Wgu Human Resources Task 1
Human Resources JDT Task 1
A. Constructive Discharge
At the beginning of the year the toy Company instituted a work schedule change to keep up with the growth of production of the company. The schedule change consisted of 12 hour shifts with 4 days of work and 4 days off. This change means that some of the work days would fall on a religious holy day. All of the production employees will immediately begin working this new schedule. Due to this new work schedule, a claim has been filed against the toy Company under the Title Vii of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The employee is alleging that the toy Company’s enforcement of the new schedule policy on shift work is discriminatory because the policy requires the employee to work on their religious holy day. Constructive discharge occurs when working conditions are so intolerable the employee feels forced to resign from their employment. (Glazer, 2009, p. 1). Constructive discharge is part of the Title VII Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin and religion. ("Title VII," “n.d.”, p. 4). Religion is the …show more content…
particular section of this Act in which the employee feels they are being discriminated. The employees feels that the change in schedule forcing them to work a four day 12 hour shift rotation schedule Monday through Sunday, rather than the Monday through Friday they were previously working would force them to work on a religious holy day and is an intolerable work schedule and was forced to resign.
There are 3 elements of an accommodation claim. First, the employee must prove they hold a sincere religious belief that conflicts with employment requirements. Second, the employee must inform the employer of the conflict. And, third, the employee must prove they were discharged or disciplined for failing to comply with the requirement. (Nicholson, “n.d.”, p. 4). The former employee must show prima facie evidence that the company did indeed force him/her to resign his/her position due to religious discrimination. From the documentation provided, the employee did not ever notify anyone of their religious beliefs. The employee did not inform the employer of a conflict with the new schedule and the religious holy days. Also, the toy Company did not deliberately create the new work schedule to force employees to resign. The new schedule was created due to the increased growth in production.
B. Title VII
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was created to prevent discrimination against age, race, gender, origin, religion and color.
The employee is stating they were discriminated on because of religion because they now have to work on religious holy days due to the new work schedule. According to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, religion is defined as all aspects of religious observance and practice, as well as belief, unless an employer demonstrates that he is unable to reasonably accommodate to an employee’s or prospective employee’s religious observance or practice without undue hardship on the conduct of the employer’s business. ("Title VII," “n.d.”, p. 2). The employee claims that the toy Company did indeed create an intolerable working condition due to the requirement to work on a religious holy
day.
C. Company Response
The Company must maintain there was no violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and that there was no occurrence of constructive discharge. The company can prove that the accommodation of a religious practice would result in undue hardship for the company. The change in work schedule was instituted to accommodate growth in production and not doing so would result in financial loss for the company. The company must maintain they were never informed of the former employee’s religious beliefs and must prove that all production staff were required to work the new schedule, the former employee was not singled out for this assignment.
C1. Legal References
The company instituted the new work schedule due to an increase in growth. All production employees’ schedules were changed to accommodate the growth. Without the production staff the company would suffer undue hardship in financial losses. In Trans World Airlines, Inc v. Hardison, Trans World Airlines agreed to permit the union to seek a change of work assignments, but the union was not willing to violate the seniority system and the employee Hardison had insufficient seniority to bid for a shift having Saturdays off. The employee was discharged for refusing to work on Saturdays due to his religious beliefs. The employee Hardison claimed that Trans World Airlines discriminated against him for his religious beliefs. In order to accommodate the employee Trans World Airlines would have had to premium overtime pay, replace the employee’s Saturday shift with another employee that would breach the seniority arrangement. The courts ruled that Trans World Airlines did not violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 because of undue hardship that would have been placed on the company. (Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Hardison, 1977)
Second, all production employees were required to work the new schedule due to the growth in production, the former employee was not singled out for this schedule change. In Tepper vs. Potter, Martin Tepper, a Messianic Jew, had been permitted for 10 years to avoid Saturday work assignments so he could observe his Sabbath as well as be absent from work on other Jewish religious holidays until staffing levels decreased and he had difficulty scheduling his day off. Tepper filed a complaint alleging violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights act of 1964 for failure to accommodate his religion. The court dismissed Tepper’s claims because he failed to prove he was treated differently from similarly situated employees who were also required to work on their religious holy days. (Tepper v Potter, 2007).
