Incident of Racism in CCC Group Inc - Case Study Example

Racial Harassment in CCC Group Inc.

The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) pressed charges against a construction company over racism allegations. The sued company, CCC Group Inc., is group-owned (private), and it is involved in providing construction, manufacturing, and several other engineering related services. CCC group Inc. was founded in 1947 by George Guthrie and Merl Huebner as an industrial construction company. The company significantly thrived amidst the commonly adopted commercial construction services. Industrial projects were not common by then, but that norm did not deter the company from prospering. The company’s headquarters are located in San Antonio, Texas, while there are several offices all over the United States that serve both regionally and internationally.

The company’s success is embodied in the recognition and a growing number of customers seeking its services. It boasts several awards acquired over the past several years, including the recently acquired South Texas Industrial Industry Safety Excellence Award in 2019. The company was also ranked among the 2019’s top 400 contractors in the United States, where it was named the 274th best contractor and 17th best provider of industrial project services. CCC Group Inc. also boasts several affiliates such as the Association of Bituminous Contractors and the American Welding Society, among several others.

The culture adopted by the company has fostered its notable success. First of all, the culture is based on strong values defined by its mission and vision. The company’s vision provides for the enhancement of cooperation through a collaborative team environment. Besides, the staff members are focused on fulfilling the customers’ needs while aiming at building a strong and lasting relationship. Its programs, such as the EPC that aids in effective completion of intricate projects have demonstrated the company’s competences.

Distinguished Issues in the Company

While CCC Group Inc. exhibits excellent performance in the engineering projects sector, it recently faced racism within its workforce. In 2016, the company operated a construction site in Ravena, a small village in New York. During this period, the company’s staff were said to have been involved in considerable racism acts. This incidence was facilitated by the conflicting course between the white supervisors, white employees, and black employees. The alleged actions involved harsh comments, threats, and unfavorable working conditions to black employees that were different from those of white employees. These allegations were followed by the EEOC filing a lawsuit against the company.

According to the statement by EEOC, white supervisors and employees made unpleasant comments about fellow black employees. White staff members constantly commented about how their forefathers owned black slaves as well as the entire land in the region. They bragged of their presumed superiority over the black counterparts. They went ahead to devise epithets for the black employees that expressed racism. For instance, one black employer was embarrassed where his walking style was criticized. The concerned persons referred to his walking as strange and attributed it to slavery since the slaves used to walk with bags of cotton on their shoulders while working on cotton farms. Such comments and several others extended to a company radio channel, and therefore, most people heard them.

Apart from the harsh comments, the white supervisors threatened the black employees in the construction site. One incidence that indicated the situation was when a white supervisor tried to snare a black employee using a knot from a rope. Other threats were issued verbally by the supervisors. In addition, the working conditions were harsh for black workers. For instance, during the winter, only black employees were assigned outdoor activities while the fellow white workers worked indoors. The EEOC noted that African Americans were specifically allocated more physically dangerous tasks compared to their white counterparts. Despite the raised complaints by the affected individuals, the management did not attend to their concerns, which resulted in the persistence of the condition.

Impacts of the Racism on Employees

Harassment and discrimination on the basis of race have been associated with negative implications for an entire workforce. First of all, the issue of racism in the CCC Group company poses the risk of affecting the victims by prompting significant physical and psychological health complications. Researchers have linked discrimination in workplaces to increased stress and anxiety to the victims. In this case, the black employees are at risk of such outcomes, which may eventually lead to chronic disorders. Cancer, heart-related diseases, and diabetes could be some of the eventual issues the black employees are likely to develop. Reduced self-esteem, lower perceived self-competence, decreased life satisfaction, and obsessive-compulsive disorder are some of the psychological conditions the employees may develop. Therefore, with the racism issue persisting in the company, the black employees are at risk of developing considerable health complications.

On the other hand, racism in the company leads to reduced productivity among the employees. Black employees, under the harsh working conditions in the company, normally develop discomfort and job dissatisfaction. As a result, they lose the motivation to devote maximum energy to the assigned duties willingly. Eventually, they become less productive due to the negative perception they develop towards the workplace. The poor relations amongst the workers also instigate decreased productivity. Since white employees and black employees are no longer in good terms, the collaboration effect is no longer achieved. Lack of teamwork is indeed detrimental to the productivity of the company. The development of skills helps in career advancement and thence in the productivity of an employee. With increased racism in the company, employees are unwilling to learn new things to develop their skills. Therefore, they end up providing basic services even though they continue working for the company due to a low rate of advancement.

