Re: BFOQ and race

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On 2/22/07, lawguy wrote:
> On 2/20/07, RCW wrote:
>>
>> I would personally send it to the HR rep. Keep in mind that
>> what you really want is no response which would be comprimised
>> if you sent it to a member of upper management. You should note
>> that in some rare employment settings an employer may be able to
>> lawfully discriminate against applicants due to what we call
>> BFOQs bonified occupational qaulifications. An example is
>> considering only black male actors to play the role of Malcom
>> X. Non blacks, females, applicants of certain ages will
>> generally be exluded from consideration....
>
>
> curiously, title vii doesn't provide a bfoq for race (it does
offer
> a bfoq for sex, religion, and national origin). thus, you violate
> federal law by considering only black actors to play the role of
> Malcolm X. (see SEC. 2000e-2(3) and SEC. 2000e-3(b) at
> http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/vii.html online).
>
> title vii forbids advertising a Malcolm X role as "for blacks
> only," but it would permit advertising it as a role "for people
who
> share the physical charcteristics of Malcolm X." in other words,
> it's okay to restrict consideration to only people who look like
> him (although not only to people colored like him).
>
> a footnote in Ferrill v. Parker Group (11th Cir. 1999) no. 97-7013
> talking about the enactment of title vii says:
>
> "In their interpretative memorandum, Senators Case and Clark
> explained that "[a]lthough there is no exemption in Title VII for
> occupations in which race might be deemed a bona fide job
> qualification, a director of a play or movie who wished to cast an
> actor in the role of a Negro, could specify that he wished to hire
> someone with the physical appearance of a Negro."110 Cong. Rec.
> 7213, 7217 (1964) (emphasis added). See also Miller, 615 F.2d at
> 654 (suggesting that a director wishing to cast the role of Henry
> VIII may announce that only applicants of sufficient physical
> likeness to Henry VIII will be considered)."
>
> despite the lack of title vii authority, the Seventh Circuit
> adopted a narrow, judicially-crafted racial BFOQ in Wittmer v.
> Peters, 87 F.3d 916 (7th Cir. 1996); also see Baker v. City of
St.
> Petersburg, 400 F.2d 294 (5th Cir. 1968).
>
> but, generally, no bfoq for race or color.
>
> good luck.

Lawguy, thanks for the clarification.