Basic Civil Rights for Persons Involved in the Hospitality Industry - Research Paper Example

Civil Rights and Hospitality Business Civil rights is the term used to refer to the basic rights that a person is entitled to. The aim of civil rights is to offer free and equal citizenship to all residents of a country. These rights cannot be denied on the basis of sex, race, religion, color, disability or national origin (Barrows and Powers 45). The civil rights are applicable in every sphere of an individual’s life, including his private, public and career life. The Hospitality industry is diverse, consisting of hotels, restaurants, bars and even nightclubs. All these businesses have the responsibility of upholding the civil rights of their employers and customers (Hayes and Nineheimeier 37). A failure to oversee that everyone’s civil rights are respected may lead to costly and time consuming law suits against the business (39). Basic Civil rights for Persons Involved in the Hospitality Industry The civil rights law is embedded in the country’s regulations under the Civil Rights Act 1964. There are many states that have more inclusive rights in their laws than the Civil Rights Act. The main issue that these law addresses is discrimination and the equal treatment of all. In the hospitality industry, discrimination depending on race, gender, color, nationality, religious affiliation and social class is not allowed (Goodwin and Gaston 15). Any form of differential treatment for any employee or customer may lead to a court case and possibly, serious repercussions for the business. Employment in the hospitality business is one of those areas that are likely to present a problem regarding civil rights (Chon and Maier 30). The employers or persons involved in the employment process should ensure that the whole process is conducted in a manner that does not violate other people’s civil rights. Everyone should be afforded equal treatment in the employment process as the law requires. Race discrimination is the most common form of discrimination in the hospitality industry. In 2006, Cracker Barrel agreed to pay some $2 million to its African American employees who had sued the company for being racially discriminated against. The employees claimed that they were subjected to language that they said was racially derogatory. They also said that the restaurant required them to serve customers that the white employees refused to serve for one reason or another. Another of their complaints was that they were forced to work in smoking zones and their white counterparts had the freedom to refuse to do so. The last of their complaint was a direct violation to their personal civil rights which could have even affected their health. Cracker Barrel in addition to paying the $2 million was also required to train all its employees on the issue of harassment and racial discrimination at the workplace. It was also required to post all the complaints that it received about harassment to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The restaurant company was prohibited from carrying out any drastic employment action on the employees who had gone to court to complain about the racial discrimination that they were subjected to (Ayers 169). Another form of civil rights violation common in the hospitality industry is working extraordinarily long hours. This happens mostly in restaurants and bars where employees are expected to put up with long working hours, some of which they are not compensated for (Goodwin and Gaston 139). This has been a concern for a long time, but since many hospitality businesses would want to keep their labor expenditure as low as possible, they result to overworking the employees they have. The civil rights that each individual enjoys demand that they should work within reasonable hours and of they have to work for longer periods, then they have to be given a chance to either agree or not agree to do so. If they agree to work for longer hours than usual, they should be given satisfactory compensation for the work done during that time. Refusal to work long hours should not result to dismissal, suspension or any action that might make the working environment harsh for the employee in question (Jefferies 78). In yet another case, a hotel in Florida was forced to part with $99,000 as payment to a former white employee of the company who had been terminated after the hotel learnt that she had biracial children. In another case, EEOC took a Las Vegas hotel for subjecting some of its employees to racist remarks and later punishing them for complaining about it. Another top restaurant in California found itself on the wrong side of the law when it was sued for racial discrimination when handing out top positions that normally went out to white employees. Hiring whites for top positions was part of the company’s nationwide employment policies which it was forced to review after this complaint came up (88). Civil Rights for People with Disabilities in the Hospitality Business People with disabilities face many challenges, among them not being able to access services and facilities that normal people can access without a problem. Discrimination against persons with disabilities is not allowed under the law of the US. However, there have been several cases within the hospitality industry where people with disabilities have complained of being ignored due to their condition (Hayes and Nineheimeier 40). The Civil Rights Act makes unlawful for individuals to be discriminated against based on their disabilities. People should not be refused service, given a low standard or term of service or be denied accessibility on the basis of their physical appearances. Everyone deserves an equal chance to a job or a service. An example