Question: Report on Legal Issues and Course of Action for the Company Leadership: Employment Law Case Scenario

Employment Law Case Scenario Assignment Instructions

Overview (Choose 1 of 2)

Option 1 - Employment Hiring Protections

You are an ambitious Gen Z, “twenty-something” with a You Tube channel, with 1M followers, a social influencer, and a new Tik Tok sensation. Your skill is hearing sounds and quickly mimicking them, such as all the iPhone ring tones, mimicking the old dial up tone, old telephone rotary dial tones, phone clicks, bird calls, dog barks, cat meows, squeaky doors, rusty gates, and all sorts of nature sounds. You are a “living sound effects machine.”

You hired a lawyer, a publicist, and other agents, acting on your behalf, signed their respective retainer documents, and began acting in your best interest.  Two years later, after a successful production and social media campaign, you have managers in a large production division, making the “hearing sounds” into a phone app, requiring lots of “software development teams” and other teams necessary to “take the idea” to production, to marketing, to small sales, to large sales, to a full company, required now to abide by federal and state employment laws, to include policies and procedures for proper onboarding, training, promoting and outboarding/retiring.

Your Human Relations (HR) Department has recently informed you of “things going on” in one of the production departments. It seems one of the software development teams, all male, mostly Caucasian, some South Asian, have the lowest rate of diversity hiring, especially female, over 40, and especially persons with physical disabilities.

HR shows you a stack of excellent resumes, which were all rejected by the one software team, in question. In fact, the resumes had handwriting on them that disparaged the applicant’s experience, making jokes about their training, apparent “female sounding name” or another ethnic name other than South Asian or Caucasian name. They would not know about a person’s disability, except that some resumes had statements that the applicant would require a TTY device (Text telephone device), for those that are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired.

Moreover, since no resume had a picture and most resumes do not list graduation dates, the team manager was still able to “do the math” and figure out an applicant’s age, by their work experience and those that began their software experience in early software languages. Again, those resumes were well marked up, with disparaging comments.

1. What are the legal issues?
2. What is the best course of action by company leadership?
3. What possible employment law violations has the Software Team Lead, committed, if any?
4. What would you recommend?

OR

Option 2 - Labor Law Right to Organize

Same company as above, but your company have expanded to physical products to complement the software “App,” described above. Your hard product division makes stuffed birds “stuffy” with recorded bird sounds, sweatshirts and hoodies that have the bird sound embedded into the material, sunglasses that look like birds, hats that “chirp,” shoes that chirp, walking robot birds that look and sound like the real bird and other bird motifs. The robot birds are “hot market” just like the old cabbage patch dolls, Tyco toys, and other toys.

Your shipping department does not have enough workers, drivers, shifts, and you are paying lots of overtime, with weekend and holiday “double pay and holiday pay.” It is getting almost impossible to “meet the delivery schedule,” and the attrition rate is now at 40%, within 6 weeks, 50% within 6 months, 75% within 1 year and 100% at 2 years. The alleged “grind is a killer,” and the remaining “old timers” those with three years or more with the company are threatening to “walk off” the job, even though their act is illegal. They are not unionized, and the company is in a “Right to Work State,” where new hires are not required to join a Union, nor required to pay union dues, if a facility is unionized.

However, there is enough interest in the facility to unionize, as a way to raise salaries, limit ordered overtime pay, stop extra ordered shifts and basically the “employees to have a seat at the table.” One of the veterans has taken on the role as the “union organizer” and is getting “unionization” advice from a union officer from another state. The veteran is calling for a Union “Yes or No” vote. The entire facility knows of this impending action. Company management does not want the facility to unionize, fearing loss of employee control, higher wages, better benefits, and overall “employee participation in company decisions.”

Management has even gone as far as talking to shift leaders, telling them to discourage employees from even participating in the vote, much less voting Yes. The shift leaders say they “have been given the green light” to do “things” to “dissuade” employees from unionizing.

1. What are the legal issues?
2. What is the best course of action by company leadership?
3. What possible labor law violations have management and shift leaders committed, if any?
4. What would you recommend?

Instructions

For this Employment Case Law Scenario Assignment, the student will write at least 1600 words, but not more than 1800 words and a biblical integration section, with a verse. The student must support their assertions with at least three scholarly citations in current APA format. Any sources cited must have been published within the last five years. Acceptable sources include the textbook, provided articles, video, the Bible, and other scholarly sources.

