Legal Risk and Opportunity in Employment
Linda Grier-Wade
University of Phoenix
Legal Risk and Opportunity in Employment
Legal Encounter One
Pat Grey, a highly qualified candidate for a position that he was recruited for wasoffered an upper management job by Newcorp in Vermont.
After three months of employment, Pat was called into the office by his supervisor and was verbally told that his performance with NewCorp was not working out. Pat was informed that he would be discharged with 30 days severance.
However, when Pat was first hired with NewCorp he received a copy of NewCorp’s Personnel Manual which outlined the policy and process for employees who had performance issues. Pat did sign an acceptance letter explaining NewCorp’s at-will discharge policy, but Pat did not believe this policy was in alignment with his sudden performance issue and discharge of employment.
Within the community, a separate incident had taken place in which Pat voiced his opinion regarding the sports funds and the allocation of these funds. Pat contributes this incident to senior management to discharge him from the organization.
Legal Encounter Two
Paula and Sam were previously romantically involved. The relationship ended with bitterness and retaliation toward each other and has carried over into the workplace daily. Paula and Sam’s case is a form of sexual harassment between two individuals in the workplace with a first line manager and subordinate. If the incident is not resolved in a legal and ethical manner, the image of the employer and employee relationship on the job will have no respect.
NewCorp is liable for allowing sexual harassment to occur on-the-job and Paula has the right to file a complaint with human resources or file a suit against NewCorp. Jennings (2006) stated, “Sexual harassment law demands that executives not only avoid inappropriate words and actions, but also take seriously complaints of harassment by their colleagues, even...