Affirmative action was part of executive order 11246 which supports Title VII of the civil rights act of 1964 that renders discrimination illegal employment decisions on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Affirmative action involves the employer brining qualified women and minorities into a workplace from which it has been determined that they are excluded in order to make the workplace more reflective of the population from which employees are drawn (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2007). Affirmative action is not only in place to just end discrimination but to actively seeking individuals for employment and promoting individuals within an organization who represent specific minority groups and/or women.
The Rights of White males are also protected if there is evidence of discrimination. For example, if a company institutes an affirmative action plan to correct an imbalance in their work force between men and women; once that imbalance has been corrected the plan should be discontinued. If not and the practice continues an employee who is a white male and is qualified for a position but is passed over by a female who is not as qualified as he is would have grounds for sex discrimination under Title VII.
Affirmative Action is not in place to institute quotas, quotas are prohibited. Affirmative action is in place to make sure that qualified woman or minorities are given equal opportunity for employment in whatever position they are applying or being promoted to. It is often mistaken for a law that says a company must hire an individual because she is a woman or she or he is a minority. If an individual is not qualified for a job there is no law that says you have to hire them just because of their status as a woman or minority.

Bennett-Alexander, D. D., & Hartman, L. P. (2007). The Regulation of Discrimination in Employment (5th