Rest of law

Unit III

Question 1

Pleasantville is a small city in Missouri, near St. Louis and several other larger cities. Pleasantville has a policy that all employees of the City of Pleasantville must be residents of Pleasantville. The City of Pleasantville advertises in the local newspaper for a new sanitation worker, and the advertisement specifies that only residents of Pleasantville will be considered for the position. Steven, who is a resident of St. Louis, applies for the position and his application is rejected and someone else is hired. Is this a violation of the Civil Rights Act? Is this an example of disparate treatment? Why, or why not? Is this an example of disparate impact? Why, or why not?

Question 2

Big Red Work Clothes Company prides itself on its macho image, and most of its employees have always been big, manly men. Twenty years ago, as the result of a claim filed under the Civil Rights Act by a female who applied for a job at Big Red and was not hired, Big Red voluntarily instituted an Affirmative Action plan, approved by the federal court, that provided that Big Red would hire three female applicants for every one male applicant that it hired. Since this policy was established twenty years ago, Big Red has followed the policy exactly. Billy Jennings recently applied for a job at Big Red, but although he was well qualified for the position, he was not hired because, under the Big Red Affirmative Action plan, Big Red had to hire a female applicant. Bill Jennings contends that this amounts to reverse discrimination. Is he right? Why, or why not?

Question 3

Tara is a female, naturalized U.S. citizen of Irish decent. She is employed by British Industries, Inc. in New York City. Tara has been employed by British Industries for eight years and is expecting a promotion from researcher to client service manager. Though Tara has been in the U.S. for more than ten years, she still speaks with a distinct Irish accent. Tara’s boss has just advised her that she will not be promoted to client service manager because her Irish accent is not appreciated by the clients of British Industries. Does Tara have a claim under the Civil Rights Act? What is the process for filing that claim? Where is the claim filed, and how is the claim processed?

Question 4

Brenda is a clerk-typist at Armor Industries, Inc., and she works in an office with nine other clerk-typists. The supervisor of the office is Joe. Brenda is a light-complexion, African American woman; all of her fellow clerk-typists are Caucasians, and Joe is a dark-complexion African American. For the last several months, Joe has been saying things about Brenda in front of Brenda and her fellow clerk-typists that have embarrassed Brenda. The comments have included that Brenda does not look like a “real” African American because of her light complexion, while Joe is a “real” African American.

Brenda’s fellow clerk-typists pretend that they have not heard these comments, but they have begun to avoid Brenda for fear that if they agree that the comments are inappropriate, Joe will retaliate against them. Though Brenda has more experience than any of the other clerk-typists in her office, when an opening for an assistant office manager becomes available, Joe promotes someone else in the office to the position. Is this an example of race discrimination or racial harassment? Why?

Unit IV

Question 1

Geno’s Restaurant has a dress policy that requires female servers to wear a uniform provided by the restaurant, but male servers are simply told to wear black shirts and blank slacks. The uniforms that are provided to female servers consist of very short skirts and very low-cut blouses. This dress code has been in place for ten years and is very strictly enforced by Geno’s Restaurant. Geno’s Restaurant justifies this policy on the basis that the female server’s uniforms draw customers. Matilda, who has just been hired as a server at Geno’s Restaurant, objects to wearing the uniform and contends that the policy requiring her to wear the uniform is a form of sex discrimination. Is Matilda right? Why, or why not?

Question 2

Sally works as a welder at Heavy Iron Works Company. She is the only female welder in a shop with ten male welders. Teddy is the manager of that shop with Sally and the ten male welders. Sally is continually the subject of comments by many of the male welders in the shop, and many of those welders tell racy jokes so that Sally can hear. Sally has told the male welders in the shop that their comments and actions make her uncomfortable, but the only response that she has gotten from the male welders is that if she does not like it, she should leave.

Sally wants to file a sexual harassment claim against her employer. Are there any further actions that she should take before filing that claim that would help her situation or make her case stronger? Is Heavy Iron Works Company going to be liable for the actions of the male welders? What factors will be considered in determining whether there is sexual harassment and/or a hostile work environment?

