Inappropriate Behavior
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Argosy University Online
Faculty

What civil rights laws may prohibit Marwan’s conduct with his fellow co-worker? Do those laws apply to his conduct toward the park guest? The civil rights laws’ covering this case comes under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, 1964 (Cooper, 2010). This legislation safeguards the employees against discrimination at workplace on the basis of caste, color, creed, gender, origin (Cooper, 2010). The law applies to all employers whether national, state or local. Any company having fifteen or more employees has to adhere to this law. As per this law, a commission called Equal Employment Opportunities Commission has been set up, to protect people against discrimination and impose this as well as other applicable laws. Discrimination at place of work has always been in existence since long before any rules were applied. The U.S. Authorities initiated this law after hearing several cases of harassment. The law safeguards both the employees as well as the applicants applying for the job. The law states that no employer can take recruitment decision solely on the basis of the caste, color, creed, gender, or origin of the applicant. The company or employer cannot favor anyone on the basis of these factors while selecting or promoting. Also the employer cannot assign any task to the employee on the basis of these factors. The employer has no right to determine the remuneration of an employee on the basis of these factors. He cannot terminate the services of any worker on the basis of these factors. Also the employer is not supposed to show favoritism for paying perquisites, plan of sequestration, and leave on account of disability. The most important consideration in this law is that employer cannot harass the employee on the basis of any of these factors i.e. caste, color, creed, gender and origin. It is unlawful to frontier, isolate or categorize employees or the prospective candidates in any manner that can hamper their employment opportunities. The civil right laws are applicable to the park guests. Employers, as well as some employees have said either said or preformed sexual remarks and gestures at some employees, especially the females that it would be right to consider this behavior against the civil rights law- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, 1964. He has been described by the colleagues as a discriminator towards the opposite sex. He has misconduct his actions and behavior and has also harassed them to stop working. Mr. Marwan has committed sexual harassment of the female employees in two ways. First he made inappropriate body contact with them and second he even threatened them to go on a date else he would get them fired. So both these encounters are of the harassment under sexual nature and are governed by the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, 1964. The unjust treatment given to female employees is punishable under the Act. The conduct is not only dishonorable but also immoral (Clark, 1991).

Did Marwan commit sexual harassment? If so, what type? Explain your answers and the terms you use. Sexual harassment occurs in the place of work when the employer passes remarks verbally or non-verbally or makes a physical advance that is intolerable to the employee. If the employer’s behavior results in situation due to which the employee’s job is at risk or creates mental stress which adversely affects the performance at work or develops a non friendly working environment then it leads to sexual harassment. These sufferers can be any person who is affected by such unlawful behavior. The civil right laws safeguard the employees against such intolerable and unethical behavior of employers. Mr. Marwan has indulged in such unethical behavior. The national and state laws forbid any employer to undertake such activity. They also clearly mention that an employer cannot strike back in opposition to any worker who charges him under this law. Mr. Marwan has committed sexual harassment of the female employees in two ways. Firstly he made inappropriate body contact with them by touching her breasts and other body parts and secondly he even threatened them to go on a date else he would get them fired. Both these instances come under the ambit of this law of sexual harassment. The civil rights law forbids the employer to discriminate on the basis of sex. The sexual harassment clause is covered under this sex factor. There are two types of sexual advances. One, when the employer asks the employee to return sexual favors in condition to the employment. These favors could be verbal, non-verbal or physical. They could be of explicit or implicit in nature. This type of sexual harassment is called Quid Pro Quo sexual harassment under the law. The second type of sexual harassment is creating a non friendly and non working environment for the employee i.e. creating a hostile environment for work. In this the working atmosphere of the employee is made unfriendly by passing remarks of sexual nature and disturbing the mindset of the employee. This type of environment affects the performance of the employee at workplace.

