Title VII of the Civil Rights Act

The Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 makes very significant amendments to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Under the 1964 Civil Rights Act, state and local governments and their employees were excluded from Title VII coverage. However, 1972 amendments to Title VII extend coverage to all state and local governments, governmental agencies, political subdivisions (except for elected officials, their personal assistants, and immediate advisors). The exemption for elected officials and their personal assistants and immediate advisors “is intended to be construed very narrowly and is in no way intended to establish an overall narrowing of the expanded coverage of state and local governmental employees.”