Question 3

A group of nurses at Big Town Hospital filed a complaint, charging the hospital with discrimination, and alleged that the hospital had failed to implement changes that were recommended by an outside consultant the hospital hired to make sure that the hospital was complying with applicable employment laws. The outside consultant stated that nursing positions were female-dominated jobs and recommended that job classifications related to nursing positions and compensation in those job classifications be modified so that they were more in line with other positions in the hospital that were not dominated by one gender or the other.

The hospital maintains that because nursing positions are generally filed by females, there can be no discrimination of equal pay issue with regard to those positions. Who is right, the nurses who contend that there is sex discrimination and violation of equal pay laws, or the hospital that contends that only males who fill nursing positions can have a claim for sex discrimination and equal pay law violations?

Question 4

Jim works as a first grade teacher in a local public grammar school. All of the other teachers and the principal in the school are female. Some of the teachers make lewd comments about Jim’s appearance and even whistle at him when he walks down the halls at school. Jim has ignored those comments, but he has told the school principal that the comments make him uncomfortable and that he is reluctant to participate in school activities because he is embarrassed by the attention he receives from the other teachers. The principal responded to Jim’s concerns by telling him to lighten up and accept that he is an attractive male in a female world. Evaluate Jim’s situation with respect the sexual harassment, using the six requirements for sexual harassment.

Unit V

Question 1

Maria worked for Big Business, Inc. and qualified for FMLA leave. Her husband, George, suffered from serious medical conditions, and Maria looked after him, transporting him to medical appointments, cooking for him, giving him his medications, helping him move about, and providing psychological support for him. Big Business had consistently approved FMLA leave requests for Maria of one or two days when she had to do something to assist George. On May 10, Maria requested FLMA leave from June 15 to July1 to assist George in traveling, though she did not specify the reason for the travel. The reason for the travel was to make a pilgrimage to a religious site that was thought to provide healing powers. George did not receive any recognized medical treatment during that pilgrimage, though Maria did assist him in moving around and in giving him his medications.

On June 1, when Big Business requested certification from George’s doctors that he would receive necessary medical treatment during his travels, George’s doctors responded on June 16 that they were not scheduled to provide any medical treatment to George between June 15 and July 1 and that they had no information that George would receive any medical treatment during his travels. Big Business attempted to call Maria on June 16 when they received the information from the doctors to tell her that the FMLA leave request was not granted, but they were not able to reach Maria since she and George had already left on the pilgrimage.

Since the FMLA leave was not granted and since Maria was absent from work from June 15 to July 1, Big Business terminated her. Was Maria entitled to the FMLA leave that she requested? Did Big Business violate Maria’s rights in terminating her?

Question 2

Leo, a biologically male employee of Delta Dismantlers, Inc., an auto salvage yard in California, planned to have a gender reassignment surgery but was terminated by his employer for wearing feminine attire after being told that the attire violated the company dress code. Leo wants to sue Delta Dismantlers for wrongfully discharging him. Are there federal discrimination laws that apply? Are there state discrimination laws that apply? Are there other laws that apply that might provide Leo with a cause of action?

Question 3

Bill and Tom are partners and live in Hawaii. Bill works for Hawaii Food Service, Inc., which provides food to the major airlines flying into Hawaii. Bill is the first employee of Hawaii Food Service to approach his employer about covering his partner, Tom, under Bill’s health insurance plan that is offered by Hawaii Food Services to its employees and their dependents. Never being faced with the question of whether a same-sex partner is a “dependent,” eligible for coverage under the company’s health insurance plan, Hawaii Food Service asks you, an employment expert, what they should do. Should they expand the health insurance policy coverage to include same-sex partners as dependents? Are there any laws that require them to expand the coverage or that prohibit them from expanding the coverage?

Question 4

Liz was a securities analyst at a major New York City investment bank. She had been a securities analyst at that bank for five years and had received satisfactory job evaluations, so when a position as chief securities analyst came available, she applied for the job. At about the time she applied for the job, she discovered that she was pregnant. She interviewed for the chief securities analyst position, but another applicant, a female who had also worked as a securities analyst and who had received satisfactory job evaluations, but who was not pregnant, was given the job. When Liz asked the department head who made the hiring decision why she had not gotten the job, he responded:

“It didn’t bother me at all that you are pregnant. But whether or not you are going to be able to spend the time to actually perform the job and to be a mom and do all that, we factored that in, sure. We were concerned about that.”

Are those legitimate concerns? Did the investment bank act properly? Were any laws violated? If so, what laws?