Note: Your assignment will be checked for originality via the Turnitin plagiarism tool. The tool is a starting point for instructors to check overall Academic Integrity and higher scores generally indicate a higher probability of Academic Misconduct. The higher a score the higher the probability that there are too high a percentage of quotations included in the narrative, and/or there are passages that have not been properly cited.

STUDY TIPS / DRAFT:

Introduction: As an ambitious Gen Z influencer and YouTube sensation who has transitioned into the role of a business owner with a successful phone app development venture, it has come to your attention that there are serious concerns within one of your production departments, specifically a software development team. The issues revolve around a lack of diversity hiring, discrimination against certain applicants, and potential violations of federal and state employment laws. In this report, we will discuss the legal issues at hand, the best course of action for company leadership, potential employment law violations by the Software Team Lead, and recommended actions to address these issues.

Legal Issues:

1. Discrimination Based on Protected Characteristics: The software development team appears to have engaged in discriminatory hiring practices by rejecting applicants based on their gender, age, ethnicity, and disability status. These actions may violate federal and state anti-discrimination laws.

2. Age Discrimination: The team manager's attempts to determine the age of applicants through work experience and knowledge of early software languages could constitute age discrimination if older applicants were rejected based on their age.

3. Sex Discrimination: Disparaging comments related to female-sounding names suggest potential gender discrimination against female applicants.

4. Ethnic Discrimination: Disparaging comments related to names of ethnic origins other than South Asian or Caucasian indicate possible discrimination based on ethnicity.

5. Disability Discrimination: Rejecting applicants who require TTY devices could be seen as discrimination against individuals with disabilities, particularly those who are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech-impaired.

6. Hostile Work Environment: The disparaging comments on resumes contribute to a hostile work environment within the software development team, potentially violating anti-harassment policies and laws.

Best Course of Action by Company Leadership:

1. Immediate Investigation: Company leadership should initiate an internal investigation into the allegations of discrimination and hostile work environment within the software development team. This investigation should be impartial, thorough, and involve HR professionals and legal counsel.

2. Hold the Software Team Lead Accountable: If the Software Team Lead is found responsible for the discriminatory actions, they should face appropriate consequences, which may include disciplinary actions, diversity and inclusion training, or even termination.

3. Review Hiring Practices: Company leadership should review the hiring practices of the software development team to ensure that they align with federal and state anti-discrimination laws. Consider implementing blind recruitment techniques to eliminate bias in the selection process.

4. Diversity and Inclusion Training: Implement mandatory diversity and inclusion training for all employees, with a particular focus on the software development team. This training should emphasize the importance of diversity in the workplace and address any biases or prejudices.

5. Reevaluate Resumes: Review the resumes of previously rejected applicants to identify qualified candidates who may have been unfairly overlooked. Consider reaching out to these individuals to express interest in their candidacy.

6. Strengthen HR Policies: Enhance HR policies and procedures to prevent discrimination and harassment, including clear guidelines for addressing diversity in hiring and promoting an inclusive workplace culture.

Possible Employment Law Violations by the Software Team Lead:

The Software Team Lead may have committed several employment law violations, including:

1. Violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act: Discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, and disability may constitute violations of Title VII.

2. Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) Violation: Attempting to determine an applicant's age and making hiring decisions based on age could breach the ADEA.

3. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Violation: Rejecting applicants who require TTY devices due to hearing or speech impairments may contravene the ADA.

Recommendations:

1. Immediate Corrective Action: Take swift action to rectify the situation within the software development team, ensuring that discriminatory practices cease immediately.

2. Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives: Develop and implement long-term diversity and inclusion initiatives, with measurable goals and regular progress assessments.

3. Employee Education: Educate all employees on the importance of diversity and inclusion in the workplace and the company's commitment to maintaining a fair and respectful environment.

4. Legal Consultation: Seek legal counsel to ensure compliance with federal and state employment laws and to determine if any remedies are required for previously rejected applicants.

5. Regular Audits: Conduct regular audits of hiring practices and employee behavior to identify and address potential issues promptly.

6. Transparency: Communicate openly with your employees and the public about the steps taken to address these issues and ensure a more inclusive work environment.

In conclusion, the situation within the software development team demands immediate attention and corrective action to prevent further discrimination and uphold the principles of diversity and inclusion. By addressing these issues promptly and comprehensively, your company can create a more equitable and inclusive workplace and avoid potential legal repercussions.