Current legal issues in Human resources 500 words Please see attachment and add on

Current Legal Issues In Human Resources

Jacqueline Reams

Colorado Technical University

Professor Eric Riley

April 28, 2018

To: Elora Jean & Co. Owner

From: Human resource consultant

Date: 26th April, 2018

Subject: Recommendation on course of action against the sexual harassment case

My subject for reference to this memorandum is based on the sexual harassment case that has been filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) by two of our female employee against their male supervisor in one of our nonunion satellite offices. Even though our company lacks policies and procedures that relate to sexual harassment at work place, I believe this is a case that needs serious attention since it may sabotage our good company reputation that has existed for long. The following are some of my recommendation for your course of action.

The case that the company is supposed to defend itself against is sexual harassment act. According to MacKinnon, (1979), sexual harassment involves a range of action that harasses a person due to their sexual status. Such actions may include unwelcome sexual advances, demand for sexual favors and verbal or physical sexual undertakings. In most cases, the harassers in sexual harassment cases have social, political or economic power over their victims. This act is illegal especially in work places hence I feel a strong defense is needed.

The other mistake that may make this case an uphill task to is the lack of action by the superiors to the male supervisor whom the alleged sexual harassment allegation was reported to. The superior to the supervisor ought to have summoned the supervisor and investigated the sexual harassment claims. The male supervisor ought to have been interdicted immediately. Interdiction would involve our human resource management board request to the supervisor to step aside from work to allow investigation to authenticate the allegations. In any case at the end of the investigation it’s established it is true the male supervisor sexually harassed the two female employees. An appropriate action needed to have been taken by the board that may include terminating the employment contract of the male supervisor.

This would have been vital as it would be portray a picture of a company of considering high professional ethical standards hence the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) would not brand us as a company that condones unethical behavior. Actually the accused male supervisor is the main accused in this case but the result of his criminal charge would also implicate us due to negligence of the female employee complains that were reported to the immediate seniors to the accused supervisor.

In any case the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission finds out that this company had factual knowledge about the claim of the two female employees about their sexual harassment by the supervisor, Our Company is likely to be subjected to legal liability for not giving a hearing ear to the female employees claims. It’s our company that is likely to suffer most as a result of this suit as compared to the sexual harasser.

I recommend that in any case the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission establishes that the claims are factual, we need to resort to mediation process with the two female employees since it’s obvious that litigation may really plunge the company into un unexpected financial crisis. At the same time I feel it would also beneficial to terminate the employment of the male supervisor so that the female employees continue discharging their duties without fear of victimization.

At the moment, the company lacks the policies and procedure about sexual harassment and I think it needs to be adopted immediately so that in future if in any case there is a claim of such nature we would easily have guidelines towards a define course of actions. Some of the element I would recommend to be included in the sexual policy involves in-depth definition of sexual harassment and diversified scope of sexual harassment forms. The other appropriate element would be direction on the action which a victim of sexual harassment would take. I would also recommend existence of a body that would be responsible for dispute resolution and one of them would be sexual harassment. Finally, I would also recommend the appropriate action that is supposed to be taken against employees who are implicated in such unethical behaviors.

In preventing future occurrences of such cases, the company needs to come up with clear guidelines that define its ethical conducts. There should also be an explanation against action that needed to be taken against employees who infringe such guidelines. Company employees that hold senor positions also need to be educated on what action they need to take in case an employee report a case of such nature. Junior employees also need to be advised on what action they need to take in case they are sexually harassed and the need to solve such disputes within the company’s legal committee instead of involving other legal bodies.

I have also done an extensive research of a case of this nature and found out that on 1st December 2012, a young women was sexually harassed in what came out to be well planned deal by her employer. The woman had been assigned to a duty that required that she spend in a hotel that was supposed to be near the designated working place. When she woke up in the morning she found an old naked man who sexually harassed her by upper thigh and groin, the man also tried to remove her underpants. She later realized that the harasser knew her employer and were business partners. This action traumatized her and she couldn’t work up to March 2015 due to post traumatic stress disorder, she filed the sexual harassment case and the Queensland civil and administrative tribunal decision awarded her $328,316.10 that was to be paid by her former employer’s company.

I would also like to bring to your attention the civil rights act of 1991 This act was passed in reaction to the supreme court decision that provided for limiting of employees right in suing their employers.(Eglit,1992). This act provided the right to trial by a jury against employees’ discrimination and also defined the limit such a jury could award. This act on the other hand also had several implications on the employer as it only strengthened its original adoption in 1964. Employers are not supposed to discriminate their employees or job applicants with regard to any racial classification. It recommended for compensatory charges against employers who discriminated their employees. It also implicated the employer in that incase those seeking discriminatory compensation were more than three, then the threshold of such compensation needed to be elevated. (Moberly & Miles, 1993)

In preparing to for defense against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charge about sexual harassment of the two female employees, I recommend that the company need to do thorough interrogation on nonunion satellite office to establish what exactly happen to have all the facts at finger tips. This would be achieved by the company sending a team of investigators of their own to examine the nature the previous undertaking. The company then needs to seek the services of a lawyer who would represent them on the case that has been labeled against them by Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for defense.

Thank you

References

MacKinnon, C. A. (1979). Sexual harassment of working women: A case of sex discrimination (No. 19). Yale University Press.

Eglit, H. (1992). The Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Title VII, and the Civil Rights Act of 1991: Three Acts and a Dog That Didn't Bark. Wayne L. Rev., 39, 1093.

Moberly, M. D., & Miles, L. H. (1993). The Impact of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 on Individual Title VII Liability. Okla. City UL Rev., 18, 475.