Question

Instructions: Write a thread that discusses the situation. Your thread must consist of at least 3 paragraphs. You must summarize the key elements in the case. What legal statute(s) apply to the case? What issue(s) must the court decide in the case? If you were the judge, how would you rule? Did the employer discriminate unlawfully? Why or why not?

The 6 major federal laws that are relevant are Title VII of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 as amended by the Equal Employment Opportunities Act of 1972, the Civil Rights Act of 1991, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Case:
Thelma Jones had worked at a large public accounting firm for five years when the partners proposed her as a candidate for partnership. Of the 662 partners in the firm, seven were women. Of the 88 persons proposed that year, Jones was the only woman. Forty-seven were admitted to partnership, 21 were rejected, and 20, including Jones, were held for "reconsideration". Thirteen of the 32 pertners who submitted comments on Jones's performance supported her candidacy, three recommended holding her application, either stated that they had insufficient knowledge to comment, and eight recommended denial. While the partners praised her outstanding performance, both supporters and opponents of her candidacy indicated that she was sometime overly aggressive, unduly harsh, difficult to work with, and impatient with staff. One partner described her as "macho". In a meeting with a senior partner about her candidacy, she was told that, to improve her chances for partnership, she should "walk more femininely, talk for femininely, dress for femininely, wear make-up, style her hair, and wear jewelry." When the partners refused to reconsider her candidacy the following year, she sued the firm, charging sex discrimination.

Answer 1

The case describes about the gender discriminatory hiring practices exercised by the public accounting firm and how Thelma Jones had fallen a victim of the gender discrimination. The practice followed by the firm by recruiting only seven women partners out of the 662 partners in the firm shows the depth of discrimination. The comments made by the senior members on Thelma to improve her chances for partnership do not constitute workplace ethics and can be considered as sexual harassment in workplace as verbal comments that make the workplace hostile can be considered as harassment. As 13 members have supported Thelma’s candidacy over the eight members who recommended denial, Thelma should have been selected if the firm do not encourage sex discrimination.

The legal statute that applies to this case includes the Title VII of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 as amended by the Equal Employment Opportunities Act of 1972 and the Civil Rights Act of 1991. Discrimination based on sex is prohibited under the Title VII of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and the Equal Employment Opportunities Act of 1972 give authority for the Equal Employment opportunity Commission to sue on federal courts when there is reasonable cause to believe the chances of employment discrimination based on sex, race, color, religion and national origin. Title VII also prohibit sexual harassment in workplace and any kind of physical or verbal conduct that made the workplace hostile would come under sexual harassment. The Civil rights act of 1991 provide the employer an opportunity to escape from liability by proving that the decisions related to employment were taken as based on certain business justifications that led o desperate impact. The court needs to decide whether sexual discrimination happened while denying Thelma’s candidacy, the chances of sexual harassment and also the employer justifications on recruiting more male partners.

If I were the judge I would rule in favor of Thelma Jones. The facts based on the previous employment history shows that the public accounting firm has always preferred to recruit male partners and offered partnership to female partners not based on job performance, but based on personal factors. The method of recruitment for male and female employees seems to be quite different from each other as partners even look on the physical features of women candidate before making the decision. Thelma is denied employment even after support from the partners and good job performance and hence she is clearly a victim of sex discrimination under Title VII. The comments made by the senior partners obviously include hostile content and hence they should be charged with sexual harassment under Title VII. The employers may come up with justifications based on the job responsibilities, skills required to perform the job etc, but the data is so significant to show the evidence for sexual discrimination. Hence the employer has discriminated unlawfully against Thelma and I would rule against the employer.