...JDT2 Task 1 Rhonda Bushkin Western Governors University | ABC Toy Company | Memo To: | The CEO | From: | Rhonda Bushkin - Manager, Elementary Division | cc: | Legal Department | Date: | September 28, 2014 | Re: | Employee X’s Constructive Discharge Claim | | | Background: It is Employee X’s claim that their religious rights were violated under the Civil Rights Act of 1964; specifically under Title VII that prohibits employment discrimination on basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Findings: A. How is constructive discharge as a legal concept relevant to the scenario? "Constructive discharge" occurs when an employer makes the conditions of work so intolerable that the employee "quits." (lawmemo.com, 2005) In other words, the employee feels that if they do not resign, they will be fired. Employee X is claiming their civil rights have been violated under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, when the company implemented a new shift policy. The policy that took effect at the beginning of the year, requires all production employees to work four 12-hour shifts in a row and then take four days off. These days can occur any day of the week, Sunday through Saturday. Employee X is stating that this new policy is discriminatory because the policy requires employees to work on a religious holiday. In order for constructive discharge to be used in a court of law there must be a feeling by the employee that their termination...
Words: 1698 - Pages: 7
...subject: | employee’s claim of constructive discharge | date: | June 10, 2013 | | | Constructive discharge is when an employee feels he or she has been forced to resign or quit their job because the employer has made their working conditions intolerable to a point that any reasonable person would have also resign or quit. The employee does not have to explain why they were forced to quit or resign. In cases where religion is sited, he or she may think, or feel, they must quit or resign because of a conflict with their religious beliefs, and being able to perform their job to managements expected levels. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, volume 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a) (1); states in pertinent part: (a) Employer practices It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer - (1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or This section of the US code prohibits discrimination against a person based on their religious beliefs and/or convictions. Also, Title VII requires an employer to provide reasonable accommodation for an employee's religious practices and observances, unless doing so would cause an undue hardship to the employer. (Ross Runkel, 2013) “For example, this might require an employer to modify schedules to allow someone...
Words: 1576 - Pages: 7
...Memo To: CEO Toy Company From: Troy Ziegler (Student ID 000300080) Date: July 17, 2014 Subject: Responding to employee claim of constructive discharge under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 A.Constructive discharge, as a legal concept, must first be explained. This legal concept states that even though an employee resigned voluntarily, they were forced to do so by a work environment that was so intolerable a reasonable person would also not be able to continue working for a company (Prohibited Employment Policies/Practices, 2014). Basically, this legal concept was enacted to protect employees from discrimination in the workplace. Although the employee quit voluntarily, this concept provides that they may still be entitled to the same benefits (such as unemployment insurance or severance pay,) as someone who was terminated or laid off. Whether or not the resigned employee would receive this financial compensation is up to the court system. The reason this concept is relevant to the employee in question is because of a religious practice. The new work schedule at the toy company uses shifts that rotate throughout the week and conflict with the resigned employee's holy day. The employee thus believes that under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, his religious beliefs have been discriminated against, giving him claim to constructive discharge. B.Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination of an employee based on race, color, religion, sex, and...
Words: 1362 - Pages: 6
...RE: Mr. John Doe’s Willful Termination on December 12, 2011 Executive Summary Based on the facts of the case, I believe we are not liable in the discrimination suit brought by Mr. Doe. Constructive Discharge Constructive discharge is defined as “if an employer's discriminatory acts result in working conditions so intolerable that a reasonable person in the employee's position would feel compelled to resign.” (Finnegan, 1986) Courts generally follow one of two “litmus” tests to determine if a person who willfully terminated their employment was constructively discharged and should receive compensation as a result of the termination. In the majority view, “an employee who resigns after being subjected to unlawful discrimination is said to have been constructively discharged if a reasonable person would have found the discriminatory conditions to be intolerable.” (Finnegan, 1986) The minority view is that the complainant “must show not only that conditions were intolerable, but also that the employer created those conditions with the specific intent of forcing them to resign.” (Finnegan, 1986) Mr. Doe is a member if the production staff. The company changed the production staff’s working hours to a rolling 12 hour shift four days a week that could occur on any day of the week. If the company’s intent was to get Mr. Doe or anyone on production staff to resign by changing the production staff’s hours, it is possible that the actions of the company could be considered a constructive...
