For the purposes of this subchapter—
**(a)** The term “person” includes one or more individuals, governments, governmental agencies, political subdivisions, labor unions, partnerships, associations, corporations, legal representatives, mutual companies, joint-stock companies, trusts, unincorporated organizations, trustees, trustees in cases under title 11, or receivers.
**(b)** The term “employer” means a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce who has fifteen or more employees for each working day in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year, and any agent of such a person, but such term does not include (1) the United States, a corporation wholly owned by the Government of the United States, an Indian tribe, or any department or agency of the District of Columbia subject by statute to procedures of the competitive service (as defined in [section 2102 of title 5](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title5-section2102&num=0&edition=prelim)), or (2) a bona fide private membership club (other than a labor organization) which is exempt from taxation under [section 501(c) of title 26](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title26-section501/c&num=0&edition=prelim), except that during the first year after March 24, 1972, persons having fewer than twenty-five employees (and their agents) shall not be considered employers.
**(c)** The term “employment agency” means any person regularly undertaking with or without compensation to procure employees for an employer or to procure for employees opportunities to work for an employer and includes an agent of such a person.
**(d)** The term “labor organization” means a labor organization engaged in an industry affecting commerce, and any
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Stable record: federal_law:legal_authorities:record_usc_205ab39481c6f8966faa0db4 Source file: Laws/federal/codes/united-states-code/title-42/section-2000e-definitions--38aaebfd5d.md Pages: Not recorded – Not recorded Passage SHA-256: 1d04301746f13b42b39849c23c3b0ff698163348d70431b696007cc2d8518202 Retained source evidence SHA-256: 0faba2a0b047ddde77c68cc9c20596068fe5ee018f81a95a3f6d4d62a8b6e877
Source location: Title 42, Chapter 21, § 2000e; chapter-021-civil-rights.md
Stored source content
For the purposes of this subchapter—
**(a)** The term “person” includes one or more individuals, governments, governmental agencies, political subdivisions, labor unions, partnerships, associations, corporations, legal representatives, mutual companies, joint-stock companies, trusts, unincorporated organizations, trustees, trustees in cases under title 11, or receivers.
**(b)** The term “employer” means a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce who has fifteen or more employees for each working day in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year, and any agent of such a person, but such term does not include (1) the United States, a corporation wholly owned by the Government of the United States, an Indian tribe, or any department or agency of the District of Columbia subject by statute to procedures of the competitive service (as defined in [section 2102 of title 5](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title5-section2102&num=0&edition=prelim)), or (2) a bona fide private membership club (other than a labor organization) which is exempt from taxation under [section 501(c) of title 26](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title26-section501/c&num=0&edition=prelim), except that during the first year after March 24, 1972, persons having fewer than twenty-five employees (and their agents) shall not be considered employers.
**(c)** The term “employment agency” means any person regularly undertaking with or without compensation to procure employees for an employer or to procure for employees opportunities to work for an employer and includes an agent of such a person.
**(d)** The term “labor organization” means a labor organization engaged in an industry affecting commerce, and any agent of such an organization, and includes any organization of any kind, any agency, or employee representation committee, group, association, or plan so engaged in which employees participate and which exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours, or other terms or conditions of employment, and any conference, general committee, joint or system board, or joint council so engaged which is subordinate to a national or international labor organization.
**(e)** A labor organization shall be deemed to be engaged in an industry affecting commerce if (1) it maintains or operates a hiring hall or hiring office which procures employees for an employer or procures for employees opportunities to work for an employer, or (2) the number of its members (or, where it is a labor organization composed of other labor organizations or their representatives, if the aggregate number of the members of such other labor organization) is (A) twenty-five or more during the first year after March 24, 1972, or (B) fifteen or more thereafter, and such labor organization—
(1) is the certified representative of employees under the provisions of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended [[29 U.S.C. 151](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title29-section151&num=0&edition=prelim) et seq.], or the Railway Labor Act, as amended [[45 U.S.C. 151](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title45-section151&num=0&edition=prelim) et seq.];
(2) although not certified, is a national or international labor organization or a local labor organization recognized or acting as the representative of employees of an employer or employers engaged in an industry affecting commerce; or
(3) has chartered a local labor organization or subsidiary body which is representing or actively seeking to represent employees of employers within the meaning of paragraph (1) or (2); or
(4) has been chartered by a labor organization representing or actively seeking to represent employees within the meaning of paragraph (1) or (2) as the local or subordinate body through which such employees may enjoy membership or become affiliated with such labor organization; or
(5) is a conference, general committee, joint or system board, or joint council subordinate to a national or international labor organization, which includes a labor organization engaged in an industry affecting commerce within the meaning of any of the preceding paragraphs of this subsection.
