HRA545 Personnel Law and Ethics
Module 1 Assignment
Case Method: How to Analyze the Cases
Case Assignment 1
Case #1 James Karagiorgis is a civilian employee of the United States Navy who is ordinarily assigned to the Nanal Sea System Command (“NAVSEA”) in Washington, D.C. For a few weeks in 1996, Karagiorgis wastemporarily assigned to perform an “engineering reliability backfit” on the USS Los Angeles, which was moored at the Pearl Harbor Naval Base in Hawaii. Because no government quarters were available on the base, Karagiorgis arranged commercial lodging through a government travel agent and procured a rental car for use while in Hawaii. The cost of both the car and hotel were reimbursed by the Navy.On January 24, 1996, James Karagiorgis finished his day’s work on the USS Los Angeles, left the ship and began driving toward the exit of the base, which was some distance from the ship where he had beenworking. While still just inside the base, he rear-ended a car that was stopped in traffic, injuring its driver, Clamor.After first exhausting her no-fault benefits as required by Hawaii state law, Clamor filed a complaint against Karagiorgis in Hawaii state court. Question: Was the employee (Karagiorgis) acting within the scope of employment when he negligently injured the plaintiff (Clamor)? Explain.
Case #2 Leonard A. Vernon (“Vernon”), a citizen of the United States, is a black male over 40 years old who was born in Belize. He received a B.A. in Civil Engineering in 1977 and an M.S, in Environmental Engineering in 1980. In January 1984, The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (“Port Authority”) hired Vernon to be a Principal Administrative Assistant, a Level B-92 position, with the Civil and Environmental Unit of the Engineering Department. In January 1985, Vernon was promoted to Staff Services Engineer, a Level B-93 position. Throughout his career at Port Authority, Vernon has been recognized favorably for his work.In September 1989, Heidi Rosenberg, a white engineer in the Environmental Engineering Unit, was promoted to Senior Engineer, a Level B-94 position. Vernon was not promoted despite the fact that Marvin Krishner, Chief Environmental Engineer of the unit and Vernon’s immediate supervisor, wrote in a 1987 memorandum that Rosenberg and Vernon were both “performing at ‘Senior Levels.’” In December 1992, Rosenberg informed her supervisor that she had received an employment offer in another department, and to induce her to stay in the Environmental Engineering Unit, she was promoted to Supervising Environmental Engineer, a Level B-95 position.In March 1993, Rosenberg resigned from Port Authority, and Port Authority advertised her position internally as well as externally. Vernon applied for the B-95 position but was notified in May that he had not been selected for the position. A white, 65-year-old temporary employee, who had been working for Port Authority for one year, filled the vacancy. In March and August of 1994, Vernon complained to the Assistant Chief Engineer for Design and the Executive Director of Port Authority about alleged ongoing discriminatory practices at Port Authority. In September 1994, Frederick Meyers, Manager of Port Authority’s Equal Employment Office (“EEO”), started an investigation into Vernon’s allegations of discrimination.Question: Was race a factor in the Port Authority’s denial of Vernon’s promotion? Explain.1
HRA545 Personnel Law and Ethics
Module 2 Assignment
Case Assignment 2
Case #3 In July 1994 Elvis R. Stewart, an African American, began working for the McDonald’s restaurant located inside the Wal-Mart store on Benson Boulevard in Anchorage, Alaska. Stewart’s shift was from 7:30 p.m. until closing, the time of which varied. Stewart also worked at Taco Bell. Stewart’s shift at Taco Bell was from 11:30 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. In order to work both shifts, Stewart carried a change of clothes and personal items in a duffel-type bag. He would change out of his Taco Bell uniform, and into his McDonald’s uniform, in the Wal-Mart bathroom. He used the Wal-Mart bathroom, instead of the Taco Bell bathroom, because it was larger and less crowded with customers.Wal-Mart had a nationwide policy of stationing a member of its management team at its exits to check for receipts of purchases made by Wal-Mart and McDonald’s employees, and to check for stolen items that might be concealed in their personal bags. Management conducted the checks before employees left the store at the end of their shifts.According to Stewart, sometime during his third week of employment, Hardy stopped him as he was exiting McDonald’s at the end of his shift. Hardy asked to search Stewart’s bag, and then proceeded to dump the contents of Stewart’s bag onto the counter and look through it. According to Stewart, this type of bag search continued until mid-February 1995. Steward testified that he routinely objected to the searches. Stewart asked Hardy whether he searched certain people because they were black. Hardy answered yes.Question: Were the searches motivated by race discrimination? Explain.
