Affirmative Action

Affirmative Action Definition

Affirmative action is an active effort designed to encourage equal opportunity in education and employment, while eliminating discrimination of the illegal type. Such efforts are referred to as affirmative action programs or affirmative action policies, affirmative action plans, or equal opportunity programs.

About Affirmative Action

Affirmative action programs, policies and plans are developed by government offices, employers, labor unions and educational institutions, to encourage or require adherence to Federal and state discrimination laws.

Affirmative action was spawned by the civil rights movement in 1961, when President John F. Kennedy coined the term in Executive Order 10925.

Since then, its fairness has been the subject of much political and judicial debate. Many opponents believe that preferential treatment of minority groups is at the expense of majority groups, particularly when workers' qualifications don't matter in the ways that employers implement affirmative action plans and policies.

As a result, opponents often refer to affirmative action as "reverse discrimination" against members of majority groups. In turn, affirmative action has been weakened a bit by landmark court cases, that challenged the fairness of employer implementations resulting in reverse discrimination. But, despite legal challenge, affirmative action remains intact as a way to eliminate discrimination.

Affirmative action laws, programs and such require employers to ask certain questions during the job hiring process for which the answers are voluntary, such as those about race. Even though the questions might seem discriminatory, they are not so-called illegal interview questions. They are "legal" questions to help employers adhere to the rules.

If you reasonably believe that an employer has discriminated against you contrary to an affirmative action program or an underlying discrimination law, then you may file a discrimination charge with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or a state equivalent.

On the flip side, if you're a majority member who reasonably believes that an employer has reverse-discriminated against you through an affirmative action policy, then you too may file a discrimination charge with the EEOC or a state equivalent.

However, because the EEOC and state equivalents are in the business of encouraging and enforcing affirmative action, ultimately, you might have to file a private, reverse-discrimination lawsuit to challenge an employer's affirmative action policy. Consult an attorney about that.

In December 2007, a state appeals court ordered San Francisco to pay a Caucasian man about $1M in legal fees incurred in his reverse-discrimination lawsuit, for which he previously won $30,300 in damages. He sued the city because he believed that the San Francisco International Airport unfairly denied him a promotion in favor of a minority member, in order for the city to meet "race quotas". The city denied having such quotas.

Whether for discrimination or reverse discrimination, you may file a discrimination charge yourself, or through your attorney or another representative. The employer in question may not retaliate against you or your representative for filing either a discrimination charge or lawsuit.

The EEOC and state equivalents are swamped annually with discrimination charges related to affirmative action. Subsequently, they can take on only the most legally-compelling cases. An attorney will help you to collect evidence and submit your charge in legalese, which might better compel the EEOC or a state equivalent to act on your behalf. Attorneys often take winnable discrimination cases on contingency.

More About Affirmative Action

The Web has lots of information about affirmative action and related plans, policies, programs, and laws. For more information, try searching on affirmative action using the Google search form below. Of course, tack on the specific terms for which you'd like more information; for example, affirmative action programs, affirmative action pros cons, history affirmative action or affirmative action laws. (See Search Tips.)