**(f)** The term “employee” means an individual employed by an employer, except that the term “employee” shall not include any person elected to public office in any State or political subdivision of any State by the qualified voters thereof, or any person chosen by such officer to be on such officer’s personal staff, or an appointee on the policy making level or an immediate adviser with respect to the exercise of the constitutional or legal powers of the office. The exemption set forth in the preceding sentence shall not include employees subject to the civil service laws of a State government, governmental agency or political subdivision. With respect to employment in a foreign country, such term includes an individual who is a citizen of the United States.
**(g)** The term “commerce” means trade, traffic, commerce, transportation, transmission, or communication among the several States; or between a State and any place outside thereof; or within the District of Columbia, or a possession of the United States; or between points in the same State but through a point outside thereof.
**(h)** The term “industry affecting commerce” means any activity, business, or industry in commerce or in which a labor dispute would hinder or obstruct commerce or the free flow of commerce and includes any activity or industry “affecting commerce” within the meaning of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 [[29 U.S.C. 401](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title29-section401&num=0&edition=prelim) et seq.], and further includes any governmental industry, business, or activity.
**(i)** The term “State” includes a State of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, Wake Island, the Canal Zone, and Outer Continental Shelf lands defined in the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act [[43 U.S.C. 1331](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title43-section1331&num=0&edition=prelim) et seq.].
**(j)** The term “religion” includes all aspects of religious observance and practice, as well as belief, unless an employer demonstrates that he is unable to reasonably accommodate to an employee’s or prospective employee’s religious observance or practice without undue hardship on the conduct of the employer’s business.
**(k)** The terms “because of sex” or “on the basis of sex” include, but are not limited to, because of or on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions; and women affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions shall be treated the same for all employment-related purposes, including receipt of benefits under fringe benefit programs, as other persons not so affected but similar in their ability or inability to work, and nothing in [section 2000e–2(h) of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title42-section2000e–2/h&num=0&edition=prelim) shall be interpreted to permit otherwise. This subsection shall not require an employer to pay for health insurance benefits for abortion, except where the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term, or except where medical complications have arisen from an abortion: Provided, That nothing herein shall preclude an employer from providing abortion benefits or otherwise affect bargaining agreements in regard to abortion.
**(l)** The term “complaining party” means the Commission, the Attorney General, or a person who may bring an action or proceeding under this subchapter.
**(m)** The term “demonstrates” means meets the burdens of production and persuasion.
**(n)** The term “respondent” means an employer, employment agency, labor organization, joint labor-management committee controlling apprenticeship or other training or retraining program, including an on-the-job training program, or Federal entity subject to [section 2000e–16 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title42-section2000e-16&num=0&edition=prelim).
Cross-references
Connections may be documented source relationships, shared citations or nearby passages. Each explains its basis; a connection alone does not establish applicability to your situation.
Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
The denial by some employers of the right of employees to organize and the refusal by some employers to accept the procedure of collective bargaining lead to strikes and other forms of industrial strife or unrest, which have the intent or the necessary effect of burdening or obstructing commerce by (a) impairing the efficiency, safety, or operation of the instrumentalities of commerce; (b) occurring in the current of commerce; (c) materially affecting, restraining, or controlling the flow of raw materials or manufactured or processed goods from or into the channels of commerce, or the prices of such materials or goods in commerce; or (d) causing diminution of employment and wages in such volume as substantially to impair or disrupt the market for goods flowing from or into the channels of commerce.
Stored review status: release_metadata_unconfirmed. The source passage cites 29 U.S.C. § 151. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.
Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
§ 151. Findings and declaration of policy
The denial by some employers of the right of
employees to organize and the refusal by some
employers to accept the procedure of collective
bargaining lead to strikes and other forms of in-
dustrial strife or unrest, which have the intent
or the necessary effect of burdening or obstruct-
ing commerce by (a) impairing the efficiency,
safety, or operation of the instrumentalities of
commerce; (b) occurring in the current of com-
merce; (c) materially affecting, restraining, or
controlling the flow of raw materials or manu-
factured or processed goods from or into the
channels of commerce, or the prices of such ma-
terials or goods in commerce; or (d) causing
diminution of employment and wages in such
volume as substantially to impair or disrupt the
market for goods flowing from or into the chan-
nels of commerce.
The inequality of bargaining power between
employees who do not possess full freedom of as-
sociation or actual liberty of contract, and em-
ployers who are organized in the corporate or
other forms of ownership association substan-
tially burdens and affects the flow of commerce,
and tends to aggravate recurrent business de-
Page 37
TITLE 29—LABOR
§ 152
pressions, by depressing wage rates and the pur-
chasing power of wage earners in industry and
by preventing the stabilization of competitive
wage rates and working conditions within and
between industries.
