Employment discrimination by foreign multinational enterprises operating in the United States

Abstract

This article explores the parameters of the reach of U.S. equal employment opportunity law for non-U.S. companies operating in the U.S. Commercial agreements in the form of Treaties of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation were created to foster favorable conditions for direct foreign investment following World War II, and seek to provide equality of treatment between foreign and domestic workers. Cognizant that there are differing interpretations of the application of U.S. law to non-U.S. companies, the article explores the resolution of cases at the agency level, by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, up to resolution of cases by the United States Supreme Court. The authors conclude that U.S. law should apply and any exemptions thereto are to be construed in the narrowest possible way so as to promote the goals of equal employment in the U.S.