...Business Ethics Final Paper – Reverse Discrimination Reverse Discrimination is an issue that has come about in the work force today. “The law allows employers to discriminate among employees as long as the ground for discrimination are job-related, fair, and objective (242).” For example, “employers can promote a male employee over a female employee as long as the male is more qualified, the family has had an equal opportunity to qualify, and the standards for qualifications are fair and objective.” Although the law does provide equality between different employees, there are still some cases that rule that they are victims of reverse discrimination. This is shown in the case against firefighters and the City of New Haven. Firefighters in New Haven, Connecticut believe that they have been discriminated against. In June of 2009, the United States Supreme court rule that the City of New Haven had indeed discriminated against this group of firefighters who were not qualified for promotions. During this exam, “twenty firefighters, nineteen white and one Hispanic,” were denied the promotions and believed that they were victims of reverse discrimination (242). This exam examined that white exam takers were the most qualified firefighters. By a 5-4 vote, the U.S Supreme court did agree that these firefighters were victims of reverse discrimination. As an ethical person in this case study, I would have set up this exam completely different than they did. The results in the late...
Words: 1166 - Pages: 5
...Ricci v. DeStefano Jennifer Drab Baker College Abstract Ricci v. DeStefano is case based on reverse discrimination. The New Haven firefighters that brought this suit against the city did so on the belief that the city in its efforts to avoid litigation violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Reverse discrimination is a term that is used widely; however, it is very difficult to move forward with this claim in a court of law. The New Haven firefighters that brought the suit had their case heard before the Supreme Court of the United States. This was not a case that the justices took lightly; they asked many difficult questions, which looked at many different aspects of Title VII. The answer from the high court is that rejecting the test scores in fear of Title VII litigation is not grounds enough to disqualify candidates that qualified for promotion. In the end, the high court upheld the firefighters claim that the city’s rejection of the exam scores violated the rights of those that qualified based on the exam. Introduction Ricci v. DeStefano, is case of reverse discrimination within the fire department of New Haven, Connecticut. This case is an illustration that affirmative action does not always result in fairness. New Haven city officials created a very comprehensive written examination for testing those fire fighters that were looking to be promoted to captain and lieutenant (Epstein, 2009). Unfortunately, the examination showed that there was disparity...
Words: 3478 - Pages: 14
...Case Study Analysis XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX HRM/552 Organizational Training and Development MBAX1CGU82 Sherri Johnson Workshop 2 May 26, 2014 Case Study Analysis The purpose of this paper is to review and select the case studies in Ch. 2 of Human Resource Management. The author will explain and summarize University of California Regents vs. Bakke case summary, the court’s ruling, how the court’s ruling may possibly impact the organization and for businesses in general, legal precedence the ruling sets for most businesses, and the role the federal enforcement agency plays in ensuring the organization’s compliance to regulation standards. Case Summary The University of California at Davis developed and implemented a special admissions program to increase enrollment of “disadvantaged” applicants, which meant minority students. The number of minority students increased. The special admissions goal was to fill 16 of the 100 positions with “disadvantaged” applicants whom would be selected by a special admissions committee. Allan Bakke, a Caucasian male, was denied admission to the school twice. Bakke brought a suit against the university on the grounds of Civil Rights Act violation and reverse discrimination, alleging preferential treatment of one group (minority or female) over another group opposed to equal opportunity (Byars & Rue, 2008). Court’s ruling The Supreme Court ruled in a five-to-four decision in favor of Allan Bakke and deemed the schools admissions...
Words: 863 - Pages: 4
...Introduction and Conclusion Are affirmative action policies and programs still necessary in this day and age, even if it creates reverse discrimination? One of the country’s top debated issues is affirmative action. Affirmative Action came about when President John F. Kennedy signed Executive Order 10925 that created the President’s Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity whose purpose was to ensure all employees are treated fairly, without regard to race, creed, color, or national origin (Elliott & Ewoh, 2000). Since its inception, Affirmative Action program and policies have taken on a life of their own. Affirmative action is a term that refers to mandatory and voluntary programs intended to affirm the civil rights of designated classes of individuals. Affirmative action or Executive Order 11246 (EO11246) was created, after the civil rights movement, by the federal courts to ensure companies were not using discriminatory hiring practices. Affirmative action is similar but different from equal opportunity. Equal opportunity is an attempt to avoid discrimination by applying the performance related criteria to all applicants, in other words, each individual should be given the same treatment as all other individuals. Unequal treatment of minority groups is considered discriminatory and illegal. This process ignores the past history of discrimination of an employer and also keeps the use of categories in hiring practices from being utilized. Affirmative action requires...
