Internal Memorandum on Workplace Malpractices That Were Subjected to Shewin - Assignment Example

? Internal memorandum on workplace malpractices that were ed to Shewin Insert of the Internal memorandum on workplace malpractices that were subjected to Shewin To: Ima Shewin FROM: Insert surname SUBJECT: Legal action DATE I am writing this to inform you that the fact you provided have both ethical and legal implications. These facts may have far fetching consequences on the reputation of the organization. The intention of this memorandum is to inform you about the facts that have legal support to sue the newspaper company for their employment malpractice against you. Summary of the facts Ima Shewin, An African American woman aged 45 years holds an advanced degree in English and Journalism from the University of Chicago. She has worked for The Blabber, a newspaper in Atlanta for a period of 10 years. She started working for the organization as an entry-level researcher and after two years, she was promoted to the position of junior-level reporter. Two years letter, she rose to senior-level reporter, a position that she has held for a period of six years. For the first eight years of her employment, Shewin worked under the supervision of George Doright. However, in the last two years, Blabber underwent reorganization and Doright was transferred to another division in the organization. After the reorganization, Shewin started to report to Arthur King, the senior editor of the company. After the reorganization, two editors were retired and Shewin applied for the position but she was denied the opportunity of assuming the positions. Actually, she was interviewed for one position but was not offered the jobs that she believed she had met their qualifications. In the past month, she applied for a position of junior editor because her qualification matched with the requirements of the advertised job. However after the interview with Mr.King, she was not offered the position. The interview was conducted over lunch in a restaurant and involved social Banter that Shewin was not comfortable with. During the interview, King asked her personal question about her Boyfriend, which was out of the framework of an official interview. Several weeks after the interview, the company hired Gene Whiz, a 26 years old holder of master’s degree in Journalism who previously worked as a reporter for a small local newspaper. According to Shewin, there are several factors that may have played a key part in her failure to secure promotions despite the fact that she had good qualification and extensive work experience. For instance, only three women hold positions in upper management levels and were promoted before the reorganization. Her new manager, King was not involved in their promotion decision and seems to be against the female gender. This is further compounded by the fact that he had been making sexist comments that were offensive to a number of women and some men. For example, he was on record abusing a pregnant reporter. King tried to seduce Shewin, but she declined the overtures and believed that it might be the reason why she did not get the jobs she applied for. Further, he predicaments could be attributed the fact that there are only five African Americans top manager hence bringing about the issue of race in job promotions. Before reorganization and the transfer of Mr.Doright, Shewin filed a complaint against some of her male workmates who had the habit of discussing explicitly about their personal weekend romantic adventures on Monday mornings. Although the conversation did not address her, they were offensive and after she reported to Mr.Doright, he warned the employees to stop the habit. However, when Arthur King became the senior manager, the old behavior of her male colleagues reverted and even after Shewin reported the irresponsible conversation to King, he took no action and seemed to approve it even though he did not participate directly in the conversation. However, Shewin seems to be worried of her age and fears that at forty, she may never get a promotion. This is further compounded by the fact that her friend overheard a conversation between King and another senior manager speculating the time in which Shewin would retire. Summary of the issues The major issue from the case includes sexual harassment which is proven by King’s sexual advances and sexist comments and offensive conversations by her male colleagues which King condones, gender bias where only three females hold top management positions, racism where there are only 5 senior African American employees and her being an African American, she could not have got any significant promotion, blatant refusal to grant promotion where it is required because she was qualified but her qualification were not given any priority, psychological harassment that involve King abusing a pregnant reporter, and illegal and unethical workplace acts such as interviews in restaurants. The issues have both legal implications under federal labor laws and employment statutes. In addition, they have ethical consequences that may tarnish the organization’s name. Analysis of the causes of action Sexual harassment is a major cause of action. In this case, sexual harassment involves unwelcome sexual advances that King subjected Shewin to and explicit discussions by Male colleagues that King secretly supported but was offensive to women. Sexual harassment is a type of sex discrimination that takes place in work places or other arenas that have direct link to one’s employment. Title VII of the civil rights acts of 1964 prohibits any form of sexual discrimination or harassment in work places. Unwelcome sexual request, sexual favors, sexual advances and physical or verbal conduct of sexual nature can constitute sexual harassment when submission to such conduct is implicitly or explicitly used as a term for getting a job or promotion, rejection or submission to such conduct acts as a basis used in making employment decision affecting an individual or a group of individuals, and such behaviors that creates an offensive and hostile working environment. Basing on conducts that result in sexual harassment, the violations involved are explicit discussion by Shewin’s coworkers that King silently approved but were offensive to Shewin, King’s unwelcome sexual related advances during interview in an informal place(restaurant) and personal and offensive questions about her relationship, and failure to secure work promotion opportunities because of declining sexual overtures(Austin,2006). Racial discrimination in this case is a conspicuous violation of employment policies and statutes. The organization has only five African American employees raising the possibility of race being one of the factors that stopped her Shewin’s promotion despite the fact that she had excellent qualification and good work experience. Title VII of the civil rights act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of skin color or race