The civil rights movement of the 1960s brought to light the need for reform. The world watched as peaceful demonstrations led by Martin Luther King, Jr. and others to call attention to discrimination and its outcomes turned violent. Police beat up and in other ways abused demonstrators. Seeing the abuse galvanized the nation, forcing it to confront the issue of discrimination.

Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to address the societal and economic need for change. The passage of the Act sent the message that the time had come to abolish discrimination in employment and in other areas of society.

Title VII is the part of the Civil Rights Act that specifically addresses employment discrimination. Title VII prohibits employers from discriminating against any individual on the basis of that individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Employers with 15 or more employees, including federal, state, and local governments, employment agencies, and labor unions have to abide by this law. Also, the law covers U.S. citizens and legal residents of the United States who are working for U.S. companies in other countries.

Congress amended the Civil Rights Act in 1972 by passing the Equal Employment Opportunity Act. The amendment broadened coverage of the Civil Rights Act to state and local governments, as well as to public and private educational institutions. The Act also gave the EEOC the right to sue employers to enforce the provisions of Title VII.