Reduction in Force

More Beer, Inc. is a 25 million dollar a year micro brewing company heavily involved in the direct marketing of its various micro brew products. In order to cash in on the internet selling boom, More Beer, Inc. opened two new marketing and direct distributions channels (www.morebeer.com & www.iamthirstyformorebeernow.com).

Soon after these websites went live, technology problems, together with sluggish sales killed the company’s profits. As a result, the company has decided to abandon its new direct marketing plan and to reduce its workforce.

You are the Vice President (VP) of HR for More Beer, Inc. The President of the company has asked you to terminate the employment for a number of employees. He has given you a list of people to consider and has charged you with writing a memo describing which employees to terminate, the reasons for each termination, what, if any severance is to be offered and what risks might be inherent with each particular employee in terms of post termination litigation.

Your job as VP of HR: You must fire 3 of these employees. Two may be folded into existing openings in the rest of the company. The company could make room for all 5 employees but doesn’t have a true need for them. Assume that the company could justify keeping all or none with current needs.

Here are the employees:

Mike Williams: Mike is a 34 year old Asian male. His overall track record with the company is above average. His productivity is above the median although other employees complain that they have difficulty understanding him because he speaks English with a heavy accent. He has achieved no special honors or awards while employed with the company. He has a BS in IS from a good University. His job duties include maintaining existing computer systems which will be obsolete after the RIF. He has had no absenteeism. Mike recently came to you with questions regarding labor organization and there is a rumor that he is talking to others about joining a service union.

Phillip Price: Phil is a 32 year old White male. His overall track record with the company is average. His productivity is average. He has been solely responsible for much of the quality programming which took place in the program being abandoned. He holds no advanced degree but his experience in the Navy has given him practice experience that goes beyond the abandoned programs. However, Phil seems to have an absenteeism problem, missing 17 days in the last two months. Phil has recently let you know that he is homosexual and he feels like others in the company have been treating him differently since he “came out.”

Sally James: Sally is a 55 year old White