Legal Issues in Reduction of Workforce Simulation

Running head: LEGAL ISSUES IN REDUCTION OF WORKFORCE SIMULATION

Legal Issues in Reduction of Workforce Simulation

University of Phoenix

Enterprise Risk

MBA 560

Ronald Ramsey

Oct 15, 2007

Legal Issues in Reduction of Workforce Simulation

In the Legal Issues in Reduction of Workforce Simulation (University of Phoenix, 2007) FastServe Inc. is faced with the need to downsize their organization. In order to make an educated decision in regards to who shall be downsized management has to look at the individuals as well as the potential lawsuits that can occur from these individuals if the downsizing does not happen in an ethical and legal manner. It is apparent that downsizing of this organization is inevitable with the company changing direction and deciding to get out of the online distribution market. However, management still has the tough job of determining who is best suited for the company going forward and what positions, if any, can be filled by these employees. If there are no positions for them to fill the employees will be laid off. Management is not taking this lightly and is reviewing each candidate, their employee records, as well as any other positions that these employees can fill.

Management has narrowed the employees down to five personnel who are candidates for dismissal. It is a tough call for management to determine who should stay and who should go as each of these five individuals has issues and potential to rebut the decision based on discrimination. The five candidates are Carl Haimes, Brian Carter, Sarah Boyd, Nora Manson, and Jenny Mills. Each of these candidates has some good qualities and some qualities and/or situations that are working against them in the employment debate (University of Phoenix, 2007). Carl Haimes is an above average employee, he has a bachelor’s degree, and he happens to be gay. Carl has been receiving some grief from coworkers (especially from Ben – the accounts manager) regarding his sexuality. Carl has brought this to management’s attention. Brian Carter is seen by his peers as a model employee as he was the “brain” behind the latest concept for the web site mannequins. However, lately Brian has been complaining of wrist pain and has been diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome. Brian has been absent from work on numerous occasions due to this medical condition. Sarah Boyd is a dedicated employee who has been with the company for 15 years. However, within the next short period of time her job will be replaced with an automated system and she does not have the necessary skills required for another position. On the positive side she has been a loyal employee and she knows more about the organization that any of the others. She is also the only fulltime employee as the others are all on a contractual basis. Nora Manson has a good track record with FastServe however recently her productivity has begun to slip. Management is also worried about her as she has encouraged many employees to go to the local EEOC office to file discrimination charges against the company. Nora is a black female and she is heavily involved in feminist type of activity. Finally, there is Jenny Mills. Jenny is pregnant and has been taking more breaks than usual. Jenny claims that these breaks are because of her pregnancy and they are short and are not affecting her workload. To date there are no reports showing that her productivity has been affected by the rise in the amount of breaks she has been taking. However, her male counterparts are starting to rumble regarding her absences.

Management is faced with numerous different levels of employees and their individuals problems or issues. Management needs to be careful when they make their decision as to what employees will be laid off as each of these employees has a chance to consider that they are being discriminated on in some manner. Upon further review of these numerous discrimination law this is what management has learned. “Title VII prohibits discriminatory employment practices based on race or color that involve recruiting, hiring, and promoting of employees” (Reed, Shedd, Morehead, & Corley, 2005, p. 4 chap. 15). “Courts have ruled that an employer is liable to a plaintiff employee for a hostile working environment created by fellow employees only when the employer knows of the problem and fails to take prompt and reasonable steps to correct it, such as by moving the harassers away from the plaintiff employee” (Reed et al., p. 10 chap. 15). “The pregnancy