Jessica Johnson v. Wilkinson Manufacturing - Case Study Example

The paper "Jessica Johnson v. Wilkinson Manufacturing" is a perfect example of a case study on the law. Labor law is a section of the laws that guides the relationship between employees and their employer, setting all the rules and regulation that controls this relationship (Albert, 2009). In the of case Jessica Johnson v. Wilkinson Manufacturing, there is an element of a conflict arising between the employee and the employer, based on a lack of equal pay for Jessica with the rest 0of the male employees who work at the same level with her. In such a case, she is aggrieved and has a cause to seek legal redress for the injustice perpetrated against her. Various acts have been enacted to operate in such a case, where the employer discriminates against their employees. In this case, the discrimination mooted against Jessica is unequal pay discrimination, which is based on her sex. Thus, the act available to address this injustice is the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (Walker & Morell, 2005). According to this act, any discrimination against individuals in pay, based on their sex is prohibited. Therefore, the act provides that individuals who work under the same establishment and in similar working conditions should be compensated equally for their services. If individuals are performing similar work, which is rated equally under the organizations' job evaluation, and which is of similar value, then, they should be paid equally (Deakin & Morris, 2005).

However, for any act of discrimination to qualify as an act of discrimination against an employees’ pay, based on their sex, then the following conditions must be met. The job in question must require similar skills, efforts, and responsibility (Walker & Morell, 2005). The body that governs and enforces such laws is the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (Albert, 2009). Since Wilkinson Manufacturing has discriminated against Jessica based on her sex and awarded her a less pay by 30% as compared to her male counterparts, then Jessica should raise her to complain to this body.

There are however various defenses that are open for Wilkinson manufacturing to apply, in defending its action of paying her less salary than the male managers. If the employer presents sufficient evidence to the effect that such pay is provided based on the quality or the quantity of productivity of the employees, then Jessica might fail to have a good basis of accusing her employer (Walker & Morell, 2005). Another defense available for Wilkinson Manufacturing is to show that the differential in the pay offered is based on a merit or seniority system, where some employees may have some workers with higher levels of experience than their counterparts in the same job level, based on the number of years they may have worked with the organization (Deakin & Morris, 2005). Based on this case, Jessica is set to win the case against her employer and obtain equal compensation for her services as the other managers at the same level. Considering that, she has worked for the organization for many years to the point of rising to the managerial level, then, she must have sufficient knowledge, skills, and experiences, as well as productivity that saw her promoted to this level.