Remedies for Racial Discrimination in Employment: A Comparative Evaluation of Forums

Enactment of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, with a provision for the awarding of attorneys' fees, opened new opportunities for attorneys in private practice to represent victims of employment discrimination. Within recent years the Act has been predominate in litigation involving racial discriminaton in employment, but imaginative attorneys appealing to innovative courts have used other statutory and common law sources for fashioning relief. The 1866 Civil Rights Act, by analogy to its recent application to discriminatory housing practices, offers an important remedy against racial discrimination to employees. It also promises a protection, not found in Title VII, to employers who are willing to eradicate racial discrimination despite protests of unions.

Individuals discriminated against may find relief in other forums traditionally used for purposes other than that of preventing racial discrimination in employment.