Obstacles to the Extraterritorial Application of Title VII: The Civil Rights Act of 1991 Reconsidered

Robert K. Robinson
Ann L. Canty
A. Amin Mohamed

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DOI: 10.2190/P4R6-2KGE-RMXU-MJYV

Abstract

The Civil Rights Act of 1991 included legislation which extended the protection of Title VII to any United States citizen employed in a foreign country. The purpose of this article is to offer an examination of employer obligations and exemptions, as well as potential conflicts, which are present in applying Title VII extraterritorially. Specifically, the extraterritorial application of Title VII will prove problematic in legal environments which differ radically from the western model of constitutional government, as illustrated by the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. The authors conclude that, in the unlikely event of the repeal of section 109, extensive litigation will be forthcoming to resolve the ambiguities present in the extraterritorial provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1991.

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