...Western Governors University MBA / Human Resources – JDT2 – Task 1 MEMO TO: Arnita Hudson, CEO FROM: Heather Barth, Elementary Division Manager DATE: March 6, 2014 RE: Title VII Claim A) After implementing the new 12-hour / 4-day production shift policy, an employee quit and filed a constructive discharge claim with the EEOC. Constructive discharge is an illegal discriminatory practice in which an employee is forced to resign because of an alleged unbearable work environment. Constructive discharge as a legal concept is relevant to our situation in that an employee has quit, alleging religious discrimination. There are legal arguments that must be proven by the accuser in order for a constructive discharge charge to be upheld. “To constitute a constructive discharge, the employer must deliberately create intolerable working conditions, as perceived by a reasonable person, with the intention of forcing the employee to quit and the employee must actually quit.“ (MOORE v. KUKA WELDING SYSTEMS, 1998) The burden lies on the employee, who must establish that working conditions were so difficult that they were obliged to resign because of a 1) discriminatory reason or 2) reason contrary to a well-defined civic policy such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits an employer from refusing to hire, from firing, or discriminating against a worker in any way based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. (National...
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...To: The CEO Re: Former Employee Complaint- CONSTRUCTIVE DISCHARGE A. In this case the employee has filed a claim alleging constructive discharge due to a work policy change. The company has enforced a new policy which requires the entire production staff to work a rotating shift consisting of four 12-hour, followed by four days off. In this employee’s case would cause him to in some instances work on a holy day. The employee quit after the policy change took effect, he is alleging that the policy is discriminatory. The employee is challenging the rules covered under the religion aspect of the Title VII policy guidance, by claiming “constructive discharge”. A constructive discharge results when “the working conditions are so intolerable that a reasonable person in the employee’s position would feel compelled to resign.” (www.eeoc.gov). Constructive discharge is a relevant legal concept in this case, as the claim is alleging the employee was given no other option but to resign, in order to observe his religious practices. B. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII was created to protect certain groups of people from employment discrimination. Some of these protected groups include but are not limited to age, disability, race/color, religion and sex. In this case the employee is alleging that the company’s new policy on shift work is discriminatory under his Title VII religious rights, because it would require he work on a holy day. A lot of times, constructive discharge...
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...REPORT The Importance of Ethical Decision Making WGU Toy Company A decision with ethical concerns is significant and comes with greater consequences than ordinary, everyday decisions. Key to ethical decision making throughout the organization is providing a written code of ethics for your business. By having a written code of ethics the importance and value of knowing right from wrong behavior is emphasized. This provides an atmosphere where moral values and principles are a priority. Instead of having employees unsure about making decisions, these written ethical principles deliver guidelines to maintain consistent and appropriate decisions. Having a code sets the tone and drives expectation for its use. It makes it clear that your company wants you to make the ethical choice, and they will support and defend you when you do. Another key to ethical decision making is training. This integrates the ethics code into the workplace. “These should be embedded as part of the culture in the organization” (Abdullah, 2013). Providing employees with tools for critical thinking and good decision making empowers employees from the very start. Training creates recognition for ethical issues and provides guidance for finding and making an ethical choice. It prepares employees for forward thinking to handle unanticipated situations and face new problems. It reinforces the significance of every employee’s responsibility to uphold the company’s principles. It gives the employee a...
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...Memorandum of constructive discharge complaint JDT2 Task 1 Shira M. Blanchette Western Governors University TO: Jean Jones, CEO FROM: Shira Blanchette, HR director DATE: 10/4/13 SUBJECT: Constructive discharge complaint A. Constructive Discharge The Zippeedoo Toy Company has been experiencing huge growth over the past year, leading to a change in scheduling for production personnel. Where all personnel once worked eight (8) hours per day, five (5) days per week, it became necessary to shift production personnel to a rotating schedule of twelve (12) hours per day, four (4) days on, 4 days off throughout the month. This led to personnel being scheduled over the weekend, as well as during the week. Employees were required to work from one to three Sundays per month, depending on rotation. When the new schedule was announced, Mr. Tibbet resigned his position in the production group. He has filed a claim of constructive discharge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) which alleges that Zippeedoo Toy Company required practices which conflicted with his religious beliefs, forcing him to leave the company. Constructive discharge is an illegal and discriminatory practice that forces an employee to resign employment due to intolerable working conditions. In order to meet the criteria of a constructive discharge, Mr. Tibbet must prove that his resignation occurred a) due to conditions that any reasonable person would...