Case #4 Elizabeth Salsbury, a speech language pathologist employed by SunDance, was notified by letter from SunDance dated February 26, 1999, that the company was compelled to reduce its workforce and that Salsbury’s job would be terminated effective March 1, 1999. The letter informed Salsbury that she would receive 80 hours’ worth of severance pay after signing a separation agreement and general release.A provision of the agreement stated, “This Release and covenant not to sue also expressly, and without any limitation of the foregoing General Release, includes bot is not limited to any claims which Releasor may have or may assert under federal or state law prohibiting employment discrimination and claims growing out of any legal restrictions on the rights of Company to terminate its employees, whether statutory or arising under common law, including without limitations: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Releasor on behalf of herself and other releasers expressly agrees that she will not institute, commence, prosecute or otherwise pursue any proceeding, action, complaint, claim, charge or grievance against Company or any other released parties in any administrative, judicial or other forum whatsoever with respect to any acts or events occurring prior to the date hereof in the course of Releasor’s dealing with Releasee.”Salsbury decided not to sign the Separation Agreement.Question: Can severance pay be given conditional to the employee’s promise to forego proceeding under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and/or the Americans with Disabilities Act? Explain.1
Case #5 Howard Saari was employed by Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co., Inc., as an account executive beginning in July 1988. He alleges that his work was satisfactory at all times. According to Saari’s complaint, on or about December 14, 1988, a “sum of money, supposedly belonging to a client of Smith Barney, was supposedly stolen from the desk of a Smith Barney employee.” Saari alleged he was questioned about the theft and was later asked to take a polygraph test concerning the incident, which he refused. Saari claims he was then terminated for his refusal to take the polygraph examination.Saari became a registered representative of the NYSE and thereby subject to its Rule 347, which provides that “Any controversy between a registered representative and any member or member organization arising out of the employment or termination of employment of such registered representative by and with such member or member organization shall be settled by arbitration.”Saari contends that the enforcement provisions of the Employee Polygraph Protection Act show no such flexibility.Question: Is the arbitration requirement in violation of the EPPA? Explain.2
HRA545 Personnel Law and Ethics
Module 3 Assignment
Case Assignment 3
Case #6 Van I. Irion, a Caucasian male who is a veteran of the United States Air Force, submitted an application for a position as a firefighter with Contra Costa County Fire Protection District in September 2000.The process for obtaining a position as a firefighter with Contra Costa County Fire Protection District involves several steps, which are set forth in the county’s Personnel Management Regulations (“PMRs”). First, applicants are given a written test, a physical agility test, and an interview with the County Department of Human Resources, the results of which are combined to come up with a score for each applicant. In addition, a 5% Veterans’ Preference Credit is added to the scores of veterans who apply.The Interview Schedules indicate that Irion received a numeric rating of 4. The Interview Schedules also appear to indicate that at least two minority candidates with lower initial rankings and lower Chief’s Interview scores were hired—#24 who is identified as Hispanic and received a rating of 3, and #53 who is identified as “Asian or Pacific Islander” and received a 3-4 score. In addition, one minority candidate with the same Chief’s Interview score of 4 and a lower initial ranking, #34 was hired. Finally, two minority candidates with Chief’s Interview scores of 4 and lower initial rankings than Irion, #68 and #69, appear to have been given initial conditional offers of employment, but they were not ultimately hired.Beadle, who was Personnel Officer for the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District at the time of the relevant events, states in his declaration that he was present at the meeting in which the Chief’s InterviewPanel made its recommendations for Academy Class 34 and that the panelists “did not recommend Mr. Irion for hire...because they unanimously felt his answers to questions illustrated that he was too rigid andwould be a difficult employee.”Irion asserts that Contra Costa County discriminated against him on the basis of veteran status, in violation of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (“USERRA”). Under USERRA, employers may not deny a person employment on the basis of membership, including past membership, in a uniformed service. USERRA is violated when veteran status is a “motivating factor” in the employer’s action.Question: Was an applicant for a position as firefighter discriminated against because he was a United States Air Force veteran? Explain.