Experience has proved that protection by law
of the right of employees to organize and bar-
gain collectively safeguards commerce from in-
jury, impairment, or interruption, and promotes
the flow of commerce by removing certain rec-
ognized sources of industrial strife and unrest,
by encouraging practices fundamental to the
friendly adjustment
Stored review status: historical_2024_not_currentness_verified. The source passage cites 29 U.S.C. § 151. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.
Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
**(a) Standards for labor-management relations** The Congress finds that, in the public interest, it continues to be the responsibility of the Federal Government to protect employees’ rights to organize, choose their own representatives, bargain collectively, and otherwise engage in concerted activities for their mutual aid or protection; that the relations between employers and labor organizations and the millions of workers they represent have a substantial impact on the commerce of the Nation; and that in order to accomplish the objective of a free flow of commerce it is essential that labor organizations, employers, and their officials adhere to the highest standards of responsibility and ethical conduct in administering the affairs of their organizations, particularly as they affect labor-management relations.
**(b) Protection of rights of employees and the public** The Congress further finds, from recent investigations in the labor and management fields, that there have been a number of instances of breach of trust, corruption, disregard of the rights of individual employees, and other failures to observe high standards of responsibility and ethical conduct which require further and supplementary legislation that will afford necessary protection of the rights and interests of employees and the public generally as they relate to the activities of labor organizations, employers, labor relations consultants, and their officers and representatives.
**(c) Necessity to eliminate or prevent improper practices** The Congress, therefore, further finds and declares that the enactment of this chapter is necessary to eliminate or prevent improper practices on the part of labor organizations, employers, labor relations consultants, and their officers and representatives whic
Stored review status: release_metadata_unconfirmed. The source passage cites 29 U.S.C. § 401. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.
Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
§ 401. Congressional declaration of findings, pur-
poses, and policy
(a) Standards for labor-management relations
The Congress finds that, in the public interest,
it continues to be the responsibility of the Fed-
eral Government to protect employees’ rights to
organize, choose their own representatives, bar-
gain collectively, and otherwise engage in con-
certed activities for their mutual aid or protec-
tion; that the relations between employers and
labor organizations and the millions of workers
they represent have a substantial impact on the
commerce of the Nation; and that in order to ac-
complish the objective of a free flow of com-
merce it is essential that labor organizations,
employers, and their officials adhere to the
highest standards of responsibility and ethical
conduct in administering the affairs of their or-
ganizations, particularly as they affect labor-
management relations.
(b) Protection of rights of employees and the
public
The Congress further finds, from recent inves-
tigations in the labor and management fields,
Page 119
TITLE 29—LABOR
§ 402
that there have been a number of instances of
breach of trust, corruption, disregard of the
rights of individual employees, and other fail-
ures to observe high standards of responsibility
and ethical conduct which require further and
supplementary legislation that will afford nec-
essary protection of the rights and interests of
employees and the public generally as they re-
late to the activities of labor organizations, em-
ployers, labor relations consultants, and their
officers and representatives.
(c) Necessity to eliminate or prevent improper
practices
The Congress, therefore, further finds and de-
clares that the enactment of this chapter is nec-
essary to eliminate or prevent
Stored review status: historical_2024_not_currentness_verified. The source passage cites 29 U.S.C. § 401. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.
Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
§ 2000e. Definitions
For the purposes of this subchapter—
(a) The term ‘‘person’’ includes one or more
individuals, governments, governmental agen-
cies, political subdivisions, labor unions, part-
nerships, associations, corporations, legal rep-
resentatives, mutual companies, joint-stock
companies, trusts, unincorporated organiza-
tions, trustees, trustees in cases under title 11,
or receivers.
(b) The term ‘‘employer’’ means a person en-
gaged in an industry affecting commerce who
has fifteen or more employees for each work-
ing day in each of twenty or more calendar
weeks in the current or preceding calendar
year, and any agent of such a person, but such
term does not include (1) the United States, a
corporation wholly owned by the Government
of the United States, an Indian tribe, or any
department or agency of the District of Co-
lumbia subject by statute to procedures of the
competitive service (as defined in section 2102
of title 5), or (2) a bona fide private member-
ship club (other than a labor organization)
which is exempt from taxation under section
501(c) of title 26, except that during the first
year after March 24, 1972, persons having fewer
than twenty-five employees (and their agents)
shall not be considered employers.
(c) The term ‘‘employment agency’’ means
any person regularly undertaking with or
without compensation to procure employees
for an employer or to procure for employees
opportunities to work for an employer and in-
cludes an agent of such a person.
