Running head: CULTURAL DECISIONS

Running head: CULTURAL DECISIONS

Phase 4 Individual Project Colorado Technical University Online SOCL356-1103B-03: American Diversity Dr. Richard Hough Christopher B. Lane

Running head: CULTURAL DECISIONS

Abstract In this assignment will be a situation that went on in this business, which does not explain why it was even an issue, whether the lady did it with intentions or not, is irrelevant. If there are rules in place, and they were mentioned to her; there should not be any exceptions. The alleged, attempted to sell this gift to someone else, who it was intended for another customer, when the customer came back the merchandise was missing. This assignment will go into detail about each particular question being asked. The ultimate goal in every workplace is to have a safe and friendly environment, but you have some people in management that like to see what they can get by with, or see how far they can push someone, before they say anything about to upper management.

Running head: CULTURAL DECISIONS

Cultural decision The definition of oppression is to give the reader a general idea; the term oppression means, burdensome, tyrannical, and unjustly harsh (Merriam Webster, 2011). The next question is: How can this be effective in the workplace? The first thing that any company can do is set company rules that are ethical; if an employee violates this will receive disciplinary action, which may lead to termination of employment. If the rules are in place, and the employees are aware of the situation, and if, they are violated, and then the employee will be punished under the laws of this land. If for some reason, if in fact, the employees cannot follow the company rules, which they should be in writing, will be subjected to disciplinary action; the new rules would be in place for all employees, and it will be in writing, so there is no misunderstanding; the Civil Rights Act of 1964 states, Congress added an amendment to this act called title 7, which enacted the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission; this commission was established to provide equal rights to employees, in regards to raises, promotions, setting your hourly wage, terminating your employment, because of race, color, religion, sex, age, or national origin (US National Archives and Records Administration, 1968).

How does discrimination have on impacting others? Discrimination can impact others, or it could impact customers of a business that will do business with the employer that is committing such an act. The employees could be affected, in such a way that could be damaging towards them; the employers can react in a way that the punishment is based solely on the employees behavior, and their performance (Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, 2011). To prevent discrimination in the workforce. The employers need to be fair about who they hire, because in todays society with all of the lawyers in the world, they need to realize that there are

Running head: CULTURAL DECISIONS

more lawsuits that go on all the time. Not only does not hurt the employers reputation, it can also hurt them financially. What issues are present with the issue about the customer comes back to get her merchandise come to find out; it is missing? Assuming, the customer is upset, because she specifically mentions she would be back to get the jewelry. The customer is disappointed, because the merchandise she came back to get was gone, and sold to someone else. Knowingly, there should have been some sort of communication from other employees, in case there is a change in the shift, and there should have been no sales on that item, because the customer is coming back for it. Make no mistake, the sales associate has outstanding sales within the company, but when promise the customer the merchandise, and they are disappointed, they will not get their jewelry, in which they seek. If in fact, there are rules that are in writing that states, if an item of jewelry is promised to a customer, then the customer should get their merchandise. No matter what the situation is. The personal life of the employee should be left out of the workplace, unless of course, if the employee feels that their loved one needs them, by all means, there should be circumstances, and it is an atrocious thing to go through for anyone. An example: when one of my loved ones passed away; it affected me, but I had to concentrate on my work as well, because you still have to support yourself financially. On the other hand, if the lady has not been fully trained, then that could be grounds for a lawsuit, if in fact, the lady was terminated from her employment, and it would depend on the laws in the state that the offense occurred, but it normally does not bring that much money in an employment lawsuit, but every once in a while, which will depend on the lawsuit infringement (Richards, 2010). The majority of each employment is consider at will, which means, they can terminate you for any reason, but the good thing about at will is you are not under no contract (Richards, 2010). Generally, the lawsuit settlement is usually a lot less than what they could have gotten, if the plaintiff did not settle with

Running head: CULTURAL DECISIONS

the defendant(s) in the case (Richards, 2010). The termination has to be sufficient in order to get a conviction, but it should not result in the person being terminated, because of their ethnicity. It is critical for the man, who might be the boss to develop a good communication with their employee, who might be a woman, because not only is it good to have good communication skills, but it is also essential in the workplace, and it provides good quality, and productive workers in the workforce (Schau, F. J., Meierding, N., 2007). The issue of tolerance in the work place needs to be the utmost of importance, because a new hire will not know how the standard operating procedure is when you have to deal issues coming up, knowingly, upper management will only want answers to the situation, instead of figuring out a resolution to the problem, which they jump to conclusions. Tolerance is something similar to patience, because we all will need to have, because it takes some tolerance, and it also takes patience; to know how to deal with these situations when they arise (Price, 2011). The next question is: what I have learned in this course, and that is; we live in a society that has a lot of different nationalities here, and the thing is we have to learn how to treat everyone evenly. We also live in a society; the laws are in place for a specific reason, but for some reason, a lot of those laws do not get rid of any illegal immigrants that plagued our country, or any other country. One of my classmates mentioned in this class that some of the immigrants were being incarcerated, because they could not speak the English language. You have to ask yourself, why are they being held, and deported back to their country, were they can reunite with their families. The other thing, I have learned in this class is helps you to look at things in a different perspective, as to oppose of being one-sided. The next question asked what kind of training I would offer. Well, the first type of training I would offer is to make sure the new hire is fully trained in his or her position, because if an employee is fully trained, they will know how to handle situations like this. A good stable work place is essential, because

Running head: CULTURAL DECISIONS

it provides the employee a good safe environment, and they look forward in coming to work. The next question would be, if the woman was terminated from her position, would there be any repercussion from it, and that would all depend on the scenario, and the laws that might be violated. The laws in each state are different on what a person can or cannot do. In conclusion, this assignment has taught me a lot about American Diversity. Although, there were some inconsistencies that were present, which has a lot to do with the university policy, which could be amended, or changed; it is not like it is a law that is in place; were they will need to add an amendment to the law. The old rule was much more effective, and a lot of students liked it. After all, the student is paying to take these classes, and the student is the customer. Is the customer right?

Running head: CULTURAL DECISIONS

References Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. (2011). The Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers Policy Concerning Discriminatory Harassment against Employees and Applicants for Employment. USA.gov, retrieved from: http://www.fletc.gov/employment/equal-employment-opportunity/preventing-sexualharassment September 12, 2011 Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. (2011). What is Oppression? Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, retrieved from: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oppression September 12, 2011 Price, S. (2011). Teaching Tolerance- Just Published its 20th Anniversary Issue. TeachingTolerance.org, retrieved from: http://www.tolerance.org/blog/teachingtolerance-just-published-its-20th-anniversary-issue September 12, 2011 Richards, J. (2010). Most Employment Discrimination Lawsuits Dont Net Much Money. Legal Match- Law Blog, retrieved from: http://lawblog.legalmatch.com/2010/06/18/mostemployment-discrimination-lawsuits-dont-net-much-money/ September 12, 2011 Schau, F. J., Meierding, N. (2007). Negotiating Like a Woman - How Gender Impacts Communication between the Sexes. Mediate.com, retrieved from: http://www.mediate.com/articles/SchauMeierding.cfm September 12, 2011 US National Archives and Records Administration. (1968). Teaching With Documents: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. USA.gov, retrieved from: http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/civil-rights-act/ September 12, 2011

Running head: CULTURAL DECISIONS