Case #7Ms. Walker was a permanent clerk typist in the Internal Revenue Service’s Atlanta office. Ms. Walker is a light-skinned black person. Her supervisor was Ruby Lewis. Ms. Lewis is a dark-skinned black person. The employees in the office in which Ms. Walker and Ms. Lewis worked were predominantly black. In fact,following her termination, Ms. Walker was replaced by a black person. The working relationship between Ms. Walker and Ms. Lewis was strained from the very beginning, since approximately November of 1985. Ms. Walker contends that Ms. Lewis singled her out for close scrutiny and reprimanded her for many things that were false or insubstantial. Ms. Walker’s relationship with her former supervisor, Virginia Fite, was a cordial one. In fact, Ms. Walker received a favorable recommendation from Ms. Fite.Ms. Walker met with Sidney Douglas, the EEO program manager for the Internal Revenue Service’s Atlanta district about the problems she was having with Ms. Lewis. Two weeks later, pursuant to Ms. Lewis’s recommendation, Ms. Walker was terminated. The reasons given for her termination were: (1) tardiness to work; (2) laziness; (3) incompetence; and (4) attitude problems. It is Ms. Walker’s belief that the reasons were fabricated and were the result of Ms. Lewis’s personal hostility towards Ms. Walker because of Ms. Walker’s light skin.1
Question: The issue is whether color discrimination includes difference between light-skinned and dark-skinned people of the same race. Explain.2
HRA545 Personnel Law and Ethics
Module 4 Assignment
Case Assignment 4
Case #8 Elysa Yanowitz joined L’Oreal’s predecessor in 1981. She was promoted from sales representative to regional sales manager for Northern California and the Pacific Northwest in 1986.In the fall of 1997, Jack Wiswall, Yanowitz’s superior, ordered Yanowitz to have a female sales associate at Macy’s West store in her region fired. As justification, Wiswall explained that the associate “was not good looking enough.” The associate had dark skin; Wiswall preferred fair-skinned blondes. Wiswall told Yanowitz, “Get me somebody hot,” or words to that effect. Yanowitz did not carry out Wiswall’s order. When Wiswall asked her whether the associate had been dismissed on subsequent occasions, Yanowitz requested adequate justification for firing her. Yanowitz did not complain to Human Resources, nor did she tell Wiswall that his order was discriminatory. Question: Does the pressure placed on a regional sales manager by her general manager to hire a salesassociate who was attractive constitute sex discrimination? Explain.
Case #9 In late October 1991, Oncale was working for respondent Sundowner Offshore Services on a Chevron U.S.A., Inc. oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. He was employed as a roustabout on an eight-man crew, which included John Lyons, Danny Pippen, and Brandon Johnson. Lyons, the crane operator, and Pippen, the driller, had supervisory authority. On several occasions, Oncale was forcibly subjected to sex-related, humiliating actions against him by Lyons, Pippen, and Johnson in the presence of the rest of the crew. Pippen and Lyons also physically assaulted Oncale in a sexual manner, and Lyons threatened him with rape. Question: Does a victim of same-sex sexual harassment have a viable claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act? Explain.
Case #10 Dwayne Kelley began working for Crosfield as a laboratory technician on August 1, 1992. This position required Kelley to work 12-hour shifts for four consecutive days followed by three consecutive “off” days. Kelley was scheduled to begin a four-day work rotation on October 22, 1993, when he unexpectedly received a phone call from his mother. His mother informed him that the Brooklyn Bureau of Child Welfarewas preparing to take custody of Shaneequa Forbes, an 11-year-old girl. Shaneequa was born into the marriage of Barbara and Michael Forbes, but Kelley had reason to believe that he might be the girl’s biological father.Kelley told his supervisors at Crosfield that Shaneequa was his daughter. Kelley missed four scheduled workdays while attending to this matter in New York. On his first day back at work, October 29, Crosfield terminated Kelley’s employment. Kelley alleged that his termination violated the FMLA because he took leave from work in order to “obtain custody of my kids.” Question: Is seeking custody of one’s own children covered by the FMLA? Explain.1
HRA545 Personnel Law and Ethics
Module 5 Assignment
Case Assignment 5
Case #11Mary Myers is a practicing Seventh-day Adventist. The tenets of her religion forbid her from engaging in any form of work on the Sabbath, which extends from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. In June 1988, Myers was hired as a full-time bus operator trainee by the New York City Transit Authority, which operates its buses on a seven-day-per-week, 24-hour-per-day basis. From the outset, Myers made it clear to her supervisors that her religious commitments would prevent her from working between sundown on Friday and sundown on Saturday. A problem arose because she was assigned Wednesdaysand Thursdays as her days off, a schedule requiring her regularly to work on her Sabbath. Under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement between the Port Authority and the Transport Workers Union, the privilege of selecting weekly days off was allocated in accordance with a strict seniority system. Myers spoke with several of her employer’s representatives in an effort to obtain some accommodation for her Sabbath observance. Her request for “split” days off was rebuffed on the ground that the practice was forbidden by the collective bargaining agreement.Question: Must an employer make a good faith effort to try to accommodate an employee’s Sabbath when the accommodation would place the employer in violation of a collective bargaining agreement? Explain.