of disability discrimination in a hospitality business is when one fails to get a room in a hotel due to lack of facilities that he can use. This mostly happens to people on wheel chairs that cannot access basic facilities in the hotel such as washrooms. Many bars and clubs also normally tend to discourage people with disabilities from enjoying services offered in the business premises (Sommerville 80). For instances, a person in a wheelchair would find it difficult to gain entry into the bar than one walking on their own two feet. People with mental health problems have also been discriminated against in many hospitality businesses. Many employees will not serve a customer they think has a mental malfunction. The US law on discrimination makes this kind of discrimination wrong as everyone is entitled to get the same kind of services equally (Chon and Maier 33). Hospitality businesses, just like any other businesses, are required by the law to ensure that they put in place measures to ensure that none of their employees or customers feels left out on the basis of their physical appearance (Ayers 210). The policies of the businesses should discourage the practice of looking down upon people with disability. A culture of equality should be enhanced within the organization so that everyone is accorded the same level of respect. If possible, hospitality businesses should put up facilities that people with disabilities can use if they are unable to access the facilities used by other people (Goodwin and Gaston 213). Sexual harassment in the Hospitality Industry Cases of sexual harassment in the workplace are quite common in most hospitality businesses. This kind of workplace harassment is one of the issues that have been dealt with in the Civil Rights Act 1964. This harassment consists of sexual advances, verbal or physical conduct depicting sexual connotations or sexual favor requests. The law stipulates very clearly that it is wrong to create a hostile working environment or interfere in any way with an individual’s performance just because he or she refused to be sexually harassed. Title 7 of the Civil rights act makes sex harassment in and out of the workplace a civil rights offence (Sommerville 109). It is therefore important for the employers in the hospitality businesses to ensure that their policies address this issue with as much depth and seriousness as is required. In many cases what can be regarded as a human right violation in regards to sexual harassment may not be considered to be the case in many hospitality industry companies (Hayes and Nineheimeier 63). However, there are people who take sexual harassment very seriously and even though the company may not see that a certain action is sexual harassment they might be forced to deal with it in court. Cases of sexual harassment are known to cost employers and their companies a lot of money. There are several civil rights cases that have been tried regarding sexual harassment in the hospitality industry. One example is the Missouri federal judge who ordered Charlie Gitto’s Pasta House to pay $257,500 to Brookie Blake, a waitress who had sued the business for sexual harassment. She claimed that after refusing sexual advances from her boss, she was constructively discharged for the sole reason that she could no longer work in an intolerable environment. In another case, a New Jersey federal judge Tammy Blakey a total of $250,000 in damages after she sued the Continental Airlines for emotional distress she suffered under some of her male colleagues. They had allegedly been taunting her with sexual-laced messages while she was at work (Jefferies 189). Following two other sexual harassment cases, the US Supreme court reaffirmed the law that provides that the employer is capable of liability in a case where the employee is sexually harassed by his supervisor even though the employer may have had no knowledge of the harassment of his employees. The employer is also liable even if the employee does not complain abut being sexually harassed by his immediate superior. The court also ruled that the employee does not have to take any employment action after being sexually harassed in order to sue against the harassment. This means that an employee of the hospitality industry, be it is a hotel, restaurant, or any other place considered part of this industry has a civil right not to be demoted or termination as a result of the litigation regarding his or her sexual harassment claims (Goodwin and Gaston 144). However, the same Supreme Court also held that the employer has the right to raise affirmative defense in regard to sexual harassment claims by an employee in a court of law. This is the case if the employer can show without a doubt that there was “reasonable care to prevent the sexual harassment from occurring and the employer promptly sought to correct any sexual harassing behavior” (Sommerville 116). If the employee failed to make use of the opportunities provided by the employer to correct or prevent sexual harassment situation, then the employer can raise affirmative defense. This implies that even though employees in the hospitality industry have civil liberties that employers ought to respect and protect, it is up to them to ensure that this happens. Employer s in any hospitality business should always ensure that the correct measures are put in place so as to minimize the risk of having to go to court over a sexual harassment claim by an employee. It is imperative that the employer ensures that there are sexual harassment policies in the business which should all be compliant with the appropriate state as well as federal laws. The employers should also ensure that every employee has a full understanding of the harassment policies as set out in the