) It forbids religious discrimination against atheists.

55) Which of the following is generally true regarding sexual harassment suits under Title VII?

A) Employers are vicariously liable for sexual harassment by supervisory and nonsupervisory employees of the organization.

B) The employee must show a tangible job detriment such as a firing or the denial of a promotion, or she will lose the case.

C) In all sexual harassment cases, the alleged harassment must be unwelcome or the employee will not recover.

D) All the courts agree that same-sex sexual harassment violates Title VII.

56) Tina and Tom are co-workers at Acme Corporation. As night custodians, they work together cleaning the Acme office building at night when the building is empty. Tom regularly makes sexual advances toward Tina that distress her. However, Tina has never complained about Tom's conduct to her supervisor, Mary, who only works during the day. Which of the following statements is most accurate?

A) Acme Corporation is strictly liable for Tom's harassment of Tina.

B) Acme Corporation may defend that it did not know about Tom's harassment of Tina.

C) Acme Corporation is not liable because Tom is not Tina's supervisor.

D) Acme Corporation is not liable because Tina voluntarily accepted the job of a night custodian.

57) Jack is Martha's boss. They are lifeguards working for the City of Miami. Jack is very interested in developing a romantic relationship with Martha. However, Martha is not attracted to Jack. His attention is unwelcome to her. Jack tells Martha that if she will engage in sexual relations with him, he will give her the highest employee evaluation possible, and she will get a raise. This is an example of:

A) quid pro quo sexual harassment.

B) sociological harassment.

C) hostile environment harassment.

D) tangible sexual harassment.

58) Which of the following is a similarity between Title VII and the employment discrimination provision known as "Section 1981"?

A) Both Title VII and Section 1981 apply to sex discrimination.

B) Both Title VII and Section 1981 apply to racial discrimination.

C) Both Title VII and Section 1981 impose limits on covered employees.

D) Both Title VII and Section 1981 impose limits on compensatory damages.

59) The 1967 Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) prohibits age-based employment discrimination against employees who are at least ________ years of age.

A) 30

B) 35

C) 40

D) 45

60) In which of the following ways does the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) differ from Title VII?

A) A plaintiff must file a charge with the EEOC or a state agency under Title VII, but not under the ADEA.

B) Unlike Title VII, the ADEA does not incorporate mixed-motives claims of disparate treatment.

C) Title VII has a BFOQ defense but the ADEA does not.

D) A successful plaintiff can get equitable relief under Title VII, but not under the ADEA.

61) Agnes, a waitress at a restaurant, suffers severe anxiety attacks when business gets really busy at her job. As a result, she is a very ineffective waitress when the restaurant is crowded. For this reason, she is fired. Maybe her employer could have assigned Agnes to shifts when the restaurant is not busy, but this would have irritated the other waitresses, caused significant scheduling difficulties, and appreciably increased expenses. If Agnes sues the restaurant under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the restaurant's best argument would be:

A) that Agnes's anxiety attacks are not a disability under the ADA.

B) that the ADA doesn't require employers to accommodate such disabilities.

C) that accommodating Agnes would cause the restaurant undue hardship.

D) that the ability to handle stress is a BFOQ for the job of being a waitress.

62) The Employee Polygraph Protection Act is enforced by the ________.

A) Labor Department

B) state

C) EEOC

D) NLRB

63) Which constitutional amendment protects employees from drug and alcohol testing at a private employer?

A) Fourth Amendment - Search-and-seizure rule

B) Fifth Amendment - Right to a speedy trial

C) Fourteenth Amendment - Equal protection rule

D) There is no constitutional protection since it is a private employer

64) Which of the following is least likely to make an employer liable for unjust dismissal or wrongful discharge under the public policy exception to the employment at will doctrine?

A) Firing an employee for his refusal to work on a contract to manufacture weapons because of his religious convictions.

B) Firing an employee for his refusal to commit perjury in a $1,000,000 product liability suit against the firm.

C) Firing a middle-level manager for refusing to violate Title VII by denying a promotion to a black subordinate.

D) Firing an employee for filing a workers' compensation claim against the employer.

65) Which of the following statements about the states' workers' compensation statutes is false?

A) Many states protect domestic employees.

B) They do not protect independent contractors.

C) They may cover state and local governmental employees.

D) They usually exempt certain employers.

66) All workers' compensation systems allow injured employees to recover under ________, thus removing any need to prove employer negligence.

A) joint liability

B) strict liability

C) vicarious liability

D) joint and several liability

67) Which of the following would traditionally not be recoverable as part of a workers' compensation claim?

A) Hospital and medical expenses

B) Disability benefits

C) Death benefits to dependents

D) Punitive damages

68) As demonstrated in the case in the text, Darco Transportation v. Dulen, the ________ test is a liberal test that says an injured employee recovers if her employment caused her to be at the place and time where her injury occurred.

A) increased-risk

B) environment-risk

C) positional-risk

D) duty-risk

69) Which of the following is not required for coverage under the Family and Medical Leave Act?

A) The employee must be employed for at least 12 months.

B) The employee must be employed for at least 1,250 hours.

C) The employer must employ 50 or more employees.

D) The employer must employ the required number of employees within a 100-mile radius of the employee's work site.

70) Which of the following is least likely to be covered for work leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)?

A) The employee has a child and needs to care for the child.

B) The employee adopts a child.

C) The employee has a serious health condition.

D) The employee needs to care for a grandparent with a serious health condition.

71) Which of the following tries to check abuses and to protect employees' expectations that promised pension benefits will be paid?

A) ERISA

B) FLSA

C) OSHA

D) FMLA

72) Which of the following would not constitute oppressive child labor according to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)?