(d) The term ‘‘labor organization’’ means a
labor organization engaged in an industry af-
fecting commerce, and any agent of such an
organization, and includes any organization of
any kind, any agency, or employee representa-
tion committee, group, association, or pl
In this subchapter:
**(a) Outer Continental Shelf.—** The term “outer Continental Shelf” means—
(1) all submerged lands lying seaward and outside of the area of lands beneath navigable waters as defined in [section 1301 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title43-section1301&num=0&edition=prelim), and of which the subsoil and seabed appertain to the United States and are subject to its jurisdiction and control or within the exclusive economic zone of the United States and adjacent to any territory of the United States; and
(2) does not include any area conveyed by Congress to a territorial government for administration;
**(b) Secretary.—** The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Interior, except that with respect to functions under this subchapter transferred to, or vested in, the Secretary of Energy or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by or pursuant to the Department of Energy Organization Act ([42 U.S.C. 7101](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title42-section7101&num=0&edition=prelim) et seq.), the term “Secretary” means the Secretary of Energy, or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, as the case may be.
**(c) Lease.—** The term “lease” means any form of authorization which is issued under [section 1337 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title43-section1337&num=0&edition=prelim) or maintained under [section 1335 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title43-section1335&num=0&edition=prelim) and which authorizes exploration for, and development and production of, minerals.
**(d) Person.—** The term “person” includes, in addition to a natural person, an association, a State, a political subdivision o
Stored review status: release_metadata_unconfirmed. The source passage cites 43 U.S.C. § 1331. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.
Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
§ 1331. Definitions
In this subchapter:
(a) OUTER
CONTINENTAL
SHELF.—The term
‘‘outer Continental Shelf’’ means—
(1) all submerged lands lying seaward and
outside of the area of lands beneath navigable
waters as defined in section 1301 of this title,
and of which the subsoil and seabed appertain
to the United States and are subject to its ju-
risdiction and control or within the exclusive
economic zone of the United States and adja-
cent to any territory of the United States; and
(2) does not include any area conveyed by
Congress to a territorial government for ad-
ministration;
(b) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means
the Secretary of the Interior, except that with
respect to functions under this subchapter
transferred to, or vested in, the Secretary of En-
ergy or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commis-
sion by or pursuant to the Department of En-
ergy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.),
the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of
Energy, or the Federal Energy Regulatory Com-
mission, as the case may be.
(c) LEASE.—The term ‘‘lease’’ means any form
of authorization which is issued under section
1337 of this title or maintained under section
1335 of this title and which authorizes explo-
ration for, and development and production of,
minerals.
(d) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ includes, in
addition to a natural person, an association, a
State, a political subdivision of a State, or a pri-
vate, public, or municipal corporation.
(e) COASTAL ZONE.—The term ‘‘coastal zone’’
means the coastal waters (including the lands
therein
and
thereunder)
and
the
adjacent
shorelands (including the waters therein and
thereunder), strongly influenced by each other
and in proximity to the shorelines of the several
coastal States, and includes i
Stored review status: historical_2024_not_currentness_verified. The source passage cites 43 U.S.C. § 1331. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.
Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
Stored review status: release_metadata_unconfirmed. The source passage cites 45 U.S.C. § 151. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.
Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
§ 151. Definitions; short title
When used in this chapter and for the purposes
of this chapter—
First. The term ‘‘carrier’’ includes any rail-
road subject to the jurisdiction of the Surface
Transportation Board, any express company
that would have been subject to subtitle IV of
title 49, as of December 31, 1995,,1 and any com-
pany which is directly or indirectly owned or
controlled by or under common control with any
carrier by railroad and which operates any
equipment or facilities or performs any service
(other than trucking service) in connection with
the transportation, receipt, delivery, elevation,
transfer in transit, refrigeration or icing, stor-
age, and handling of property transported by
railroad, and any receiver, trustee, or other in-
dividual or body, judicial or otherwise, when in
the possession of the business of any such ‘‘car-
rier’’: Provided, however, That the term ‘‘carrier’’
shall not include any street, interurban, or sub-
urban electric railway, unless such railway is
operating as a part of a general steam-railroad
system of transportation, but shall not exclude
any part of the general steam-railroad system of
transportation now or hereafter operated by any
other motive power. The Surface Transportation
Board is authorized and directed upon request of
the Mediation Board or upon complaint of any
party interested to determine after hearing
whether any line operated by electric power
falls within the terms of this proviso. The term
‘‘carrier’’ shall not include any company by rea-
son of its being engaged in the mining of coal,
the supplying of coal to a carrier where delivery
is not beyond the mine tipple, and the operation
Page 9
TITLE 45—RAILROADS
§ 151
of equipment or facilities therefor, or in any of
such activi
Stored review status: historical_2024_not_currentness_verified. The source passage cites 45 U.S.C. § 151. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.