1. Issue: (What specific legal questions does this case or situation raise? What
ID: 362992 • Letter: 1
Question
1. Issue:(What specific legal questions does this case or situation raise? What more general legal questions does this case or situation raise? As an easy rule of them remember to start your issue using the term ‘whether.’) Note there may be more than one issue in any given case or situation.
2. Facts: (The facts pertain to the circumstances that led to the plaintiff suing or threatening to sue the defendant and there are always two sides to every situation)
a. Identify facts FOR issue :
b. Identify facts AGAINST issue:
3. Identify relevant laws and regulations: (Determine which laws and regulations apply to the situation. As we studied in week 1 laws come from different sources be it federal, state or local, regulatory, statute or case law. Begin by determining the source of the law and then identify the law itself.
4. Decision/Holding: (How did the court or the decision making body answer the issue? Remember your holding should directly answer the issue in either the affirmative or negative. For example, if the issue is whether the plaintiff ran the stop sign and hit the defendant’s car injuring the defendant, your holding; if in the affirmative, would be ‘the plaintiff ran the stop sign and hit the defendant’s car injuring the defendant. Note, that for the team project in particular a decision may not have been reached by the court. In that instance you will need to provide your opinion on the ultimate outcome given your knowledge of the facts, issue and law.)
5. Rationale: (How did the court, if a case, reach its decision? (If a fact scenario, how did the deciding party reach its decision? If the case or fact scenario is still pending, state your opinion as to how the court or decision-making body reached its decision. What facts and law did it rely upon and did the fact apply or fail to apply to the law?)
6. Based upon this evaluation, what is your opinion? (How could the situation have been avoided? Be specific as to the steps the defendants could have taken to avoid the issues.)
7. If you are a manager tasked to tackle this issue, what would you recommend? (What recommendations would you make to ensure this situation does not happen in the future? Be specific and state the actual corporate policies you would implement to avoid any problems of this nature occurring at your company.)
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Hypothetical Scenario:
Franklin Thomas is a 38 year-old full-time marketing employee at Your Health, Inc., a supplement and nutrition company headquartered in Denver, Colorado, with 50 employees. He works in a group of 10 marketers, and is overseen by his supervisor, Ms. Jamie Pearson. The team is made up of both male and female employees, and there is a collegial atmosphere, including some off-color humor. Some of it makes Mr. Thomas uncomfortable, but he likes his job so he tries to deal with it. On April 26, 2017, Ms. Pearson approached Mr. Thomas while he was working at his station and physically groped Mr. Thomas by slapping him on the buttocks and saying “Good work!” and that she would “reward” him later with a wink. As she walked away, she did and said the same thing to another worker, Ms. Karen Wang. Mr. Thomas reported this incident to the head of Human Resources Department, Katie Mullen. According to the report, Mr. Thomas stated that Ms. Pearson constantly made sexual remarks toward him, and that it has been occurring over a period of time. However, the incident that occurred on April 26, 2017 reached a point where the harassment became completely intolerable. Mr. Thomas was distraught with this scenario and he demanded that something must be done about Jamie Pearson. Katie Mullen has been working as the head of Human Resources Department for a year and ordered an investigation.
In May 2017, the Human Resources Department’s investigation found that Jamie Pearson had been making suggestive remarks to several employees, both male and female, ranging from her close proximity colleagues to the after-hours janitorial staff. Mr. Thomas, however, was the only one who reported it. According to the investigation, most of the other employees just laughed it off. Ms. Pearson tried to minimize her actions as the way she jokes around, and said she was sorry if she offended anyone. She promised that her behavior would change with respect to Mr. Thomas. And, it did change – in every way. Ms. Pearson stopped making suggestive remarks to Mr. Thomas, but she also stopped assigning him the more lucrative and interesting clients. His workload decreased substantially. She stopped inviting him to client presentations, and even stopped inviting him to lunch with all of the other members of the marketing department.
In July 2017, Mr. Thomas confronted Ms. Pearson about the decrease in his work responsibilities and Ms. Pearson replied, “Look, I like you Frank, but you’re just not a team player.” The next day, Mr. Thomas met with the company’s Chief Operating Officer, Ms. Lucy Day, and told her that he felt that she was being treated unfairly. Ms. Day responded that she wasn’t going to micromanage how the marketing department operated, especially considering the company’s recent successes. Ms. Day told Mr. Thomas that if there is a problem between him and Ms. Pearson, it was his responsibility to fix it.
The next day, Mr. Thomas contacted a lawyer to discuss what legal rights he might have, if any. Does Mr. Thomas have a case based on the way the company has treated him? Why or why not?
Explanation / Answer
first thing, there is nothing to do with a lawyer and court cases. the best alternative is directly speak with Ms. Pearson about the mistake hid did and say apology. speak openly with her and minimize the gaps between these two people. once they did it, the relation will go normally i think.
other wise, when he comes to konw that there is unfair treatment in the team by the manager, he should report the same to his immediate boss about the unfair treatment. provide all the proofs for this to the manager, and seek their support in this issue. definitely, the HR team or immediate superior will helps him to come out the problem.
when there are more workers, the chances of conflicts and disputes are common. but if they are in constructive and issue based, they are good for organization. if they are presonalized and issues of personal agendas, will destruct the organization.
in the given case, Ms. Pearson do not practice like this. if she thinks that she is looking for revenge, it is a selfish way, and a boss should not do and encourage these kind of issues. for suppose in a family there are 2 child, where one is treated fairly and the other is unfairly. what about the position of second one, to whom this one approach and get solution for the problem.
yes, if he wants to file a case against Ms. Pearson, he can filed with all proofs. but it can not be win at the end, because he is somework and doing the same. if he does not allow to the premises of office, and not allow him join with other workers and any unfair practices, then he may sue it and file a case.
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