Words: 2411 - Pages: 10
...Gale Encyclopedia of Small Business: Racial Discrimination http://civilliberty.about.com/od/raceequalopportunity/tp/Racial-Discrimination.htm Racial discrimination is the practice of letting a person's race or skin color unfairly become a factor when deciding who receives a job, promotion, or other employment benefit. It most often affects minority individuals who feel they have been unfairly discriminated against in favor of a Caucasian (or white) individual, but there have been recent cases where whites have claimed that reverse discrimination has occurred—that is, the minority received unfairly favorable treatment at the expense of the white individual. Court rulings handed down through the years have determined that a company's responsibility not to discriminate based on race begins even before an individual is hired. Companies can be held liable if pre-employment screening or testing is determined to be discriminatory, if applications ask unacceptable questions designed to screen for race, or if the overall selection process is deemed to be unfair. One of the main indicators that racial discrimination has occurred in the hiring process involves the qualifications of the job applicants. While a slight difference in qualifications between a minority and nonminority candidate do not automatically indicate racial bias (if the lesser qualified nonminority candidate is hired over the minority candidate), a drastic difference in qualifications has almost always been upheld...
Words: 2963 - Pages: 12
...essential purpose. Our group believes Affirmative Action is fair and we still need it to eliminate discrimination and establish inequality to make our country is a better place. The continued use of affirmative action is still needed to address our existing discrimination and to break down all the barriers to make sure each individual have an equal opportunity so that they can prove themselves in the society as per their talents and abilities. Compare to other countries United States have made significant progress in recent years in creating equal access to opportunity, but we still need to accomplish more. Affirmative action worked as a proven solution that had been addressing existing discrimination and promoting equal opportunity. Ending affirmative action would end the dreams of opportunity for many. “The fundamental purpose of affirmative action is to further equal opportunity and counter or prevent current discrimination. Importantly, affirmative action programs have a positive impact not only on women and people of color, but all members of our society”. This program ensures equality and provides opportunity to many women, people of color, disabled, and veterans. It is a path where they can compete and be evaluated fairly for jobs and education opportunities. The opposition group often argues “Affirmative action leads to reverse discrimination. It is designed to end discrimination and unfair treatment of employees and students based on color, but it in effect does the opposite...
Words: 1399 - Pages: 6
...Discrimination Legislation Vernecia Denson American Intercontinental University March 10, 2012 In this paper, you will learn and know how to recruit for a more diverse work team. The word affirmative action will be recognized and defined. You will learn what the initial intent of Affirmative-Action legislation was and why it was created. We will distinguish what the positive and negative results of the Affirmative Action legislation and is this legislation still appropriate today. We will learn what the landmark of Bakke v. Regents case included and how it applied and ties in with affirmative action. We will see what was the basis for the conclusion of this case? When thinking about discrimination in the workforce, the words affirmative action comes to mind. Affirmative action was a law put into action to take positive steps that would increase the representation of minorities and women in areas of employment, education, and businesses from which in historical times were excluded (Fullinwider, 2009). Affirmative action wanted to increase not noticing the basic structures based off of race, gender, or ethnicity when making decisions (Fullinwider, 2009). This action is still around till this day. Affirmative action was initiated first by President John F. Kennedy in 1961. This order showed that Federal contractors was suppose to take affirmative action to guarantee that job applicants and employees are treated fairly and would have a fair opportunity regardless of...