Words: 1050 - Pages: 5
...Toy Company | To: | CEO | From: | Andrew Gibbs | CC: | | Date: | 10/4/2013 | Re: | Title VII Claim | Comments: | | Task A: The legal concept of constructive discharge can be defined as willful termination of employment by an employee due to intolerable working conditions. Whether those conditions are created by the employer, or merely allowed to exist at the workplace. The concept continues that any reasonable person would feel the same way if in the same position (Justia.com, n.d.). Essentially, the employee quits because they perceive the working environment to be intolerable. Constructive discharge applies to several different forms of discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In this case, the former employee is charging that the toy company violated their religious beliefs by forcing them to work on a holy day. Initially, the toy companies schedule for production staff was 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Recently, due to company growth, the toy company has changed the production staff schedule to rotating 12-hour shifts, working four days on and four days off. This change in schedule would require that staff, normally accustomed to a Monday through Friday routine, would need to adapt to a new schedule that would require them to work Saturday and Sunday from time to time. The facts presented in the scenario state that the former employee quit after the policy change. Further, the employee alleges that the new...
Words: 894 - Pages: 4
...Memorandum To: Christopher Cringle, CEO CC: Edgar Tuttle, Attorney From: VJB, Elementary Division Manager Date: [ 9/4/2014 ] Re: Title VII / Constructive Discharge Discrimination Claim Mr. Cringle, Per your request, I have completed my research on the discrimination claim filed against Happy Tot Toy Company by a former employee. The employee is claiming constructive discharge under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits workplace discrimination against any person(s) on the basis of their religious beliefs, ethical background, color, gender, or national origin. With regards to religious beliefs, it requires that an employer make reasonable accommodations for an employee’s or prospective employee’s sincerely held religious beliefs unless it places an undue hardship on the company. (EEOC2). For the former employee to use constructive discharge as a legal concept to this case, the employee must prove that the company “intentionally made work conditions so intolerable” (Moore) that only one course of action was left for any reasonable person: resignation. Not allowing the employee the necessary time off for observation of his/her holy day would constitute, in this case, the intolerable act. Constructive discharge is relevant to this case if the employee can show three things. First, the revised work schedule interfered with the employee’s religious beliefs by not allowing them the necessary time off to...
Words: 1069 - Pages: 5
...Western Governors University MBA / Human Resources – JDT2 – Task 1 MEMO TO: Arnita Hudson, CEO FROM: Heather Barth, Elementary Division Manager DATE: March 6, 2014 RE: Title VII Claim A) After implementing the new 12-hour / 4-day production shift policy, an employee quit and filed a constructive discharge claim with the EEOC. Constructive discharge is an illegal discriminatory practice in which an employee is forced to resign because of an alleged unbearable work environment. Constructive discharge as a legal concept is relevant to our situation in that an employee has quit, alleging religious discrimination. There are legal arguments that must be proven by the accuser in order for a constructive discharge charge to be upheld. “To constitute a constructive discharge, the employer must deliberately create intolerable working conditions, as perceived by a reasonable person, with the intention of forcing the employee to quit and the employee must actually quit.“ (MOORE v. KUKA WELDING SYSTEMS, 1998) The burden lies on the employee, who must establish that working conditions were so difficult that they were obliged to resign because of a 1) discriminatory reason or 2) reason contrary to a well-defined civic policy such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits an employer from refusing to hire, from firing, or discriminating against a worker in any way based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. (National...
