In today’s challenging economic climate, workforce reductions are becoming more commonplace as corporate management strives to reduce costs to remain economically viable. The decision to undertake a workforce reduction is not made lightly. Evaluating the contributions of employees and determining if their skills and competencies fit into a down-sized workforce environment present multiple legal and emotional challenges for an organization. Using objective measures to determine which employees will be eliminated is critical. The online simulation, Legal Issues in Reduction of Workforce, presents the complexities regarding layoffs and the possible risk of discrimination claims against a fictitious company, FastServe, Inc. (Phoenix 2008). This paper will examine each of the candidates considered for termination and the key concepts of employment law which affect his or her employment status, explain the extenuating circumstances that affect the termination decision, describe management’s obligation under the agency principle to act in the best interests of the organization, and balance the legal risk of terminating individuals from a protected class against the business risk of losing valuable talent.
The simulation presents five candidates for termination under the company’s down-sizing program. These individuals present unique employment law issues which must be considered in the process of making a determination as to whom will be released and who will remain with the company. The first individual is Carl Haimes. Carl is a 34-year old white male working as a Qualified Systems Analyst; his job responsibilities consist of maintenance of computer systems and he has an above average record of performance and productivity. Recently Carl experienced harassment from a coworker because of his sexual preference. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not specifically address the issue of discrimination against employees because of their sexual orientation...