•CHAPTER ONE
•CHAPTER TWO
•CHAPTER THREE
•CHAPTER FOUR
•CHAPTER FIVE
•CHAPTER SIX
Book Summary: Chapter One
Discusses the various laws which protect employees from unfair treatment by their employer, such as:
1. Americans with Disabilities Act
2. Equal Pay Act
3. Sexual Harassment
4. Retaliation
5. Age Discrimination
6. Religious Discrimination
7. Racial Discrimination
8. Family Medical Leave Act
Discrimination and harassment reveal themselves in many ways. They can be based on age, race, color, marital status, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, or religion. The following examples are actual cases of discrimination by an employer:
I. When an employee was hired by a company, he clearly told them that he could not work on his Sabbath. When the workload at the company began to grow, the company had to continue production on eight sundays a year. The employee refused to work on Sunday and was fired after four refusals. The Court said that the law anticipates that some employees will absolutely refuse to work on their Sabbath and that an employer is required to offer some sort of accommodation to the employee.
II. A registered nurse with superior qualifications was denied a promotion in favor of another woman who was involved in an intimate relationship with the chief medical officer where she was employed.
III. A fifty-two year old employee was hired in 1977 and fired in 1986, a few weeks before his pension could vest, which caused him to loose his accrued benefits.
IV. A computer operator suffered from dyslexia. The company doctor recommended changes in the workplace, such as adjusting furniture to bring the computer screen closer to the operator's eyes and providing a different type of chair. The supervisor refused to make the modifications.
V. An African-American engineer was taunted by co-workers and supervisors with repeated racial comments, slurs and jokes, and shown cartoons displaying African-Americans in a negative fashion. Although the engineer repeatedly complained to management, management failed to take any corrective action.
VI. A waitress informed her employer that she was pregnant. When the waitress provided a note from her doctor saying that she was able to "work until further notice", the employer said that he, and not her doctor, would decide whether or not she could work. The employer then fired the waitress because she "got pregnant and could not perform her duties."
VII. A Police Officer became H.I.V. positive and informed his employer that he needed to take two days off from work every month to receive medical treatment. After the second month, the employer refused to give the officer the requested time off. When the officer took the time off anyway, he was fired.
VIII. A librarian of Asian (Indian) national origin was not reappointed for a second term because her employer said her "heavy accent and speech patters and grammar problems prevented effective communication."
IX. An athletic gym employed male employees for its male facilities and female employees for its female facilities, however, they paid their male employees 7.5% of gross sales memberships to men and only paid their female employees 5% of gross sales memberships to females.
X. An employer required its female lobby attendant to wear a uniform which revealed her thighs and a portion of her buttocks. This uniform caused her to be subjected to numerous sexual propositions and comments from people walking through the lobby.
Copyright © 2000 Leo Terrell Enterprises
