Legal_Risk_and_Opportunity

Legal Risk and Opportunity in Employment Verndell Morgan LAW/531 August 30, 2010 Denise Brown Legal Risk and Opportunity in Employment NewsCorp Legal Encounter 1 In the first case, NewsCorp is liable to Pat for compensation for the expenses he paid to move to the new position. The company did not follow the terms agreed upon in the contract by not notifying Pat when his performance became unsatisfactory. Instead he was given a 30 day notice that he would be terminated. This action by NewsCorp has the potential to be discrimination, if Pat is part of the protected class under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Pat held an unpopular position at a school board meeting and feels is why he is being terminated. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits employers from discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin. Additionally, if the discrimination was found to be intentional, the court can order the company to pay punitive damages to Pat .(Cheeseman, 2010) NewsCorp Legal Encounter 2 In the second legal encounter, NewsCorp’s liability is to ensure it has a sexual harassment policy that is passed down to all the employees. Ensuring the employees know the policy and even document them understanding would help NewsCorp to not be held liable for the supervisor’s actions. In two Supreme Court cases, Faragher v. City of Boca and; Raton Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth, a group of females brought a suit against their employers, complaining of sexual harassment that led to them quitting their jobs. The first case, the employer was held liable for the employees’ conduct because it did not disseminate a sexual harassment policy. The second case, the employer was not found liable for the actions of its employees because the company did have a sexual harassment policy in place as well as a complaint system the female did not use. The Supreme Court held an employer may make an affirmative defense against liability if ;1) if the employer took reasonable actions to prevent or correct sexual harassment behavior, and 2) If the employee harassed did not use any of the corrective opportunities the employer has provided. In the area of the restriction on females working in a certain part of the factory, if Paula should try to bring a claim against the company for this, NewsCorp can use the defense of a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ).Since the policy is justifiable and a necessity of business. This was a ruling from a district court when several females felt discriminated against due to the policy that female workers couldn’t work around lead because of its effects on the fetus. The court ruled that under the BFOQ, an employer can discriminate against a protected class. (Cheeseman, 2010) Legal Encounter 3 In this legal issue, NewsCorp may be in violation of OSHA. The environment Paul is required to work in is a known safety hazard. One employee has already been killed working on the machine in the tight space. NewsCorp did try to move it, but did not because of a building support beam. Irregardless of the support beam being in the way, NewsCorp should have found another location or respected Paul’s wishes to not work on the machine in the closed space. Under OSHA, an employer is required to provide a work environment free from known hazards that are known to cause serious injury or death to an employee. OSHA does have specific standards for the location of machinery. (Cheeseman, 2010) Just because the safety manager deemed it safe does not mean it is in compliance with OSHA. If found liable, NewsCorp, will be cited, requiring the deficiency to be corrected. If Paul does file an OSHA claim, by law he cannot sue the company, unless the injuries were done intentionally. Then he can sue the company and receive damages. In this case, it seems that NewsCorp is intentionally causing the damages to Paul. He has asked to quit working on the machine in the tight space, but NewsCorp says it is a safe working condition, even though there has been one worker killed. Reference Cheeseman, H. R. (2010). Chapter 31: Employment, Worker Protection, and Immigration Laws, and Chapter 33: Equal Opportunity in Employment Business Law. Legal Environment, Online Commerce, Business Ethics, and International Issues, Seventh Edition (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.