Name That Section - Frequently Used Education Code and Title 5 Sections for Community College Districts

This challenge is well illustrated by the State Legislature’s response to Prop. 209, which exemplifies how difficult it is to carve out lawful hiring practices that will, nonetheless, assist colleges and other public employers achieve workforce diversity.

B. T HE P ROHIBITION A GAINST D ISCRIMINATION

1. T HE “P RE -P ROPOSITION 209” L ANDSCAPE Both federal and state law have long prohibited discrimination in hiring. Compliance with these statutes remains essential in any hiring process and the Title 5 regulations and Model Equal Employment Opportunity Plan and Guidelines published by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office require that screening and selection committee participants be familiar with this area of law. a. Federal Law Federal law—constitutional and statutory—prohibit discrimination in hiring. In particular, community college personnel involved in the hiring process (including those sitting on screening and selection committees) should be familiar with Title VII, the Americans With Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”). Hiring personnel and screening committees should also be aware that the gender equity requirements of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 apply in the employment arena, as well as the student arena. 164 b. State Statutory Law California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), 165 like Title VII, prohibits discrimination in hiring. However, the two statutes are not identical. Government Code section 12940 subdivision (a) states, in part, that it is unlawful:

a) For an employer, because of the race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, or sexual orientation of any person, to refuse to hire or employ the person or to refuse to select the person for a training program leading to employment, or to bar or to discharge the person from employment or from a training program leading to employment, or to discriminate against the person in compensation or in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment.

Additionally, personnel involved in the hiring process, including participation in screening and selection committees, should be familiar with Government Code section 11135 et seq., which prohibits discrimination in any program run by a state agency or that receives state funding. Section 11135 essentially tracks the FEHA and states, in part, that:

Name that Section: Frequently Used Education Code and Title 5 Sections for Community College Districts ©2019 (c) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 56