What is the legal nature of Marwan's employment? Legally, Mr. Marwan is not employed with the company. He has no employment contract with the organization. An employee is said to be employed only when he has an employment contract. The law can offer protection under labor law only if the employment contract is put in place. This is applicable even for those circumstances where there is no written employment contract between the employer and employee. There can be oral employment contracts also. The employment contract is the basis of the bond between the employer and employee. It is because of this contract that an employer employee relationship is created. All the labor laws will only be applicable if there is an employer employee relationship i.e. there is an oral or written employment contract. As per the Act, the meaning of the employee is a person who is employed by the employer. Exceptions to the definition are those persons who has been voted for the office of the federal, state or local by educated and recognized constituency or any person who is selected by the above mentioned officer for his own team or any appointed person for making policies and agreements or any instant consultant chosen for exercising the legal rights at the office. This exemption does not cover individuals who are preachers of the civil laws of the service agreements of the State, federal, any government authority or any political division. In cases of employment in other geographical territory, the term covers only US citizens.
Though Mr. Marwan has no legal employment contract with the Studio Five but he can be said as the employee of the company because he has been working there since a long period of time. It would be wise to apply legal labor laws on him as well.

What actions and steps should Studio Five take against Marwan? Explain what actions you considered and why you either recommend them or reject them. The employer Studio Five Theme Park has full right to take action against Mr. Marwan. The allegation of the female employee has to be proved after which the employer can take appropriate action against him for his misconduct. A general punishment could be that the employer can deduct certain perquisites available to the employee. Also there is a probability that the employer can deduct allowances from the remuneration of the employee. The employer can also sue the employee for paying damages caused to him and his company and also the pay the legal fees involved. As per the civil rights law, the range of the damages varies between $50,000 to $ 300,000 as per the terms and conditions. The company can sue the employee for hurting the reputation of the company. Also the most important action would be to terminate the services of the employee. This action is seen important in cases of sexual harassment to safeguard the image of the employer and the company in public and also forbid other employees to indulge in such activities. A stricter course of action becomes an example for everybody. As per the Act, the employee is liable to claim punitive damages from the employer. The legal remedy available to the employees against the discrimination of the employer will not only get compensatory damages but also the punitive damages. Punitive damages are designed for those circumstances where the guilty is severely punished. Unlike the compensatory damages where the designation as well as the remuneration of the plaintiff is brought back to the original position i.e. before the crime was committed, punitive damages do not offer such window. They are simple rules to punish the offender. Usually under compensatory damages the employees who have discriminated levy reimbursement of legal fees or payment of full remuneration, getting back the desired designation, etc. but this is not so with the punitive damages. The main aim of the punitive damages is to penalize the guilty for his misbehavior. These are especially levied in cases of sexual harassment. For claiming the punitive damages, the victim need not prove in the court of law unlawful behavior.

Discuss Marwan’s allegation that he is being discriminated against based on his disability and what response Studio Five may have to that allegation. What would each of them have to prove in court.
It will be unjust to say that Mr. Marwan is discriminated against his physical disability. The senior position that Mr. Marwan assumes in the company has not come just like this. It must have taken a long period of time to establish such position. This indicates that physical disability did not play a big role in progressing him towards the senior position in the company. For proving the case in the court of law, it is necessary to prove that the instance happens rather than taking plea under the physical disability clause. The employer Studio Five terminated the services of the employee, Marwan. This was a right course of action. As per the case law it is clear that Mr. Marwan is a man of unethical behavior. He has been constantly involved in such kind of activities. When the employees brought the case in front of the employer, Studio five it was aptly clear that the company was already aware of such instances happening before. When Marwan finally crossed his limits beyond the boundary it became clear that the company felt right to terminate his services. Had the employer not terminated the services, the employee with whom such act was done, would have lost faith in the ideology of the company. So the action of the company is truly justified. The given situation is very dicey as the cases of sexual harassment are difficult to prove in the court of law unless there is a third party who had witnesses the incidence. However the act clearly says that any act of discrimination or misconduct has to be proved in the court of law notwithstanding any doubts against it. Mr. Marwan can take a plea that his termination was done immediately without conducting any investigation. So because he was terminated immediately following a complaint, without giving him a reasonable time to justify himself, led him to believe that he was removed from the services because of his physical disability. Also there is a flip side to the story. The Act provides that the complainant should ensure that the orders of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission prior to filing the case. He is in a position where he cannot prove his point and claim after a rational suspicion will surely can negative points for him. The female employee will have to prove that act of sexual harassment has been done on her. This will be hard to prove if there were no witnesses at the site of event. However keeping in mind the past behavior of the offender, Mr. Marwan there is little room of doubt that such an incidence did not occur. The female employee has a strong case as the reputation of the offender Mr. Marwan is not good with the other employees as well.

