A Comparative Review of Public and Private Enforcement of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

The efforts of the EEOC, the Department of Justice, and other federal and state agencies during the first decade of enforcement have been the subject of a great deal of commentary and review. Much of this commentary has been critical. Private enforcement of Title VII has produced the major legal developments, but these efforts have received little attention in the literature. This Article therefore will present a comparative review of governmental and private enforcement efforts under Title VII.

A brief overview of the historical efforts to eliminate employment discrimination prior to Title VII is necessary to place private enforcement efforts in proper perspective. It is not the purpose of this Article to* review the development of the substantive law during the first decade of Title VII; this has been covered elsewhere. The beginning of the second decade of Title VII's enforcement has produced new issues, such as "reverse discrimination" and "quotas," whose resolution may determine whether the legal principles of employment discrimination law that developed during the first decade will remain a potent tool for the elimination of employment discrimination, or whether it will be reduced to "mellifluous but hollow rhetoric."'