Words: 1915 - Pages: 8
...to a new work schedule that our company implemented due to recent growth. This work schedule requires the employee to work on his or her religious holy day approximately four weeks in a row every other month. An employee can legally claim constructive discharge if he or she was forced to resign because the employer made the work environment intolerable (Dempsey & Petsche, 2006). In the case before us, our former employee is stating the new work schedule forced him or her to work on religious holy days and, therefore, is religious discrimination and made it impossible for him or her to continue to work at the company. To move forward with a case of constructive discharge, an employee must first establish a prima facie case by proving that: (1) he or she has a bona fide religious belief that conflicts with an employment requirement; (2) he or she informed the employer of this belief; (3) he or she was disciplined for failure to comply with the conflicting employment requirement. (Turpen v Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad Company, 1984). If the employee can prove all three, then the burden of proof shifts to the employer, with the...
Words: 1642 - Pages: 7
...toy company interoffice memorandum to: | Ceo of toy company | from: | elementary division manager | subject: | review of constructive discharge allegations | date: | May 1, 2014 | cc: | toy company attorney | | | A. Constructive Discharge as a Legal Concept Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees from workplace discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex and national origin. When an employer engages in practices that create a hostile work environment for any of these protected groups, making conditions so intolerable that an employee feels compelled to resign, it is known as constructive discharge Former employee Andy Anderson now alleges that our company engaged in religious discrimination when our production schedule changes went into effect at the first of the year. The changes required all production employees to occasionally work on a religious holy day, and Mr. Anderson has submitted a constructive discharge claim with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). According to an article in the University of Chicago Law Review, courts generally apply two tests when deciding if constructive discharge has occurred. The first is the reasonable person test, meaning that the working conditions are so intolerable that a reasonable person would conclude that resigning is the only recourse. The second is the specific intent test. The plaintiff must show that the employer “created those conditions with the specific...
Words: 1708 - Pages: 7
...A. Constructive Discharge In this instance, the claimant is citing Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, constructive discharge. According to this doctrine, the claimant must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, the actions of the employer resulted in working conditions so intolerable that a reasonable person in the employees position would feel compelled to resign. Additionally, the plaintiff is required to show that the working conditions were created with the specific intent to cause the employee to resign. The claimant believes that the change in work shift schedules created working conditions so intolerable that they were compelled to resign. The claimant also believes it was the specific intent of the Company to force this employee to resign. B. Title VII Title VII of the Civil Right Act of 1964 prevents an employer from considering a person’s race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, disability or genetic information when making employment decisions. In order to claim Constructive Discharge, it must first be determined that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was actually violated. In this situation, the claimant believes they were forced to resign on the grounds of religious discrimination; because the new work schedule required employees to work on a holy day. Title VII requires employees to reasonably accommodate the religious belief of an employee, unless doing so would impose an undue hardship such as significant difficulty...
Words: 951 - Pages: 4
...To: John Smith, CEO From: Date: 06-Apr-12 Re: Response to Claim of Constructive Discharge by former employee Julie Jones Message A. Constructive Discharge and Relevance Due to the expanding growth of the company, new work schedules were implemented and took effect at the start of the new year. The work schedule policy changed the work week scheduling from Monday through Friday, to the new 12-hour rotating shift Monday through Sunday. A claim of constructive discharge has recently been filed against the company by a former employee, Julie Jones. She has filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleging that discrimination against her occurred by requiring employees to work on a religious holy day. While looking at the claim of constructive discharge, there are two main components to look at. The first is whether the change in work schedule caused any other employee in the production team where she was working to feel compelled to resign. The second is that not only would any other employee in production feel compelled to resign, but also that the intent to change the work schedule was to force Julie Jone’s resignation (Finnegan, 1986, p. 563-566). B. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from making decisions in employment based on race, color, sex, religion, or national origin. When it comes to religious beliefs, “the law requires an employer or other...
