Introduction to Employment Discrimination Law
This professional course explores the fundamentals of employment discrimination law, covering federal statutes & strategies to avoid transgressions.
Employment discrimination law has forever changed the way employers behave toward their employees; the rise of this body of law is intertwined with the rise of the HR profession. In this short course, you will learn the basics of employment discrimination law as it is laid out in federal statutes such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protects employees against discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, and religion, and related laws such as the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the many state laws that operate in parallel to these. We will consider not only what these laws prohibit, and how courts go about deciding whether the laws were violated, but also what employers can do to try to avoid violating them.
Program Details
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Location & Session Dates
2025 Session Dates: October 28, November 4, 18, December 2, 9 16
Once a week, 6:00-8:00 pm Pacific
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Course Format
All sessions will be held live online via Zoom.
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Course Sessions
Session 1: Disparate Treatment
- Intro: What forms of discrimination do federal and state law prohibit?
- What is disparate treatment?
Session 2: Disparate Impact
- What is disparate impact?
- How to avoid engaging in disparate treatment and disparate impact discrimination
Session 3: Harassment
- What counts as harassment and when are employers liable for it?
- What does the law want employers and employees to do to prevent harassment?
Session 4: Reasonable Accommodation for Disability and Religion
- Who is entitled to reasonable accommodation under law?
- What kinds of accommodations are reasonable?
Session 5: Pregnancy, the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Family Responsibilities Discrimination
- What does it mean to treat pregnancy discrimination as sex discrimination?
- What obligations do employers have regarding employees’ family responsibilities?
Session 6: Voluntary Compliance, Affirmative Action, and Diversity Programs
- What forms of affirmative action are currently allowed under the law?
- Where is the law of diversity and affirmative action headed in the future?
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Course Instructor
Joseph Fishkin, D. Phil., J.D.
Professor of Law
Expert in Employment, Election, and Constitutional LawJoseph Fishkin is a Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law, where he teaches and writes about employment discrimination law, election law, constitutional law, education law, fair housing law, poverty and inequality, and distributive justice. Before joining the UCLA faculty he taught for a decade at the University of Texas School of Law, where he was the Marrs McLean Professor in Law; he was also a visiting professor at Yale Law School. Read his full bio here.
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Certificates and MCLE
Certificate of Completion
Participants who complete all required course elements will receive a certificate of completion from UCLA Law Executive Education.
MCLE
UCLA School of Law is a State Bar of California approved MCLE provider. This session has requested MCLE credit for 12 hours and is currently pending approval.
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Tuition & Discounts
General Tuition: $995
Government or Non-Profit Employee: $895* (save 10%)
UCLA Law Alumni and Previous Paid Executive Education Participant: $895* (save 10%)
Partner Organization Members: $895* (save 10%)
Non-Lawyers: $895* (save 10%)
*For all discount rates, please email execed@law.ucla.edu for the relevant instructions to access your tuition category.