If the female employees sues Studio Five Theme Park, what defenses can Studio Five use? Are they liable for Marwan's conduct even if they were unaware of and did not approve of Marwan's actions? Explain your answers and the terms you use.
If the female employee sues the company, Studio Five Theme Park, then the company can always put forward a defense that it was unaware of the situation. They can also prove in the court of law that Mr. Marwan is a man of high standards and has been with the company for a long period of time. Keeping in mind his physical disability it becomes difficult to trust the allegations. They can obviously go against the female employee and favor Mr. Marwan as he has been in service since a long period of time. Mr. Marwan is the employee of the studio. So it is their personal liability take due course of action against an employee who indulges in misbehavior. The company becomes easily liable for the actions of the employee even if they are unaware of it. Every company becomes liable for the actions of its employees. When the employee is hired, whatever actions he does at the place of work becomes the responsibility of the company in which he is working. So ideally it is the liability of the company to protect the female employee against the ghastly actions of the other employee, Mr. Marwan. It is truly justified that the company did not approve of the misconduct of the fellow employee because it was unreasonable to do so. It would have been unethical if the company would have favored Mr. Marwan.
If Marwan was a member of a union that had a collective bargaining agreement with Studio Five, would that change any of your previous answers?
Yes the answer would have changed in such a case when the union has the power to protect the employees because Marwan was a man of high knowledge and dominance of level in the company. He was in such a strong position that if nay female employee also made allegations against him then it would have been very difficult to prove it and terminate him. Collective bargaining is a process in which there are formal negotiations between the employers and the selected representatives which were selected among the workers. When there was collective bargaining the Union and the management made various kinds of discussions to determine wages, benefits and other working conditions (Silva , 1996). Agreements have reached the bargaining table which is written legally in the binding contract or other collective bargaining agreement. Every member of the company has the right to have a collective bargaining treatment. The goal is to provide a process in which the workers have the equal power with the management in order so as to influence the working conditions. The right to bargain together was found in the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) passed by Congress in 1935. This act says that the individual workers have the power to obtain what they want but together with the Union they have the right and the power to obtain. When the efforts are united together than mutual gains are seen. A union deserves the best to improve the conditions where they work as union power is a member power. If the members are actively organizing than the agendas are there for improvements and participate in bargaining process.

What types of company policies, procedures, and actions should businesses employ to avoid harassment of their employees?
An employer has the responsibility to maintain the work place that is free of any kind of sexual harrassment. This is a very big legal obligation and very important also. If there is any kind of sexual harrasment in the work place than there will be poor employee morale, low productivity and the company will have a bad name.

1 STRATEGIES FOR PREVENTION:

2 It’s necessary to take certain steps which are necessary for sexual harassment:

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4 Sexual harassment policy: - a sexual harassment policy should include terms that will not tolerate sexual harassment, state which will discipline or fire any wrong doers, set out a clear procedure for making sexual harassment complaints , state that will in order tell fully detailed reports regarding sexual harassment.

5 Training employees:- its necessary that companies once every year conduct training sessions for the employees which teaches the employees what a wrong deed sexual harassment is , explaining that employees have a right to work place which is free from sexual harassment and other procedures.

6 Train supervisors and mangers: - conducting training sessions for supervisors and managers that are needed to separate employees .

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8 Keeping an eye on the work place

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10 Asking the employees if they are facing any problems in the workplace. Making sure nothing is interpreted as sexual harassment has been seen or heard. Taking appropriate actions in case of sexual harassment when its expected or suspected.

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References

Cooper, S. (2010, October 27).Title vii, civil rights act of 1964. Retrieved from http://www.princeton.edu/
Clark, Charles. "Sexual Harassment: Men and Women in Workplace Power Struggles." Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, Inc., 1991.

Silva , S. (1996).Collective bargaining negotiations. Retrieved from http://www.ilo.org/