A) Employment of children under the age of 18 in any occupation approved by the Department of Labor

B) Most employment of children below the age of 14

C) Employment of children aged 14-15 in an occupation not approved by the Department of Labor

D) Employment of children aged 16-17 who work in occupations declared particularly hazardous by the Department of Labor

73) Under ________, employees agreed not to join a union or remain a union member.

A) featherbedding contracts

B) yellow-dog contracts

C) master contracts

D) sweetheart contracts

74) ________ regulates labor relations in the airline industry.

A) The National Labor Relations Act

B) The Norris-LaGuardia Act

C) The Railway Labor Act

D) The Fair Labor Standards Act

75) The ________ gave employees the right to organize by enabling them to form, join, or assist labor organizations.

A) Norris-LaGuardia Act

B) Wagner Act

C) Taft-Hartley Act

D) Landrum-Griffin Act

76) Which of the following established a "bill of rights" for union members and attempted to make internal union affairs more democratic?

A) Norris-LaGuardia Act

B) Wagner Act

C) Landrum-Griffin Act

D) Taft-Hartley Act

77) Today, less than ________ of the workforce are members of labor unions.

A) 21 percent

B) 16 percent

C) 13 percent

D) 8 percent

78) The Immigration Reform and Control Act prohibits employers with ________ or more employees from refusing to hire or terminating an employee on the basis of national origin or citizenship.

A) four

B) two

C) three

D) one

79) Which of the following statements about the employment-at-will rule is false?

A) In the United States, the employment-at-will rule is a special rule that must be specifically elected by the employee and employer.

B) The termination of the employee-employer relationship can occur at any time.

C) The employment-at-will rule applies to employment relationships of an indefinite term.

D) The termination of the employee-employer relationship can occur without notice.

80) Which of the following is not discussed in the text as a common law exception to the employment-at-will rule?

A) The public policy exception

B) The implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing

C) Promises by employers

D) Unjust enrichment

81) Which of the following statements about the public policy exception to the employment-at-will rule is false?

A) It is the most common basis for a wrongful discharge suit.

B) A plaintiff that satisfies all of the required elements will win the suit, regardless of whether the employer was justified in terminating the plaintiff based on legitimate business reasons.

C) It has been recognized by over four-fifths of the states.

D) A plaintiff bringing a wrongful termination suit in contravention of public policy must show that the state has a clear and substantial public policy related to the plaintiff's conduct.

82) An employee must typically show three things to present a prima facie case of wrongful termination in contravention of public policy. Which of the following is the employee not required to show?

A) That the state has a clear and substantial public policy related to the plaintiff's conduct

B) That the employer's act of termination demonstrated malice

C) That the termination would discourage the plaintiff's conduct and thereby jeopardize the public policy

D) That the plaintiff's conduct supports the public policy

83) The case in the text, Peterson v. AT&T Mobility Services, LLC, demonstrates that the public policy exception to the employment-at-will rule is:

A) broad.

B) easy to satisfy.

C) narrow.

D) used to remedy run-of-the-mill "unfair" treatment.

84) Shirley, a lawyer, works for a law firm and is terminated before she received her annual $10,000 bonus. Shirley can prove her termination was intended to deny her that bonus payment. Shirley has a claim based on:

A) unjust enrichment.

B) the firm's promise.

C) the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.

D) public policy.

85) Employers often succeed in avoiding liability under the theory of ________ by inserting disclaimers of job security in employment applications and employment manuals.

A) assumption of risk

B) implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing

C) promises to employees

D) unfair hiring practices

86) The White Forest Employment Agency has 35 employees. White Forest pays all of its female employees less than all of its male employees. It also refuses to refer female customers to any "Fortune 500" corporations (all of which are big and have operations in more than one country). Of the two kinds of discrimination in which White Forest engages, which does Title VII cover?

87) Joe Smith, a police patrolman, joins a new religious sect that renounces any real or threatened use of force against another human being for any reason. Thus, Joe refuses to employ or threaten any kind of physical force against anyone he encounters in his patrolman's job. Instead, he tries to reason with lawbreakers and to instruct them about God's will. For this reason, the city police force reassigns Joe from his patrolman's job to an office job. Joe sues for religious discrimination under Title VII. Can the city successfully argue that it is not discriminating against Joe's religion, just the way he does his job? If not, what else can the city argue? How successful is this argument likely to be?

88) Bill did not exactly fit in at the XYZ Corporation. First, Bill lost out on a promotion because a female coemployee was having sexual relations with their mutual boss, and for that reason, received the promotion instead. Later Bill was fired when he refused to have a sexual relationship with the firm's female CEO. Bill sues XYZ for sexual harassment, citing all three incidents. Across the 50 states, for which of the incidents is he most likely to recover? Why?

89) Allie is a licensed pilot who is nearsighted. She has 20/20 (perfect) vision when she wears her contact lenses. Without her contact lenses, she cannot read or drive, but with her contact lenses, she is able to engage in these activities. Acme Airlines has a requirement that its pilots have 20/20 uncorrected vision. Allie applies for a pilot position with Acme and is rejected based on her need to wear contact lenses. Allie goes to the EEOC to file a charge under the ADA against Acme Airlines. What is the likely result?

90) Mr. Smithers is the owner of Meany Co. In the past few months, office stationery supply orders have risen significantly from the same period in previous years due to a sudden shortage in items, such as paper. Mr. Smithers is convinced that employees are to blame for the paper shortage because they are taking paper without permission for their personal use. Mr. Smithers orders that all of the supply rooms, copy rooms, lounges, and the employee locker rooms be monitored with hidden surveillance cameras. Discuss the potential legal consequences if such an action is taken by Meany Co.