"Our mission is to eradicate employment discrimination at the workplace."1 This is the mission statement of the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which is working towards the goal of totally removing the vestiges of employment discrimination at the workplace, both in the private and public sectors. This Commission is responsible for promoting equal opportunity in employment through administrative and judicial enforcement of the federal civil rights laws, as well as through education and technical assistance.2 .
The stance set forth by the commission is one of total denunciation and intolerance of any form or level of employment discrimination covered under the laws, which it implements. In order to gain a better understanding of how the EEOC is able to accomplish this, it is necessary to further examine the formation, structure, and functions of the Commission. .
Governing Legislation .
The EEOC is an independent federal agency that has worked for almost forty years to ensure that principle federal statues prohibiting employment discrimination are enforced. The EEOC was established to implement Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which set forth employment provisions in the country's landmark civil rights legislation.3 The successful passage of this piece of legislation indicated the end of a century long crusade to stop de jure segregation and discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations. Specifically, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, or nationality. In honor of the forty-year anniversary of such legislation, the EEOC is planning to launch a public awareness and education campaign in order to further promote the ideals for which the organization was founded. .
Title VII alone is not enough to protect the rights of every employed individual in America.