Case #12 Dr. Cacace is an urologist and Marge DeSantis is his office manager. Ms. Rosario, born in New Jersey of Puerto Rican ancestry, was hired in late June 1997 as a secretary/medical assistant. She was dischargedin early August of the same year. One qualification for the job was fluency in Spanish because most of Dr. Cacace’s patients were Spanish speaking. Ms. Rosario is bilingual in Spanish and English. Another bilingual medical assistant, Bertha Aranzazu, was also employed in the office. Dr. Cacace speaks English and Spanish as well, as does his wife who also worked in the office and is of Hispanic origin. Ms. DeSantis was the only employee who was not proficient in both languages; she spoke and understood English only.Ms. Rosario characterized Ms. DeSantis’s treatment of her as follows:During my employment, at least once a week I was told on many occasions by Marge DeSantis not to speak Spanish on the job and on occasion not even speak Spanish to patients. One occasion, Marge DeSantis told me and another employee, “I am going to let one of you go because there is too much chitchat in Spanish I don’t understand.” It is a common custom among people of Spanish national origin to speak Spanish to each other. Bilinguals even combine English with Spanish. It just happens. I have always habitually done this and to this day I still do itand no employer I have ever worked for to this day has ever complained except Ms. DeSantis.On or about August 5, 1997, DeSantis fired Rosario, telling her, “I’m sorry that I have to let you go like thisbecause you are a nice girl and a quick learner, but I cannot have you speaking Spanish in my office.”Question: Can an employee be discharged for speaking Spanish in the workplace? Explain.1
HRA545 Personnel Law and Ethics
Module 6 Assignment
Case #13 Casey Martin is a professional golfer and also an individual with a disability as defined in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA).Since birth he has been afflicted with Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber Syndrome, a degenerative circulatory disorder that obstructs the flow of blood from his right leg back to his heart. The disease is progressive; it causes severe pain and has atrophied his right leg. During the latter part of his college career, because of the progress of the disease, Martin could no longer walk an 18-hole golf course. Walking not only caused him pain, fatigue, and anxiety, but also created a significant risk of hemorrhaging, developing blood clots, and fracturing his tibia so badly that an amputation might berequired. For these reasons, Stanford made written requests to the Pacific 10 Conference and the NCAA to waive for Martin their rules requiring players to walk and carry their own clubs. The requests were granted.When Martin turned pro and entered the PGA Tour’s Q-School, the hard card permitted him to use a cart during his successful progress through the first two stages. He made a request, supported by detained medical records, for permission to use a golf cart during the third stage. PGA Tour refused to review these records or to waive its walking rule for the third stage.Question: Is allowing use of a golf cart a reasonable accommodation for a professional golfer with a disability that restricts him from walking substantial distances? Explain.
Case #14 Eastern Associated Coal Corp. and United Mine Workers of America are parties to a collective-bargainingagreement with arbitration provisions. The agreement specifies that, in arbitration, in order to discharge an employee, Eastern must prove it has “just cause.” Otherwise the arbitrator will order the employee reinstated. The arbitrator’s decision is final.James Smith worked for Eastern as a member of a road crew, a job that required him to drive heavy truck-like vehicles on public highways. As a truck driver, Smith was subject to Department of Transportation (“DOT”) regulations requiring random drug testing of workers engaged in “safety-sensitive”tasks.In March 1996, Smith tested positive for marijuana. Eastern sought to discharge Smith. The union went toarbitration, and the arbitrator concluded that Smith’s positive drug test did not amount to “just cause” for discharge. Instead, the arbitrator ordered Smith’s reinstatement, provided that Smith (1) accept a suspension of 30 days without pay; (2) participate in a substance-abuse program; and (3) undergo drug tests at the discretion of Eastern (or an approved substance-abuse professional) for the next five years.Between April 1996 and January 1997, Smith passed four random drug tests, but in July 1997 he again tested positive for marijuana. Eastern again sought to discharge Smith. The union again went to arbitration, and the arbitrator again concluded that Smith’s use of marijuana did not amount to “just cause”for discharge, in light of two mitigating circumstances. First, Smith had been a good employee for 17 years, and second, Smith had made a credible and “very personal appeal under oath concerning a personal family problem which caused this one time lapse in drug usage.”The arbitrator ordered Smith’s reinstatement provided that Smith (1) accept a new suspension without pay, this time for slightly more than three months; (2) reimburse Eastern and the union for the costs of both arbitration proceedings; (3) continue to participate in a substance-abuse program; (4) continue to undergo random drug testing; and (5) provide Eastern with a signed, undated letter of resignation, to take effect if Smith again tested positive within the next five years.1
Question: Is the arbitrator’s decision to reinstate a driver who twice tested positive for drugs arbitrary andcapricious? Explain.
