The Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 extended to state and local governments the protections of which act?

• A. Civil Rights Act of 1964
• B. Civil Rights Act of 1957
• C. Voting Rights Act
• D. Americans with Disabilities Act

Answer: (A)

The idea being tested is how the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 broadened protections against employment discrimination to state and local government employers. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin and created the EEOC to enforce those protections. But state and local governments were not covered under Title VII at first. The 1972 amendment extended those civil rights protections to government employers, making the same employment protections apply across private, federal, and state/local sectors. The other acts don’t fit here: the Civil Rights Act of 1957 offered limited protections and introduced a modest enforcement mechanism, the Voting Rights Act targets voting practices, and the Americans with Disabilities Act was enacted later to address disability rights in employment.