<P> The 1991 Act combined elements from two different civil right acts of the past : the Civil Rights Act of 1866 , better known by the number assigned to it in the codification of federal laws as Section 1981 , and the employment - related provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 , generally referred to as Title VII . The two statutes , passed nearly a century apart , approached the issue of employment discrimination very differently : Section 1981 prohibited only discrimination based on race or color , but Title VII also prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex , religion , and national origin . Section 1981 , which had lain dormant and unenforced for a century after its passage , allowed plaintiffs to seek compensatory damages and trial by jury . Title VII , passed in the 1960s when it was assumed that Southern juries could not render a fair verdict , allowed only trial by the court and provided for only traditional equitable remedies : back pay , reinstatement , and injunctions against future acts of discrimination . By the time the 1991 Act was passed , both allowed for an award of attorneys fees . </P>
what year did the civil rights act add jury trials to title vii
in the 1960s