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...Memorandum To: CEO, JDT2 Task 1 Toy Company From: John Doe, Elementary Division Manager Date: 2/24/2015 Re: Summary of Alleged Discriminatory Claim under Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII, Constructive Discharge Research A. Constructive Discharge The former employee is claiming that he was forced to resign from his position due to the fact that he must work on a religious holy day. His claim is based on the feeling that the company has purposefully made his working situation unendurable through an, alleged, discriminatory work schedule change. As referenced in an article by Alison Doyle on About.com, titled ‘What is Constructive Discharge?’, Alison defines constructive discharge as the following: Constructive discharge occurs when an employee is forced to quit because the employer has made working conditions unbearable. Unbearable conditions include discrimination or harassment, or receiving a negative change in pay or work for reasons that are not work-related. This situation could be considered constructive discharge grounded on the assertion of the former employee’s feeling that he was forced to resign because he is required to work on his religious holy day whereas he was not required to work on this day in the past. This particular action may be categorized as a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Evidentiary fact of a possible violation include that the employee has always had weekends off of work and that was based on the old production...
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...JDT2 Task 1 Rhonda Bushkin Western Governors University | ABC Toy Company | Memo To: | The CEO | From: | Rhonda Bushkin - Manager, Elementary Division | cc: | Legal Department | Date: | September 28, 2014 | Re: | Employee X’s Constructive Discharge Claim | | | Background: It is Employee X’s claim that their religious rights were violated under the Civil Rights Act of 1964; specifically under Title VII that prohibits employment discrimination on basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Findings: A. How is constructive discharge as a legal concept relevant to the scenario? "Constructive discharge" occurs when an employer makes the conditions of work so intolerable that the employee "quits." (lawmemo.com, 2005) In other words, the employee feels that if they do not resign, they will be fired. Employee X is claiming their civil rights have been violated under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, when the company implemented a new shift policy. The policy that took effect at the beginning of the year, requires all production employees to work four 12-hour shifts in a row and then take four days off. These days can occur any day of the week, Sunday through Saturday. Employee X is stating that this new policy is discriminatory because the policy requires employees to work on a religious holiday. In order for constructive discharge to be used in a court of law there must be a feeling by the employee that their termination...
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...JDT2 Task 1 Introduction: Many would argue that one of the most influential pieces of legislation passed to date is the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII of this act prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It is critical for managers and employees in organizations to have an understanding of equal employment opportunity (EEO) laws to ensure that both employees and managers are protected. Scenario: During your third week as the elementary division manager at a toy company, the company attorney notifies you that a former employee has filed a claim against the company under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, constructive discharge, after a work schedule policy change. The employee, who quit after the policy change took effect, is alleging that the enforcement of the company’s new policy on shift work is discriminatory because the policy requires employees to work on a religious holy day. In the past, production employees worked Monday through Friday. As a result of company growth, the production schedule was changed at the beginning of the new year, requiring employees to work 12-hour shifts with four days at work and then four days off. The four work days can occur any day of the week, Monday through Sunday. The entire production staff is required to work this rotating shift. Office staff members, however, work from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. In order to keep legal costs down...
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...JDT2 HR task 2 On 6/4, the quality assurance department identified a problem during routine testing. The problem is with one of the toys included in our ‘Bean Sprouts’ toy collection. The metal whistle from the collection contains small traces of lead and as a result, did not pass testing. As you are well aware, the primary market for the Bean Sprouts line is elementary schools. The test results show that the amount of lead included in the whistles was slightly above the U.S. legally acceptable limits for children ages 7 and younger. A large shipment of the Bean Sprouts toy collection is scheduled to be shipped to schools in South America at the end of this week so that the toys will be on site before the beginning of the new school year. Calculations of the logistics department show that the approximate cost to reproduce the product and repackage the toy collections is $100,000. In response to your memo dated 6/5, I present you the following report. The report will outline 3 possible scenarios of how to address the situation regarding the whistles. I will explain the process/ method that I used for selecting each of the scenarios. I will also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the respective scenarios, as well as the financial, legal, and ethical considerations of the scenarios. I will conclude with my recommendation on which scenario we should follow and give you the arguments why. The core of the problem that we are dealing with is that we owe the customer but...
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...JDT2 Human Resources Task 3 Performance Appraisal System “Presenter’s Notes” Western Governor’s University Grace H. Kwasman April 8, 2014 Introduction “The bottom line in leadership isn't how far we advance ourselves but how far we advance others.” John C. Maxwell Performance Appraisal Systems Performance appraisal is a process by which the job performance of an employee is evaluated. It is a part of employee’s professional development and consist of regular reviews of employee performance within organizations (Wikipedia.org). The performance appraisal is a quintessential part of the human resources management in any organization. Section A- Benefits Big and small, any organization must adopt an effective performance appraisal systems in order to keep their workforce productive, meet company objectives and at competitive edge in today’s market. When effectively used, performance appraisals the benefits to the employee, the manager and the company are invaluable: a. Alignment- It provides a forum to discuss clear understanding of the expectations and what actions are needed to achieve those job expectations for the employee. The manager/company gets the opportunity to connect team and individual objectives with the organizational strategic goals. b. Accountability- During the performance appraisal, the employee are able to gain a better understanding of their faults, strengths and are able to make plan for improvement as needed...
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