Introduction
The signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 represents a landmark event in the history of labor law and civil rights in the United States. The goal of the Act refers to outlawing any kind of discrimination based on such variables as race, gender, religion, national or cultural origin. The Act is notable for ending segregation in public environments as well as employment discrimination, which is why it is considered the most important achievement of the Civil Rights movement (Cheeseman 69).
Thus, any violations of the legislation that occur today should be strongly prosecuted to ensure the equal treatment of individuals of all races, genders, and backgrounds. The issue raised in AB Pneumatics directly relates to the Civil Rights Act, as it is concerned with gender segregation in the workplace and the limitation of women’s rights in regards to accessing basic services such as restrooms.
Main body
The ban on discrimination against women in regard to employment opportunities is one of the strongest outcomes of the Civil Rights Act. Nevertheless, women are often limited in such opportunities today since in some cases they are not regarded as valuable contributors to the workforce, especially when they have or are expecting to have children. Because of this, employers may establish unfair work conditions in their organizations due to carelessness and the lack of attention to women’s needs. In the case of AB Pneumatics, reasonable access to a bathroom facility is an issue that requires immediate addressing.
Based on OSHA sanitation standards, companies must provide their workers with restroom facilities for women and men separately. However, there should be no unreasonable limitations on these facilities while workers should not spend excessive amounts of time using bathrooms. While there are no certain regulations due to the diverse nature of restroom use and necessity, workers should not suffer the dangerous health effects of not having immediate access to restrooms (OSHA).
The number of toilets provided to employees should depend on their numbers, with one restroom required for up to fifteen individuals. Also, it should be noted that the restroom should not be located farther than a quarter-mile from employees.
It is possible that the AB Pneumatics management did not have knowledge of the necessary standards to ensure equality in access to facilities. However, since female plant employees have to spend their 10-minute breaks leaving the facility and walk across a parking lot to a different building to access a restroom, segregation based on gender is in place. The situation is similar to what the protagonist of Hidden Figures was experiencing, with events taking place during the civil rights movement. Women of color were denied access to restrooms in their building and had to walk across the facility to another building to use segregated bathrooms. Thus, AB Pneumatics is at high risk of a lawsuit.
Conclusion
Prior to filing a lawsuit for gender discrimination, it is necessary to investigate in the workplace whether women’s rights are undermined. The investigation should include the calculation of time necessary to visit the restroom, the exact distance women have to walk, the number of employees per bathroom and compare the results to the experience of the male workers using bathrooms. If there are violations of OSHA regulations mentioned earlier, it is proposed that the EEOC should file a lawsuit against AB Pneumatics.
Works Cited
Cheeseman, Henry. Business Law. 10th ed., Pearson Education, 2018.
OSHA. “Restroom Break Laws.” OSHA Education Center. Web.