The former employee never informed the Toy Company of their religious beliefs. In the case of Curtis Blaine Storey, Appellant v. Burns International Security Services, Curtis, the former employee claims that he was discriminated against and terminated from employment for carrying a Confederate flag in his lunch box as part of his religious Christian belief. Yet, he never informed the employer of these beliefs. The court ruled that Curtis had failed to inform his employer that he held a religious belief that conflicted with an employment requirement. (Curtis Blaine Storey, Appellant v. Burns International Security Services, 2004/2004).
C2. Legal Recommendations
The administration must train the management staff on how to ensure that all staff is informed concerning any work issues or schedule changes. The training should include providing information to every employee concerning the change in work schedule prior to implementing the schedule change. This should include staff meetings, emails, and flyers. When conducting staff meetings, the employer must have an open door policy for employees to voice concerns or issues with the new schedule. Any employees having issues or concerns about the new schedule should be offered other positions whenever and if available. Documentation of every employee being informed of the schedule change should be included in the employee’s personnel file. References
Curtis Blaine Storey, Appellant v.Burns International Security Services, 390 F.3d 760 U.S. Court of Appeals 390 (Ct. App 2004), affd, 390 Court of Appeals NC 760 (NC Ct. App 2004).
Glazer, S. C. (2009). Constructive discharge means never having to say “You’re Fired”. Retrieved from http://www.axley.com/publication
Nicholson, J. R. (“n.d.”). Religious accommodation under federal law: the essentials. Retrieved from http://www.nacau.com/religious_accommodation.
Tepper v Potter, 06-4182 6th Cir. OH 3 (US Court of Appeals 2007).
Title VII of the civil rights act of 1964. (“n.d.”). Retrieved from http://www1.eeoc.gov//laws/statutes
A. Constructive Discharge
At the beginning of the year the toy Company instituted a work schedule change to keep up with the growth of production of the company. The schedule change consisted of 12 hour shifts with 4 days of work and 4 days off. This change means that some of the work days would fall on a religious holy day. All of the production employees will immediately begin working this new schedule. Due to this new work schedule, a claim has been filed against the toy Company under the Title Vii of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The employee is alleging that the toy Company’s enforcement of the new schedule policy on shift work is discriminatory because the policy requires the employee to work on their religious holy day. Constructive discharge occurs when working conditions are so intolerable the employee feels forced to resign from their employment. (Glazer, 2009, p. 1). Constructive discharge is part of the Title VII Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin and religion. ("Title VII," “n.d.”, p. 4). Religion is the …show more content…
particular section of this Act in which the employee feels they are being discriminated. The employees feels that the change in schedule forcing them to work a four day 12 hour shift rotation schedule Monday through Sunday, rather than the Monday through Friday they were previously working would force them to work on a religious holy day and is an intolerable work schedule and was forced to resign.
There are 3 elements of an accommodation claim. First, the employee must prove they hold a sincere religious belief that conflicts with employment requirements. Second, the employee must inform the employer of the conflict. And, third, the employee must prove they were discharged or disciplined for failing to comply with the requirement. (Nicholson, “n.d.”, p. 4). The former employee must show prima facie evidence that the company did indeed force him/her to resign his/her position due to religious discrimination. From the documentation provided, the employee did not ever notify anyone of their religious beliefs. The employee did not inform the employer of a conflict with the new schedule and the religious holy days. Also, the toy Company did not deliberately create the new work schedule to force employees to resign. The new schedule was created due to the increased growth in production.
B. Title VII
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was created to prevent discrimination against age, race, gender, origin, religion and color.
