Chapter 3 - § 3.2 • REQUIREMENTS FOR ENFORCEMENT OF TITLE VII

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 3.2 • REQUIREMENTS FOR ENFORCEMENT OF TITLE VII

The initial steps in determining claims and defenses under Title VII is to ascertain whether Title VII applies to the employer and whether the employee is protected under the unlawful employment practices.

§ 3.2.1—Employers Covered By Title VII

Not every organization is considered an employer for purposes of coverage under and enforcement of Title VII.¹ The following entities are covered by Title VII:

1) Employers in industries affecting commerce, if the employer has 15 or more employees for 20 or more weeks per year. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(b). The 15-or-more-employee requirement is not jurisdictional, but rather a substantive element of the claim for relief, Arbaugh v. Y & H Corp., 546 U.S. 500 (2006);
2) State and local governments, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-16a, Title III of the 1991 Civil Rights Act of 1991, known as the Government Employee Rights Act of 1991;
3) Labor organizations with 15 or more members, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e(d) and (e);
4) Labor organizations in industries affecting commerce, where the union causes or attempts to cause an employer to discriminate, especially in bargaining conditions of employment that discriminate, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(c);
5) Employment agencies, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(c); and
6) The federal government as an employer is treated separately, see 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-16, -16a, -16b.

The entities, organizations, and persons that are not covered by Title VII are:

1) The United States and its wholly owned corporations, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(b);
2) Indian tribes, Dille v. Council of Energy Res. Tribes, 801 F.2d 373 (10th Cir. 1986);
3) Bona fide private membership clubs, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(b);
4) Religious corporations, associations, educational institutions or societies, which may discriminate solely on the basis of religion in employment related to all of their activities, both religious and secular, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(e);
5) Employment of aliens outside any state, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-1(a); and
6) An employee in the workplace in a foreign country if compliance with Title VII would cause the employer to violate the law of the foreign country in which such workplace is located, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-1(b).

An employee of an Indian tribe could not bring a Title VII claim against his tribe that was also his employer of a casino where he worked. Congress did not abrogate tribal immunity with regard to Title VII, and a statement in an employee handbook that the tribe agreed to comply with Title VII did not...