Legal Encounter Case Study

Legal Encounter #1
In scenario number one Pat was discharged for 30 days of severance pay without any written notice of unsatisfactory performance or a corrective action plan. This scenario shows that a contract can exist between Pat and New Corp based on their implied policies or procedures that are like the ones mentioned in the employee handbook that Pat received when hired. This reason gives Pat a reason to sue due to breach of contract. The handbook states that the employee will be notified or given a corrective action plan if the employee’s performance is unsatisfactory. If the employee does not improve by the mentioned date then termination can follow. The Supreme Court has stated with civil rights laws that an employee cannot be discharged from using their rights of free speech. For NewCorp it seems pretty simple that they need to mediate or offer a settlement to Pat because they violated his rights, and he has a strong case. By using ADR methods or settling out of court they would save money on court costs, legal counsel, bad public relations, and all that accompanies a lawsuit.
Legal Encounter #2
In scenario number two there is an encounter involving sexual harassment.
Sam is the boss and Paula is the employee, at one time they dated but Paula eventually ended the relationship. After the relationship ended then Paula tried to transfer departments, but Sam blocked the transfer and continued unwelcoming advancements towards Paula. Under the definition of sexual harassment this falls under the category. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits sexual harassment and this includes a work environment that is offensive, hostile, or intimidating. Ultimately this is what needs to determine if the employer is liable. To minimize their liability they need to have an anti-harassment policy, complaint policies, inform the employees of the anti-harassment policies, and other factors that the court will hold
relevant.
Legal Encounter #3 NewCorp employed Paul as a Senior Maintenance Technician. This position required him to work in confined spaces and repair equipment. There was a particular assignment that was difficult and left an employee injured in the past, so Paul refused to work on the machine. Paul said that working in small spaces made him claustrophobic and that became dangerous despite NewCorp’s safety team deciding that it was safe. Paul called OSHA and got a lawyer in an attempt to sue NewCorp. There are multiple legal risks applied in this scenario. The employees are uncomfortable working on this particular machine due to the space and safety. The company had the machine inspected, but they should have put together a more in-depth log of when employees handle or work on equipment. Even though Paul was hired to work in specific instances like this one, he could still sue in regards to negligence. He would have grounds because of past employee injury without any changes to that particular situation after the injury.
To manage these legal risks NewCorp needs to have a legal team available to uncover and monitor specific situations that could be costly to the company. All of the situations above give ground for the employee to hold the company accountable and this could have been avoided if they had the correct policies and procedures implemented throughout the organization.