The employee is stating they were discriminated on because of religion because they now have to work on religious holy days due to the new work schedule. According to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, religion is defined as all aspects of religious observance and practice, as well as belief, unless an employer demonstrates that he is unable to reasonably accommodate to an employee’s or prospective employee’s religious observance or practice without undue hardship on the conduct of the employer’s business. ("Title VII," “n.d.”, p. 2). The employee claims that the toy Company did indeed create an intolerable working condition due to the requirement to work on a religious holy
day.
C. Company Response
The Company must maintain there was no violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and that there was no occurrence of constructive discharge. The company can prove that the accommodation of a religious practice would result in undue hardship for the company. The change in work schedule was instituted to accommodate growth in production and not doing so would result in financial loss for the company. The company must maintain they were never informed of the former employee’s religious beliefs and must prove that all production staff were required to work the new schedule, the former employee was not singled out for this assignment.
C1. Legal References
The company instituted the new work schedule due to an increase in growth. All production employees’ schedules were changed to accommodate the growth. Without the production staff the company would suffer undue hardship in financial losses. In Trans World Airlines, Inc v. Hardison, Trans World Airlines agreed to permit the union to seek a change of work assignments, but the union was not willing to violate the seniority system and the employee Hardison had insufficient seniority to bid for a shift having Saturdays off. The employee was discharged for refusing to work on Saturdays due to his religious beliefs. The employee Hardison claimed that Trans World Airlines discriminated against him for his religious beliefs. In order to accommodate the employee Trans World Airlines would have had to premium overtime pay, replace the employee’s Saturday shift with another employee that would breach the seniority arrangement. The courts ruled that Trans World Airlines did not violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 because of undue hardship that would have been placed on the company. (Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Hardison, 1977)
Second, all production employees were required to work the new schedule due to the growth in production, the former employee was not singled out for this schedule change. In Tepper vs. Potter, Martin Tepper, a Messianic Jew, had been permitted for 10 years to avoid Saturday work assignments so he could observe his Sabbath as well as be absent from work on other Jewish religious holidays until staffing levels decreased and he had difficulty scheduling his day off. Tepper filed a complaint alleging violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights act of 1964 for failure to accommodate his religion. The court dismissed Tepper’s claims because he failed to prove he was treated differently from similarly situated employees who were also required to work on their religious holy days. (Tepper v Potter, 2007).
The former employee never informed the Toy Company of their religious beliefs. In the case of Curtis Blaine Storey, Appellant v. Burns International Security Services, Curtis, the former employee claims that he was discriminated against and terminated from employment for carrying a Confederate flag in his lunch box as part of his religious Christian belief. Yet, he never informed the employer of these beliefs. The court ruled that Curtis had failed to inform his employer that he held a religious belief that conflicted with an employment requirement. (Curtis Blaine Storey, Appellant v. Burns International Security Services, 2004/2004).
C2. Legal Recommendations
The administration must train the management staff on how to ensure that all staff is informed concerning any work issues or schedule changes. The training should include providing information to every employee concerning the change in work schedule prior to implementing the schedule change. This should include staff meetings, emails, and flyers. When conducting staff meetings, the employer must have an open door policy for employees to voice concerns or issues with the new schedule. Any employees having issues or concerns about the new schedule should be offered other positions whenever and if available. Documentation of every employee being informed of the schedule change should be included in the employee’s personnel file. References
Curtis Blaine Storey, Appellant v.Burns International Security Services, 390 F.3d 760 U.S. Court of Appeals 390 (Ct. App 2004), affd, 390 Court of Appeals NC 760 (NC Ct. App 2004).
Glazer, S. C. (2009). Constructive discharge means never having to say “You’re Fired”. Retrieved from http://www.axley.com/publication
Nicholson, J. R. (“n.d.”). Religious accommodation under federal law: the essentials. Retrieved from http://www.nacau.com/religious_accommodation.
Tepper v Potter, 06-4182 6th Cir. OH 3 (US Court of Appeals 2007).
Title VII of the civil rights act of 1964. (“n.d.”). Retrieved from http://www1.eeoc.gov//laws/statutes