when deciding who gets promotion, employment benefits, and jobs. As such, racial discrimination exhibited by the company is a major cause of action (Backer, 2011). Gender bias is rampant in the organization and presents a major cause of action against it. The company has only three women in senior level management position, which clearly indicate that gender bias is prevalent in the organization. The limited number of women in the top management positions is against the spirit of gender equality in work places. The act no.91 of 1986 and its amendment in 2012 calls for equal opportunities for women in work places, however, the company does not obey this act and discriminates against women. There is also a possibility that Shewin was not promoted because she is a woman and her place taken over by a relatively less experienced man (Backer, 2011). Discrimination basing on age is one of the major causes of action in Shewn’s case. She is 40 years old but she has not had any significant promotion despite the fact that employment laws call for favorable treatment of employees. From Shewin’s case, it is evident that the organization favors young people without taking into account qualification and work experience. For example, a 26-years-old Gene Whiz is hired for a position that Shewin had qualified for but she is bypassed by her employer, which clearly show disrespect and disregard for the elderly. Further disregard for employees age and work experience is shown by the company denying Shewin significant promotion even though she had ten year experience and worked for six years without any promotion. The discussion between King and another senior manager speculating when Shewin would retire is a clearly indication that she is not appreciated due to her age (Patterson, 2010). The use of offensive language against a pregnant reporter surmounts to bullying and unwarranted harassment. King had called a pregnant reporter “a barefooted pregnant woman”, an abuse that was likely to create a hostile working environment for the victim (Hart, 2012). Additional information that is needed The American employment and labor laws are derived from varied legal sources that include statutory laws, constitution law, common law, municipal laws, state laws, laws derived from judicial precedent, and administrative regulations. Miss Shewin’s case rouses several issue under employment laws including racial discrimination, sexual harassment, gender bias, discrimination based on age, use of abusive languages against others and general violation of regulations and rules of work places(Austin,2006). The question of Locus stand is essential in ensuring that the case attains the threshold of a legal suit. Locus standi is the legal right to bring action and be heard by court of law. One of the important issues to be considered is whether there was a written agreement or contract between Shewin and The Blabber. In this case, the information to be considered in the written agreement is whether there was a legal relationship between her and the employer. Further, the written agreement should stipulate the terms and conditions of employment to determine whether the provision for promotion after working for a specified period of time was violated. In case there was no written agreement, the general terms of employment should be analyzed to ascertain whether there was a violation of any of them. Further, the action of the company should be analyzed from the perspective of employment and labor laws. For example, it should be determined if it was right for someone to work for 6 years without any promotion. “At will “employment relationship can further be considered in case a written agreement is not available. If the terms and conditions were violated or were sufficient enough to support Shewin’s promotion, then she will have sufficient capacity to sue the newspaper company (Slorach & Elis, 2007). In order to ensure that the case has sufficient evidence to elicit a legal action, information from third parties will be required. The third parties are to act as witnesses .One of the major witnesses in the case is the pregnant reporter. The pregnant reporter was abused by King and so she will be supporting the cause of the use of offensive languages in work places. Mr. Doright would be a good witness because he was the first manager to supervise Shewin and granted her two promotions. The promotions show that there must have been some terms and conditions that guide job promotions in the organization that King had willingly failed to comply with. Further, Mr.Doright might act as a witness in the situation where employees engaged in explicit discussions that were offensive to Shewin .The employer who overhead King and a senior manager discussing Shewin’s retirement may act as a witness in the case where age was a factor in denying Shewin promotion (Fleck, 2011). Before engaging in a legal battle with the company, it is essential for Shewin to understand the legal provision that will be utilized in the law suit. The statutes are Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibit sexual harassment and discrimination based on race and gender. The act no.91 of 1986 and its amendment in 2012 which prohibits discrimination based on gender. Further, terms and conditions that govern the operations and personnel management of the organization may offer legal basis in which the organization may be sued (Slorach & Elis, 2007). Basing on Shewin’s facts, there is a substantial reason as to why the organization may be subjected to a legal law suit. Given the fact that key witnesses are available and there is enough evidence showing that there was prejudice against Shewin in her quest for promotion, employment statutes and federal labor laws can be used to initiate a lawsuit against the company and its key managers. As such, Shewin should first seek the consent of people she considers her key witnesses, she should avail all the legal employment formalities such as letter of employment and written contract to attorneys and then proceed with legal action against the newspaper company basing on federal labor laws and employment statutes that prohibit discrimination in work places. The strongest claims include working for six years without promotion, sexual advances during interview in a restaurant, gender disparity in the top management level of the company, use of abusive language against employees and few African Americans in top managerial positions (Hart, 2012). References Austin, J. (2006). Province of Jurisprudence determined (1832). London: John Murray. Backer, M. (2011).U.S Employment Law for Global Employees .11-26 Fleck, M. (2011). Employment Law- Guide to labour law. Retrieved from < http://www.cs.hmc.edu/~fleck/equal-employment.html> Hart, H. (2012).Concept of law. Oxford: OUP Oxford. Patterson, D. (2010). A companion to philosophy of law and legal theory. New York: john Wiley & Sons. Slorach, S & Elis, J. (2007). Business law 2007-2008. London: Oxford University Press. Read More