Words: 2040 - Pages: 9
...discharge”. Most constructive discharges take place when employees resign because their employer's behavior has become so intolerable or made life so difficult that the employee has no choice but to resign. In some instances the employee must not only prove that working conditions were intolerable but they also must prove that employer created the condition for the intent of forcing that person to resign. In our scenario a production employee X insist that we have discriminated against him because we require that he work on a religious holiday. We have mandated that all production employees are required to work shifts that cover each day of the week based on manufacturing demands and financial considerations. If we change the policy for 1 employee we would also need to change it for all production employees or we could be open to discrimination complaints. Consideration for all production staff to excuse them days of religious celebrations would cause significant difficulties in staffing manufacturing lines and keeping up with productivity goals resulting in lost revenue and expenses. Regulations covered by the EEOC (Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964) do include policies for ” Reasonable Accommodation & Religion” and the law requires an “employer to reasonably accommodate an employee's religious beliefs or practices, unless doing so would cause difficulty or expense for the employer” (EEOC, 2009). However we do not have to accommodate the religious employees...
Words: 792 - Pages: 4
...I INTRODUCTION This memorandum outlines the legal basis of the recent lawsuit brought against us for a possible violation of Title VII of the Civil Right Act of 1964 from a former employee. This memorandum addresses this specific lawsuit and how our company should respond to the allegations. II DISCUSSION Today’s workforce has a variety of diverse individuals with unique characteristics that make our employees stand apart from each other. As a company we must work within boundaries set by company standards and laws set forth by the government to shape our staff into successful employees who will provide to the continual success of this company. By motivating employee creativity and providing flexibility in the company will assist in employee retention and continual company growth. With this being said, we have changed our working hours to accommodate our growth from a traditional Monday through Friday work week and 8 hour shifts to a Monday through Sunday continuous work week with 12 hour shifts. The change was made only to the employees who work with the production department and was due to increase in company growth. This new schedule provides a rotating shift in which the employees work four 12 hour days then receive four days off. The constructive discharge claim is supported by U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission laws and regulations guidance policy and states, “The law requires an employer to reasonably accommodate an employee's religious beliefs...
Words: 1374 - Pages: 6
...that a constructive discharge claim has been filed by a former employee. The employee alleges that our new company policy on shift work is discriminatory because the policy requires employees to work on a religious holy day. In the past, production employees worked Monday through Friday. Due to company growth, the production schedule was changed at the beginning of the year, requiring employees to work 12-hour shifts with four days at work and then four days off. The four work days can occur any day of the week, Monday through Sunday. The entire production staff is required to work this rotating shift. The legal definition of constructive discharge states “constructive discharge may only be established by either of the following: 1. Evidence of objectively difficult or unpleasant working conditions to the extent that a reasonable employee would feel compelled to resign, if the employer has been given at least fifteen days’ notice by the employee that the employee intends to resign because of these conditions and the employer fails to respond to the employee’s concerns. 2. Evidence of outrageous conduct by the employer or a managing agent of the employer, including sexual assault, threats of violence directed at the employee, a continuous pattern of discriminatory harassment by the employer or by a managing agent of the employer or other similar kinds of conduct, if the conduct would cause a reasonable employee to feel compelled to resign” (USLegal.com). In other words...
Words: 1507 - Pages: 7
...staff remained Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5 pm. All production employees used to work 8-hour shifts, Monday through Friday. The former employee, who voluntarily quit after the changes took effect, is claiming that the company “forced” him to quit because the new working schedule would require him to work on a religious holy day. A constructive discharge claim can only be established if there is either evidence of intolerable working conditions that would compel an employee to quit, or evidence of outrageous conduct by the employer, such as sexual assault or violent threats towards the employee. If the employee believes that working conditions are intolerable then the employee is required to take the following steps before quitting: (1) notify the employer, in writing, of the intolerable working condition; (2) allow the employer adequate time to review the complaint and provide a written statement in response; and (3) review and consider the employer’s written response. There is no...
Words: 1241 - Pages: 5