After a prolonged period of consistent racism acts from the white staff members, the black employees may decide to quit their jobs. In such occurrences, the concerned individuals will not be earning an income before securing another job. With no income, for an indefinite period, the affected persons live a lowly standard life. They are unable to cater to their needs as well as provide for their family. This situation affects the specific individual and eventually affects the entire economic status of a region.

Impacts of the Racism on the Organization

Racial discrimination and harassments also present significant adverse outcomes in the company. The situation impacts the affected employees by lowering their productivity. Reduced productivity of the employees consequently affects the company’s efficiency in delivering its services to customers. With consequentially failing projects, the profit margins for the organization drops. Besides, existing clients eventually become disinterested in acquiring services from the company and seek services from other companies. The reputation thence spreads to prospective customers who also consider other options apart from the CCC Group Company. Decreased number of customers and profits poses the threat of the company failing to sustain the process and the workforce.

With the increased employee dissatisfaction, the organization’s efficiency deteriorates amidst the employees quitting their jobs. The situation prompts the company to hire new employees, some of whom might not be adequately experienced. Hiring new employees does not only disrupt the smooth delivery of services but also consumes a lot of resources. Such resources include the cost of processing the paperwork for the newly hired individuals and training them. The time and energy spent on training the new employees would have been essential in more profitable tasks. Besides, it may take time for the new employees to blend in with the organization's apparent culture. The involved costs and lost resources would have been avoided through minimum or no discrimination, which would have motivated the employees to continue working for the company. Other costs may be realized in the process of hiring lawyers during the case filed by the EEOC.

In the case of black employees quitting their job, the organizational culture remains with a lack of diversity. In the wake of globalization in the contemporary world, this situation affects the overall company's growth. As the company continues to launch projects in different regions, engaging individuals from different ethnic backgrounds is inevitable. But if the management team does not address the issue, then projects in various regions may not succeed, which might eventually affect its regional and international expansion opportunities.

Legal Provisions in the Racism Case

The racist acts in the CCC Group Inc. violate the Civil Rights Act that was enacted in 1964. Initially, the act did not provide strong powers regarding the discrimination of workers in workplaces, but it was later reinforced for enhanced effectiveness. The act was first proposed by President J. F. Kennedy, who advocated for equal rights to all Americans serving in public facilities. Upon enactment, Title VII of the act defined the provisions that prohibited discrimination based on gender, religion, race, or color in workplaces. Title VII defines specific race-related factors that should not be present in any decision related to employment. While these definitions were exclusively developed to protect the minorities, the provisions extend to all the races in the United States. It was under this act that the EEOC was established to aid in the investigation of racial discrimination claims.

Apart from the working conditions within a company, the act also defines the employment practice elements. Such elements include the hiring process, retention of employees, and promotion. Employers are prohibited from hiring employers based on their race or color. As a result, employers should subject the interested individuals in a particular position to a similar recruitment process. Besides, common criteria should be applied in the promotion and retention processes. Most of the provisions of this act were allegedly violated by the CCC Group company, which necessitated the EEOC intervention. The New York district officer for the EEOC bears the mandate to process the discrimination charges. The body demands necessary penalties, including compensating the affected employees. Besides, the company should establish definite measures to initiate a course toward rectifying the situation.

Resolution to Racism in the Company

The scenario at the construction site in New York certainly necessitates resolution measures. If I were the company's HR Director, I would commence the path to change by creating awareness. I would divert adequate resources to educate the employees about cultural diversity and its significance in the company. The education programs should focus on racial discrimination and the adversity it causes in the working environment. Spreading awareness would also involve me talking to the workers altogether about the issue. The conversation would help inform the employees about the issue and foster an efficient communication channel.

When all the employees are fully aware of the dangers posed by racial discrimination, I would thence work towards promoting good communication. In that case, I would ensure that I facilitate an efficient communication course where employers can report any racism incidence to me. This would help in holding specific individuals accountable for their racist actions. In the case of a reported victim, I would talk to them and let them know that their actions bear potential harm to specific parties. For minor cases such as comments off-color, I would guide the person towards rectifying their behavior. However, for significant issues such as inflicting an employee injury, one would face strict consequences such as losing their job.

I would also establish an anti-discriminatory policy that defines the possible penalties in the case of a racist act. Besides, I would review the hiring and retention processes to ensure that the concerned body adopts procedures that uphold equal opportunities. The review would also involve embedding anti-racism attributes in the company’s mission. The adjustment should provide a racism-free culture for the future as well as in the present. Essentially, such practices would complement each other towards eliminating racism in the company’s culture.