2020 Georgia Code
Title 45 - Public Officers and Employees
Chapter 19 - Labor Practices
Article 2 - Fair Employment Practices
§ 45-19-35. Use of Quotas Because of Imbalances in Employee Ratios Prohibited; Grants of Preferential Treatment to Certain Individuals or Groups Not Required by Article; Adoption of Plans Required by Governor to Reduce Imbalance; Effect of Article Upon Certain Employment Practices

1. Quotas because of imbalances in employee ratios shall not be permitted.
2. Nothing contained in this article requires an employer to grant preferential treatment to an individual or to a group because of the race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, or age of the individual or group on account of an imbalance which may exist with respect to the total number or percentage of persons of any race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, or age in the state or a community, section, or other area or in the available work force in the state or a community, section, or other area.
3. It is specifically provided that neither subsection (a) nor (b) of this Code section nor any other provision of this article shall prohibit an employer from adopting or carrying out a plan to fill vacancies or hire new employees in a manner to eliminate or reduce imbalance in employment with respect to race, color, disability, religion, sex, national origin, or age if such plan is required by the Governor and filed with and approved by the administrator prior to its final adoption and implementation.
4. Nothing contained in this article prohibits:
   1. Minimum hiring ages otherwise provided by law;
   2. State compliance with federal regulations;
   3. Termination of the employment of any person who is unable or incompetent or refuses to perform the person's duties;
   4. Any physical or medical examinations of applicants or employees which an employer requires to determine fitness for the job or position sought or held; or
   5. An employer from observing the terms of a bona fide seniority system or any bona fide employee benefit plan such as a retirement, pension, or insurance plan which is not a subterfuge to evade the purposes of this article.

(Ga. L. 1978, p. 859, § 8; Ga. L. 1983, p. 1097, § 1; Ga. L. 1995, p. 1302, § 10.)

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Powers of personnel administration commissioner over affirmative action plans unaffected.

- The 1983 amendments to O.C.G.A. §§ 45-19-27 and45-19-35 of the Georgia Fair Employment Practices Act, O.C.G.A. § 45-19-20 et seq., do not infringe on the state personnel board or the personnel administration commissioner's responsibilities in the area of affirmative action plans. 1983 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 83-51.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 45A Am. Jur. 2d, Job Discrimination, §§ 269 et seq., 308 et seq.

Proof of Racial Discrimination in Employment Promotion Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 48 POF3d 75.

- Recovery of damages as remedy for wrongful discrimination under state or local civil rights provisions, 85 A.L.R.3d 351.

Application of state law to sex discrimination in employment, 87 A.L.R.3d 93.

Judicial construction and application of state legislation prohibiting religious discrimination in employment, 37 A.L.R.5th 349.

Application of state law to age discrimination in employment, 51 A.L.R.5th 1.

Availability and scope of punitive damages under state employment discrimination law, 81 A.L.R.5th 367.