Racial Discrimination and Harassment
Case Study
Dana Agent
3/9/2014

A very clear example of harassment based on an employees’ race is evident in the lawsuit filed against MMR Constructors, Inc. in Arkansas. An African American employee was subjected to racial harassment by white employees that included racially offensive language, graffiti and death threats. White employees went as far as going to the black employees’ home in the middle of the night and threatened his life because he apparently reported the racially charged incidents to the company. The employee reported the “midnight visit” incident to the company and the company refused to take action against the employees because it did not happen at work. When a company overlooks incidents happening on and off the worksite, it gives the harasser the impression that the company condones the behavior. Harassment by definition is the act or an instance of harassing, or disturbing, pestering, or troubling repeatedly; persecution. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commissions’ (EEOC) definition of harassment includes slurs, graffiti, offensive or derogatory comments, or other verbal or physical conduct. “Harassment is a form of employment discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, (ADEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, (ADA).” (EEOC.gov) The employee was a victim of harassment and subjected to unethical treatment by his co-workers and the company. He had to work in a hostile environment where his co-workers decided it was okay to harass him because of his race. The company received complaints about the white employees that were doing the harassing, but did nothing to intervene. The company failed the employee by not protecting his rights as an employee and are ultimately responsible for the unethical behavior of the other employees. Protections that are in place for the black employee were violated under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. An attempt at conciliation was unsuccessful hence the reason for filing the lawsuit. As a result of the lawsuit filed by the employee, MMR is to conduct training on “racial discrimination, handling of complaints of racial discrimination and anti-retaliation training” for all management employees in their two locations of Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Arkansas. This training will be an effort to present as well as maintain awareness concerning harassment and discrimination in the workplace. The goal of diversity training is to decrease discrimination and provide an opportunity for employees to learn about various cultural differences and similarities within the company’s workforce. Highlighting skills and abilities perspective workers from different cultures bring to the company will give employees an indication of the benefits of having a diversified cultural workforce. Diversity in the workplace facilitates the exchange of new perspectives, creates an environment for new ideas to improve problem solving and promotes a respectful and accepting workplace environment. Failure to include all employees in the cultural awareness of others may lead to issues within the workplace, which may lead to serious problems or even lawsuits. Workplace diversity training should start with management as they are the leaders within the company and sets the example for employees to follow. Implementing diversity policies which, in order to succeed, should be fully aligned with core organizational goals and objectives. If management is not in support of diversity training and continued awareness, the employees will not be inclined to be accepting of diversity in the workplace such as with the MMR EEO case. The importance of having an all-inclusive diversity training program or policy will assist employees in gaining insight and interpret various aspects of other cultures and provide new perspectives in which they view others. Diversity is more than a moral imperative; it is a global necessity. Moreover, diversity is an essential component of any civil society. (govinfo.library.unt.edu) Human Resources has a responsibility in its role as a strategic partner in the organization to provide required training as mandated by the organization as well as required training by the EEOC. Management and employees alike should have access to the human resource office at all times in order to maintain the cohesiveness within the organization. HR’s strategic partnering should be very inclusive not just in the field of human resources. Being a strategic partner is having a role that encompasses a myriad of duties that support the organization at every level. Changes in Human Resource Management are inevitable and HR must become part of an organizations’ business team, involved in planning at the highest level within the organization. In the role of strategic partner, the organization should place senior HR management near strategic decision making processes which include planning, design and development. HR leaders can make important contributions to strategy development and implementation as well as improve the quality of decisions related to strategy and talent. In activities carried out by the HR department, working in cooperation with each other and every member of the workforce is essential. This can help an organization succeed in achieving its plans. Dave Ulrich argued that the HR function needs to become strategically proactive, that HR needs to go beyond administrative expertise and be an expert in strategic business partnership, change management, and employee advocacy. (Ulrich, 1997) HR must be a proactive contributor to the development and accomplishment of the organizations’ business plans and objectives. If this is not the case, the organization will be faced with the status quo of HR functions. The lack of integration between human resource management and strategic business planning processes is increasingly acknowledged as a source of implementation failures. (Golden, Ramanujam, 1985)
References
Mathis, R. L., Jackson, J. H., & Valentine. (2014). Human Resource Management. Stamford, CT
EEOC. (2014) MMR Constructors Settles EEOC Racial Harassment Lawsuit. White Co-Workers Racially Harassed Black Employee, Federal Agency Charged. Retrieved from: http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/1-27-14.cfm

Greenwald, J. (2013). Diversity training programs must be broad, backed by senior managers. Business Insurance, 47(25), 0016.

Golden, K.A., & Ramanujam, V. (1985). Between a Dream and a Nightmare: On the Integration of the Human Resource Management and Strategic Business Planning Processes. Human Resource Management, 24(4), 429-452.

Ulrich, D. (1997). Human Resources Champions. The Next Agenda for Adding Value and Delivering Results. Boston: Harvard Business School Press

GovInfoLibrary. Best Practices in Workforce Diversity. Retrieved from: http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/npr/library/workforce-diversity.pdf. Accessed 18 Feb. 2014
King, E.B., Dawson, J.F., Kravitz, D.A., & Gulick, L.V. (2012). A multilevel study of the relationships between diversity training, ethnic discrimination and satisfaction in organizations. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 33(1), 5-20. Doi:10.1002/job.728
McLean, J., & Lewis, R.D. (2010). Communicating across Cultures. Manager: British Journal of Administrative Management, (71), 30-31.