HRA545 Personnel Law and Ethics
Module 7 Assignment
Case #15 Skidmore was required by his employer, Swift Co., to be “on call.” The “on call” situation allowed him to be anywhere he wished to be. When called, however, he had to be there within an hour. This was called “waiting time.” Overall, during most weeks, his actual hours exceeded the 40 hour workweek. Skidmore requested overtime pay, but was not paid. Swift argued that Skidmore was not entitled to such compensation. Question: Should on-call time be compensated as working time? Explain.
Case #16 Ms. Savage, a teacher at Sebring Middle School, was injured in December 1990 during a basketball game between the teachers and students. The game was an annual charity event. The game occurred during regular school hours, and the teachers received their regular salary. The teachers were required toparticipate in the game, either as a spectator or as a player. No benefit or detriment resulted from a teacher’s decision to play or to act as a spectator.ISSUE: Is the injury Ms. Savage sustained due to her participation in the faculty-student basketball game “work related”? Explain.
Case #17 On Saturday, November 11, 1995, Ms. Parry was employed by Wal-Mart and was scheduled to work a 4:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. shift. Ms. Parry left the store at 8:30 p.m. for her meal break. She did not return that night; instead, she called the store from her home and told the assistant manager that she had slipped on ice in the parking lot on the way to her car and injured her back. After seeking medical care, Ms. Parry was released to work on December 26, 1995.The Wal-Mart parking lot was covered with ice as the result of an ice storm on November 11, 1995. Therewas only one parking lot at Wal-Mart, used by both employees and customers. Employees were requested, but not required, to park on the south side of the lot so that customers would have better access to the front door. However, the south side of the lot was not restricted from customer use. As Ms. Parry walked to her car at about 8:30 p.m. her feet came out from underneath her. She twisted around to catch herself but her back hit the ground. She drove to her home approximately one block awayand called Wal-Mart, speaking to the assistant manager. She did not return to work that night or the next day. She sought medical attention on Monday. Question: Is the employee covered under workers’ compensation for sustaining injuries by falling in a parking area designated for use by the general public? Explain. 1
HRA545 Personnel Law and Ethics
Module 8 Assignment
Final Paper
For this assignment, you will compose a 1700-2000 word paper on the following topic:
The Affordable Care Act is now the law of the land in the United States. The act mandates, for the first time, a workplace benefit incidental, and without direct relation to the job itself. Is this fact a new and worthy trend in labor law or is it a dangerous precedent?
You should incorporate class concepts, state your position, support your position with a minimum of three external sources, and provide a conclusion. Your paper must conform to APA style and formatting guidelines.
Submit the paper to the Assignment box no later than Sunday 11:59 PM EST/EDT. (This Assignment box is linked to Turnitin.)
HRA545 Personnel Law and Ethics
Module 6 Short Paper 1
You are required to complete a two-page paper in response to the questions below.
Union membership in the United States labor force is at its lowest since 1939. Express your opinion about the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of American labor unions at this point in history. What are the strength and weaknesses of the modern unions? To what do you attribute the current decline? Should a worker be allowed to vote for the institution of a new union at a ballot outside the workplace when the business currently does not have a union, or should such an election occur at the workplace?
You should state your position and support it with a minimum of three external sources. Your paper must conform to APA style and formatting guidelines.
Submit the paper to the Assignment box no later than Sunday 11:59 PM EST/EDT. (This Assignment box is linked to Turnitin.)
HRA545 Personnel Law and Ethics
Module 7 Short Paper 2
You are required to complete a two-page paper in response to the questions below.
The current minimum federal wage is currently a hot topic for debate. Some advocate for a major increase in the current federal minimum, some advocate for making no change, and a few advocate for eliminating the federal minimum wage entirely. What is your position on this issue? Remembering that any municipality, township, city, county, or state can legislate a minimum wage of its own in excess of the federal minimum, but not below, is the local approach the best, or are there problems with this approach? Should there exist differing and lower minimum wages for persons in service jobs that customarily receive tips?
You should state your position and support it with a minimum of three external sources. Your paper must conform to APA style and formatting guidelines.
Submit the paper to the Assignment box no later than Sunday 11:59 PM EST/EDT. (This Assignment box is linked to Turnitin.)