Words: 1493 - Pages: 6
...and work them however they saw fit. After slavery was abolished, African-Americans were still not treated fairly. There was a “separate but equal” state of mind among Americans which kept whites and black separate in the workplace and schools. Once schools and workplaces were segregated the African-Americans were still treated unfairly. Today we see a lot less unfair treatment towards African-American’s because of the Affirmative Action policies and cases like Bakke v. Regents. What is Affirmative Action? What is Affirmative Action? Women and minorities are allowed entry into professions that were formally off limits to them because of affirmative action programs. Initiated in the 1960s this federal agenda was designed to counteract the discrimination towards women and ethnic minorities (Nittle, 2012). This program is meant to promote equal opportunity in employment, education, government sectors, and more. It is not meant to create reverse discrimination but in its modern form affirmative action can cause reverse discrimination by admissions officers to hire a minority or woman over an equally qualified opposite. What was the initial intent of Affirmative-Action legislation? The initial intent of Affirmative-Action legislation was to promote a fair share in education, employment etc. for every regardless of race or gender. It was to promote equal opportunity in education and the workplace. It was to protect the African-American...
Words: 880 - Pages: 4
...Andre, 2005) One way a company can engage in affirmative action is to increase the applicant pool for open positions with the intent to diversify. Though this policy is more active than the passive nondiscrimination, the theory is that the most qualified candidate will get the position, so moral and ethical controversy is limited. A method beyond affirmative action, and the one I want to discuss in this paper, is preferential treatment, or hiring. This type of policy changes the job standards in an effort to hire more minorities or women. There are two ways this is done: preferential hiring among equally competent applicants; and preferential hiring among applicants who are not equally competent. These policies are called reverse discrimination by critics, and leveling the playing field by supporters. (Lane, 2010) The most extreme form of policy is the hiring quota. This is a number, a standard,...
Words: 2014 - Pages: 9
... They will review how whistleblowing is protected by law and how it affects individuals. The case study seeks to look at the case of Luke Sheldon and determine what law if any, supports his position. Whistleblowing is simply the act of reporting wrong doings. Those actions or alleged wrongdoing can be classified in several ways ranging from violation of company policy/rules, law, regulation, or threat to public interest/national security, fraud, and corruption. OSHA's Whistleblower Protection Program enforces the whistleblower provisions of more than twenty whistleblower statutes protecting employees who report violations. Section 11(c) of the OSH Act prohibits employers from discriminating against their employees for exercising their rights under the OSH Act (US Department of Labor). The rights include filing an OSHA complaint, participating in an inspection or talking to an inspector, reporting an injury, and raising a safety or health complaint with the employer. The Whistleblower Protection Act (“WPA”) of 1989 was designed as a method to safeguard workers who report these major violations of the law. The Act prevents them from being discharged or otherwise retaliated against by their employers. If workers have been retaliated or discriminated against for exercising their rights, they must file a complaint with OSHA within 30 days of the alleged adverse action. In the case study, Mr. Sheldon is working on a job where he has been asked to dump toxic waste into the river. He...
Words: 605 - Pages: 3
...Employee Safety, Health and Affirmative Action Law Paper MGT 434 Employment Law FMLA or The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 offer workers with as many as twelve weeks of unpaid leave from work in a one year interval. The leave may be for the delivery of a baby, adoption of a baby, taking care of a loved one who is unwell, or in case the worker has a severe illness stopping the worker from fulfilling her or his job requirements. (Vikesland, 2006) As per the Department of Labor ‘workers should provide the company with fourteen to thirty days advance notice when the requirement to take FMLA is imminent’ (DOL, 2010). If the advance notice to the company not be possible, the worker “should provide notice as quickly as possible and practical and the worker usually should abide by an employer’s normal call-in protocols” (DOL, 2010) The company should maintain the health benefit coverage or premiums of the worker when the worker is on FMLA leave under the group retirement plan policy just as if the worker were still doing the job. Once the worker comes back to work, equivalent pay, worker benefits along with other employment factors are restored. The eligibility needs for the worker under FMLA are “working for a covered company for a minimum of one year, 1250 hours during 12 months and with a minimum of fifty other workers hired within seventy five miles with the same company” (DOL, 2010). Companies might not meddle, restrict or refuse workers of...
