As a human resource professional, you may be involved in situations that suggest disparate treatment based on religious, racial, or national origin. Review the following two scenarios:

Scenario One: Your company is planning its annual Christmas party and has, as usual, sent out an announcement of the date and the event, to all employees in the now-global company. An employee from the recently acquired company in the Middle East, who has relocated to the corporate headquarters, has contacted Human Resources to express concern about the impending event. She has noted that the announcement appears to ignore other religions beyond Christianity and feels that she, and perhaps others, have been ignored and/or excluded, explaining that there are many religious celebrations at this time of year in addition to Christmas.

Scenario Two: The manager of Human Resources, who supports the Marketing Department, has been contacted by an employee who has expressed the following: As a member of a marketing team where new clients are assigned equally among team members, this employee feels that he is being skipped over, and new clients are being assigned to others based on fit, which in his case, he perceives, is related to racial origin, i.e., Caucasian clients are being assigned to Caucasian team members, clients of color are being aligned with team members of color, etc. The employee has expressed his intention of filing a formal complaint and is seeking guidance and support from the Human Resources manager responsible for this department.

To complete this Assignment, choose one of the scenarios, review the Learning Resources for this week and other resources you have found in the Walden Library or online, and respond to the following bullets in a 2- to 3-page paper.

Explain the investigation process (you do not have to outline an entire investigation).

As an HR manager, identify the first three steps you recommend the HR team take to begin to investigate this scenario.

Explain how the steps you are recommending are designed to protect the employees involved, while also protecting the organization from liability from the situation.