HOMEWORK 8: HRM LEGAL ENVIRONMENT

Determining Discrimination
Although discrimination still occurs in society today, the legal system in the United States has taken several steps to
limit and prevent the number of instances in which this occurs. First, the legal system provides protection for
individuals who have experienced disparate treatment or have been dealt with differently in selection or employment
settings due to their demographic characteristics. Second, laws against disparate impact, or unintentionally having
hiring practices that affect members of a protected group, have been enacted to protect minorities. A four-fifths or
standard deviation rule is used to determine if adverse impact has taken place. Lastly, reasonable accommodation has
been emphasized by the legal system in making facilities accessible to individuals with disabilities or observing
religious practices.
Read the case and answer the questions that follow.

Gloria Santiago, a Latin American woman, overheard two of her male coworkers boasting about the promotions they
had just received to district sales managers. When Gloria complained to her boss about not receiving the same
promotion, he told her the men were among the company's top salespeople and the company had to offer them a
higher position to keep them from joining one of the company's competitors. Gloria was not satisfied with this
response as she had been working hard all year to reach high sales figures. She decided to check the archival data the
company stored on each employee's sales. She discovered that although one of the men had sold more than she had,
Gloria actually had almost exactly the same sales numbers as the other salesman. She went back to her boss to reveal
her findings and he told her that since most of the customers were male, he felt as though having men in the district
sales manager positions was necessary because it would help build rapport and enhance sales in those areas. After
hearing this news, Gloria listed several instances of women in district sales manager positions who had succeeded
despite serving mostly a male clientele.

(1) What type of discrimination is taking place in this situation?

- age.
- sex
- race.
- religion

(2) It seems as though the manager was behaving differently to the men because of their gender. This is referred to as:
- sexual harassment.
- the four-fifths rule.
- reasonable accommodation.
- disparate treatment.

(3) Gloria has the burden of proving the manager has committed an illegal act. She can do this by demonstrating all of
the following except:
- that she belongs to the Latino American community, which is a protected group.
- that someone filled the position with similar qualifications.
- that she was qualified for the promotion.
- that she was rejected for the promotion despite her qualifications.

(4) When the boss stated that he thought being male was a necessary qualification for the promotion because the
customers were mostly male, he was trying to argue that this was a:
- reasonable accommodation.
- bona fide occupational qualification.
- prima facie.
- disparate impact.

(5) Because Gloria's immediate concern was the perceived disparate treatment discrimination, she would be more
concerned about __________ than __________.
- statistics; trends
- results; intent
- intent; results
- race; gender
- gender; race
(6) Use this information for the remaining questions:
Discrimination at the Cross Company
This activity is important because as a manager you will need to ensure your organization not only supports a culture
of diversity and inclusion but is free from discrimination, particularly when it relates to the protected classes described
in the Civil Rights Act and each of its amendments. Creating a culture of diversity and inclusion will require
intentional development and implementation of policies and practices within the organization.
The goal of this activity is to demonstrate your understanding of the employment legislation in the United States and
its implications.
Read the case and answer the questions that follow.
Kevin Jackson, CEO of The Cross Company, has served in his position for less than one month. The Cross Company
develops and sells software products used by other businesses to monitor and track their global supply chains. The
company currently employs 425 workers.
During the past six months, the HR director has received seven complaints of discrimination from the company's
employees. Jackson previously served in an organization that had to settle a lawsuit costing the company several
million dollars, not to mention the employment brand damage experienced as a result of the discrimination case. As a
result of this situation, the CEO is well aware of the importance of creating a culture of diversity and inclusion that
supports well-developed anti-harassment and anti-discrimination practices and policies. While this is not going to be
an easy task, it is one that is quite high on his list of priorities during his first year as CEO.
The first step CEO Jackson takes is to meet with the director of HR, Elena Martinez, to review all current complaints
filed as well as discuss the past practices related to discrimination within the organization. Upon reviewing the cases,
it is discovered that two cases filed are claims of gender discrimination; two are claims of racial discrimination; and
there has been one claim each related to disability discrimination, age discrimination, and religious discrimination.
Jackson and Martinez agree that they must take steps to address the issue of discrimination while encouraging a
culture of diversity.
The second step is to ensure the policies of Cross Company are adequately written and communicated to all
employees. While there is an employee handbook, CEO Jackson discovers there is no current discrimination policy at
Cross Company. In order to ensure it is operational, the policy will need to meet all current United States employment
laws and regulations as well as be effectively communicated to all employees of the organization.
Third, training employees on both the value of diversity and the impact of discrimination must take place
immediately. All employees will be required to complete harassment training that includes a session on
discrimination. The sessions will include sessions on sensitivity training, allowing individuals to practice experiencing
what others may feel if discriminated against or harassed.
Finally, CEO Jackson challenges his executive team and managers to assist in creating a culture of diversity. Knowing
this will be a complex challenge, the director of HR creates a task force to look at ways to support celebrating
differences among the employees, customers, and other stakeholders of the Cross Company.

2a. Jackson and Martinez are most concerned about the impact of the claims of discrimination. The employee who
filed a claim based on age discrimination under the Age Discrimination Act must be:
- 65 years old.
- at least 40 years old.
- 21 years old.
- 18 years old.

(7) 2b. The cases filed at the Cross Company related to gender discrimination include one in which a 33-year-old sales
representative was not selected for a promotion in spite of receiving excellent performance evaluations each year. She
has worked for the company for more than 8 years while Jim, a 26-year-old, was selected for the position although he
has only served the Cross Company for 18 months. Which of the following laws may apply to this case?
- Age Discrimination Act
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
- Americans with Disability Act
- The Equity Act

(8) The cases filed with HR at the Cross Company are concerning in that most of the classes that are protected by the
CRA may have been included. During a meeting with the HR team, Elena Martinez reminds her employees that the
Civil Rights Act as amended forbids discrimination on all of the following except:
- religion.
- political preference.
- Color.
 - race.
(9) While creating the new harassment and discrimination policies for the employee handbook, there were many
questions raised. A new intern assisting the HR team asked who is covered by the Equal Pay Act. The HR director
said, “The Equal Pay Act requires that both __________ employees performing equal jobs receive equal pay.”
- black and white
- young and old
- religious and nonreligious
- male and female

(10) In addition to notifying the HR department of an instance of discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or
national origin, some employees may also contact the __________ to file a claim.
- FCC
- OSHA
- EEOC
- NLRB