Words: 1474 - Pages: 6
...over that of other races. While we often discuss the clear cases where other races are being discriminated against there is still yet another power at play. The world’s subconscious attraction to the American or European aesthetic. It is the advantage given out of the subconscious desire to give instead of the desire to withhold from others. | Racial profiling | Racial profiling takes place when law enforcement officials make a conscious decision to take action or not take action on the basis of race of the offender. If a police officer pulls a black person over while driving because he or she is driving through a predominantly white neighborhood, then that officer would be guilty of racial profiling. | Racism | Racism is the belief and actions taken based on the belief that race determines the level of human a person is. During the slave trades many traders treated the African slaves as dogs and believed they were such, cattle to do their bidding. They did not judge them on their historical knowledge of the group because they had very limited historical knowledge. They based their decisions about and treatment of the Africans solely on their race. | Reverse discrimination | Reverse discrimination describes the thought that the laws created to protect minorities from discrimination actually put the majority group at a disadvantage. Affirmative action might often be heard in discussions about reverse discrimination. Affirmative action promotes the employ of different minority...
Words: 1091 - Pages: 5
...minorities to bring about more fairness in hiring and promotion practices. Draw heavily from the assigned readings and then explain and defend your arguments concerning affirmative action and "reverse discrimination." The fact that we are still talking about job discrimination, in the 21 century is really a sad thing. We have made amazing strides in all fields of science and medicine, we have the capability of having AI (artificial intelligence) and the ability to reach out and touch someone across continents in a matter of seconds via the internet. Yet, as a human race we have done very poorly in treating our fellow human with the dignity and respect we expect to be treated ourselves in return. If we were to do as Kant said, to treat “their ends as our end," we would all be treating each other impartially, (Shaw and Barry, 2013, pg. 90). But, since we are not, we are still having this dialogue. Affirmative action was brought upon by necessity. It was adopted in order to shift the balance toward neutrality in such things as hiring practice, admission standards and housing. There was a need to ensure more adequate representation for underrepresented groups, such as racial, ethnic, cultural and general minorities. Unfortunately “studies reveal the persistence of discrimination in American life, and statistical evidence shows wide economic disparities between whites and racial minorities”...
Words: 839 - Pages: 4
...GENDER-BASED AFFIRMATIVE ACTION AND REVERSE GENDER BIAS: BEYOND GRATZ, PARENTS INVOLVED, AND RICCI ROSALIE BERGER LEVINSON* I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II. History Behind the Affirmative Action Race/Gender Anomaly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . III. The Circuit Split on the Race/Gender Conundrum . . . . . . . . . IV. Analogy to Race-Based Affirmative Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A. Remedial Purpose as a Justification for Affirmative Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B. The Diversity Rationale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C. The Arguments Against Affirmative Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . V. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I. INTRODUCTION The blockbuster race discrimination cases in recent years have all involved affirmative action and reverse discrimination. The Supreme Court has made it clear that race classifications, whether benign or invidious, will trigger rigid strict scrutiny analysis, which requires that the government prove its program is narrowly tailored to serve a compelling interest. In 2003, the Court, in Gratz v. Bollinger,1 ruled that while student diversity in educational institutions may be a compelling interest, an affirmative action program...
Words: 19597 - Pages: 79
...Court Systems and Jurisdiction—Supreme Court Sides With Wal-Mart Question 1 The processes that this case has to go through to get to the Supreme Court are as follows: The plaintiff has to file a document at the clerk of the court stating the reason plaintiff is suing defendant and actions the court should take, then a copy of this complaint and summons are delivered to the defendant. The defendant will now file an answer to agree or disagree with the complaint, information about the case is exchange between both parties and the case will be tried before a Judge or Jury. The judge makes decision or gives the jury verdict and the losing party may accept or appeal the lower court decision at a higher court. Appeals Court reviews the report of the lower court and affirms reverse or remands the case back to lower court. The plaintiffs were not happy about the ruling of the Appeal Court so she files a petition with Supreme Court to review decision of lower court records. Supreme Court decided to hear the case, listing to both parties’ attorneys, looked at the evidences presented, and make their judgment in favor of Wal-Mart. Question 2 Majority opinion can be said to be an opinion or conclusion agreed to by all the presiding judges over a case. The ruling of the Supreme Court Justices over Wal-Mart case can be said to be majority opinion, “writing for the five-member court majority, Justice A. Scalia said that in order to sue as a single class, the women would have...
Words: 641 - Pages: 3
