Forbidden grounds : the case against employment discrimination laws
This controversial book presents a powerful argument for the repeal of anti-discrimination laws within the workplace. These laws--frequently justified as a means to protect individuals from race, sex, age, and disability discrimination--have been widely accepted by liberals and conservatives alike since the passing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and are today deeply ingrained in our legal culture. Richard Epstein demonstrates that these laws set one group against another, impose limits on freedom of choice, undermine standards of merit and achievement, unleash bureaucratic excesses, mandate inefficient employment practices, and cause far more invidious discrimination than they prevent. Epstein urges a return to the common law principles of individual autonomy that permit all persons to improve their position through trade, contract, and bargain, free of government constraint. He advances both theoretical and empirical arguments to show that competitive markets outperform the current system of centralized control over labor markets. Forbidden Grounds has a broad philosophical, economic, and historical sweep. Epstein offers novel explanations for the rational use of discrimination, and he tests his theory against a historical backdrop that runs from the early Supreme Court decisions, such as Plessy v. Ferguson which legitimated Jim Crow, through the current controversies over race-norming and the 1991 Civil Rights Act. His discussion of sex discrimination contains a detailed examination of the laws on occupational qualifications, pensions, pregnancy, and sexual harassment. He also explains how the case for affirmative action is strengthened by the repeal of employment discrimination laws. He concludes the book by looking at the recent controversies regarding age and disability discrimination. Forbidden Grounds will capture the attention of lawyers, social scientists, policymakers, and employers, as well as all persons interested in the administration of this major system of governmental regulation
Print Book, English, 1992
Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1992
xvi, 530 pages ; 25 cm
9780674308084, 0674308085
24010387
Analytical foundations
Human nature, social theory, and the common law
Force, discrimination, and free entry
Rational discrimination in competitive markets
When entry is restricted : the case of monopoly
History
Race and the police power : 1890-1937
From the 1937 revolution to the 1964 Civil Rights Act
Constitutional challenges to the 1964 Civil Rights Act
Race discrimination
The contract at will
Disparate treatment
From disparate treatment to disparate impact
Disparate impact
The effects of Title VII
Sex discrimination
Separate but equal
Bona fide occupational qualifications
Pensions
Pregnancy
Sexual harassment
Empirical evidence of disparate impact
Affirmative action
Protected groups under Title VII
First principles
Newer forbidden grounds
Age discrimination
Disability discrimination