company’s general policies and procedures. A thorough understanding of the state and federal laws regarding sexual harassment at the workplace is also important for both the employers and their employees. The policies should be circulated in the workplace so that everyone can have a look at what is expected of them in the company. The policies should reinforce commitment in the employees’ readiness to eliminate and prevent any cases of workplace harassment (Jefferies 310). There should also be a well planned training program for human resource staff on the appropriate techniques regarding sexual harassment policies. The manager should also get some training on the issue so that they can avoid it happening in their turfs. Since sexual harassment claims are common in the hospitality industry, each business should carry out a through personnel audit to ascertain that they do not have a sexual harassment record against other employees. The hiring procedures and policies in the hospitality business should be updated regularly to reflect and comply with the current state and federal laws (Chon and Maier 96). How the Hospitality Industry can Deal with Civil Rights Issues Denying an employee or customer their civil rights in a hotel, restaurant, club, bar or any other hospitality business may prove to be a costly mistake for the business owner (Goodwin and Gaston 146). To avoid getting into messy lawsuits and loosing money in the process it is important for the hospitality business preventive strategies that will help it avoid civil rights problems. Some of the preventive strategies that the businesses might consider include: Education of all staff about their civil rights and what is expected of them in accordance to stipulated company policies (Sommerville 165). Making the employees aware of their civil rights within the company will prevent others from acting in a way that tampers with another employee’s civil rights. The employer should also encourage an organization culture of tolerance for other people regardless of how they appear (Barrows and Powers 147). They should also encourage their employees to be respectful of other people: their fellow employees, employers and customers that they encounter while working. There should be a manger to deal with issues of harassment and civil rights violation cases within the company. The employer should also ensure that a regular and thorough audit is performed on the company’s policies to ascertain that they are updated and relevant. In many hotels and restaurants, there is normally a lack of facilities that people with various disabilities can use. To avoid been considered as discriminatory, the employer should ensure that proper facilities that cater for the needs of persons with disabilities are put in place (Chon and Maier 233). This way, the company will not be seen to be only concerned with those who have no disabilities. The policies of the company should also accord everyone the chance to seek employment or services equally without regard to age, gender, race, nationality or any social affiliation. The businesses should make use of expert input regarding issues related to civil rights for employers, employees and customers (Barrows and Powers 190). This is one way of ensuring that everyone feels comfortable working in or getting services from the company. When dealing with customers whose civil rights have been violated, it is always good to investigate the matter first and solve it directly with the customer. This will help in the avoidance of court suits that the customer may make against the business. Conclusion Every individual in the United States is entitled to his own civil rights which others are expected to recognize and respect. The hospitality industry has for a long time been plagued by a number of civil rights issues that face employees and customers as well. Some of the common civil rights violations include discrimination in regards to sex, race, color, nationality, religious affiliation and disability. Sexual harassment is another direct violation of individuals’ civil rights that commonly happens in many hospitality businesses. Both State and federal laws are categorical on the issue of civil rights violations. A person or persons found to have violated the civil rights o another person is liable to hefty fines and sometimes even jail terms. To avoid getting on the wrong side of the law when it comes to civil rights, the hospitality businesses need to ensure that all of their employees have a certain level of knowledge and understanding about civil rights. Each business should have in its policies the duties of every employer and a guideline on how they should behave so that they do not end up violating each others’ civil rights. The policies should reflect the current provisions of civil rights in the state and federal laws. Works Cited Ayers, Ian. Pervasive Discrimination. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2001. Print Barrows, Clayton and Tom Powers. Introduction to the Hospitality Industry. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2009. Print. Chon, Kye-Sung and Thomas Maier. Welcome to Hospitality: An introduction. Clifton Park, NY: Cengage Learning, 2010. Goodwin, John and Jolie Gaston. Hotel, Hospitality and Tourism Law. New York: Gorsuch Scarisbrick, 1997. Print. Hayes, David and Jack Nineheimeier. Human Resources Management in the Hospitality Industry. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons. 2009. Print. Jefferies, Jack. Hospitality Law. New York: Educational Institute of the American hotel and Motel Association, 1995. Sommerville, Kerry. Hospitality Employee Management and Supervision: Concepts and Practical Applications. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2007. Print. Read More