Cultural Diversity in America - Essay Example

? Cultural Diversity in America No: Cultural Diversity in America Brief Before discussing the caseof Maria and Alex, it is necessary to view the American Law Enforcement Agency and the Employment Law. Here is the case example of a British Citizen whose case was fought and won Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of United States of America (EEOC). The employee had lost her job due to discriminatory attitude of the employer. It was proved in the cited case that the termination of job of a Zimbabwean origin employee was based on race, color and retaliatory behavior of the employer. Case Example The under reference case relates to a British citizen who was born in Zimbabwe, hired by a cosmetic manufacturing company on a paid internship to introduce their products telephonically. When she arrived at her place of work, she was informed by the employer that they were expecting a white color woman instead of black. Due to color discrimination, she was not given any assignment by her superiors. The other two whites attached with the same project, given ample opportunities to grow and boost up career. Due to indifferent attitude of her supervisor, based on race and color, she raised her voice which led her dismissal from the employment. In accordance with Civil Rights Act of 1964, discrimination in employment on the basis of race and color is prohibited. On the basis of mentioned discriminations, the competent court of law ordered the defendant northwest company to pay compensation to the British Citizen amounting to USD 30000. Further, the defendant company will undertake to introduce antidiscrimination policy and procedure within their work place and train the staff about the anti-discriminatory attitude (Naylor, 1997). According to law in force, 15 or more than 15 employees are covered against the race and color discrimination from the employer with regard to hiring, firing, remuneration, promotions or any other terms and conditions of the employment. In order to discourage race and color discrimination at work, aggrieved employees have the right to file complaint against the discriminatory attitude of the employers within specified period of time. It is a general impression that black employees are mistreated by the employer as compared to white employees. It’s not true. Recently white employees complained favorable treatment of the employers at the expense of black employees (Naylor, 1999). Court Rulings Court rulings through the years make the company responsible to introduce anti-discriminatory policies and procedures to deal with the issues of discrimination caused by the race, color, origin and religion at the time of employment of individuals. According to the rulings, if any organization is found to be involved in discriminatory practices regarding the pre-employment process (screening or testing) or the employer asks unacceptable questions during the course of interview of employee, the organization will be addressed according to law. It is worth mentioning here that if a lesser qualified white is hired over the highly qualified black, and then court will consider that a symbol of racial discrimination since visible difference in qualifications will be treated as the act racial discrimination by the court of law (Naylor, 1999). Case in Point Maria is a Latino woman who faced a racial discrimination at the workplace. She was deprived of promotion. Alex was promoted at work place said by woman. According to the woman, Alex was a fast learner and good performer. It is a matter of fact that the promotee in question is less qualified and less experienced as compared to Maria. It is another thing that she did not prove herself a good performer and quick learner. The apparent reasons for not being promoted to Maria are a) her pinching accent and b) feminine gender. Therefore, cited reasons are enough to prove discrimination on the part of her manager. Possible solution At the very first step, the employer should introduce “Pay for Performance Policy” in order to ensure meritocracy in the organization and to shun discriminatory attitude with the employees by the managers and the decision makers in raising perks and the promotions of the employees who deserve it. Further, selection should be transparent. To make it transparent, the employer should outsource selection process through a third party contract. The outside agency meant for the job should be prestigious and got the required experience to accomplish the assigned tasks. Moreover, the selected agency enjoys good reputation in selecting and recommending the right candidate for the right job to Human Resource Department of concerned organization. To address the issue of Maria and the similar issues in future, company should give right of an appeal to its employees against the decision of the managers and the decision makers by forming a competent committee to decide the matter. This would be instrumental in right sizing the court cases filed by the employees against the employers for a relief from a competent court of jurisdiction. The organization should have a competent committee. Maria would not refer the matter to the competent court of law for compensation and the money spent on litigation could have been saved. Another possible solution is that the top managers should have the information on the importance of consistency at place of work. Equality means that the management should consider all employees equally irrespective of gender and cultural background. The managers should educate their workers on the cultural diversity, if there is a need of education (Phan and Hynes, 2005). In any event of discrimination, the organization should not respond to the dynamics of cultural diversity. Litigation is a dispute resolution process that relies on court proceedings. Civil Rights Act 1964 In the modern economies, discrimination is regarded as a serious offense. Therefore, Maria can sue her employer under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for remedy. Today’s business environment is in favor of promoting fair and healthy practices at work place. The discriminatory attitude of the employer lowers the proficiency of the employees which has a direct impact on the progress and prosperity of a company. It is an admitted fact that demoralized employees are unable to perform well. Further, the image of the organization will be ruined that is considered to be involved in practicing discrimination. If employee wins the case against the employer, the employer has to pay substantial amount as compensation to the employee that is directly awarded by the competent court of law. Remedial Measures It is the moral and legal duty of an employer to take necessary measures in order to ensure that the employment cycle are free from all discriminations. Employment decisions should be based on merits. To discourage discrimination in any form, managers and decision makers should be well versed with the anti-discriminatory policies and procedures. The company should conduct training for their mangers and decision makers so that the company may not face the embarrassing situation in the court of law. The trainer should focus on the following points a) be legitimate while making employment decisions b) avoid suppositions c) be consistent with all employees d) avoid favoritism or nepotism e) be careful in communication f) use objective criteria for employment decisions g) prompt in attending discriminatory complaints h) no retaliatory remarks by the managers or supervisors i) refrain from improper conduct. The aforesaid management tiers must be trained not to engage in retaliation with the employees since it is not acceptable under the law a) discrimination or harassment b) threat to file charge of discrimination c) opposing discriminatory practices d) reasonable accommodation to live in e) testifying witness in an investigation and subsequent court proceedings. Non-discriminatory Policy As a dire need to run the affairs of the company, it is incumbent upon the management to develop and introduce non-discriminatory policies and procedures duly signed by the employees in token of having read and understood the contents by them. It may bring radical changes in terms of non-discriminatory environment at work place. Hence, the non-discriminatory policy and procedure should be clear, easily understandable and transparent (Parrillo, 2009). The policy and procedure should be acknowledged by each employee of the organization so that they should know their rights entrusted to them by the cited act, their employers and the responsibilities assigned by the employers. To make it more effective, there should be a complaint department / division in each company according to its size which should address the under mentioned elements a) clear explanation of objectionable conduct b) protection against retaliation from complaining employees c) clearly understandable and easily accessible complaint procedure d) ensure confidentiality of the secrecy to the best possible extent e) effective investigative process and f) assurance of prompt and appropriate corrective measures. Prompt & Effective Action An employer should take prompt and appropriate remedial measures to stop discrimination. However, complaining employee has no right to determine what appropriate action will be taken into account. Furthermore, in order to avoid claims of retaliation, the employee should not transfer to some other place or change his or her job. The threat of retaliation in the broader spectrum, suits the employee since it addresses the employer’s tolerance level, anti-discriminatory and anti-retaliatory policy throughout the process. Conclusion: From the above discussions, it seems that Cultural diversity is an essential part of corporate governance. The management should have clear documentation of the employee performance, while, taking a decision whether to raise salaries or the posts of the employees. The management should judge their performance purely on merit, free from the discrimination of race and color. References Naylor, Larry L. (1997). Cultural Diversity in the United States. Greenwood Publishing Group, USA. Phan, Peter C. and Hynes, Diana. (2005). Sheed & Ward: Catholic Studies: May Faces One Church: Cultural Diversity and the American Catholic Experience. Rowman and Littlefield Publications, USA. Parrillo, Vincent N. (2009). Diversity in America. 3rd ed. Pine Forge Press, USA. Naylor, Larry L. (1999). Problems and Issues of Diversity in the United States. Greenwood Publishing Group, USA. Read More