Assignment 2: Human Rights in the Workplace

Shayre Inc. is a small manufacturing company in Midtown Ontario. Shayre has been around for over seventy five years. The company has three divisions, Sales, Administration, and Production.

Production is the hub of the operation. There are forty people employed in the Production Division; thirty eight line staff, one Foreperson (Jim), and one Production Manager (Fred).

The production work is extremely labour intensive. It's hard physical work.

Sue is the General Office Manager, located in the Administration Division. One of Sue's responsibilities is for human resources activities for the company. However she also oversees the accounting and general office functions. Her role is very diverse.

Sue has noticed a steady decline in sales over the past five years. Frankly, she is worried about the future of Shayre Inc. The company is set in the "old ways of doing things" and their processes and equipment have not been modernized. She has expressed her concerns to the executives of the organization. They are looking closely at new technology and processes, and are developing a new business model in order to remain competitive.

Another of Sue's concerns is the culture of the workforce in the Production Division. She recently attended a seminar on diversity management and realizes that the workforce in the Production Division is old school and set in their ways. It will be difficult to implement new processes and technology without addressing the current culture.

The workforce make up of the Production Division can best be described as rough, tough, and hard working. They work hard and play hard. There are:

• Thirty seven males, all between the ages of 45 and 64.
• One female, Gwen, age 52.

Two of the older workers in the Production Division are retiring. Sue decides that the next few hires should include younger employees, and female employees. This mix will allow for a cultural shift and will better adapt to new methods of operation and technology.

With this in mind, Sue changes the company's employment application form to include two new questions:

1. Date of Birth: ___________________
2. Sex : Male ________ Female ____________

Through the next hiring process, Sue hires two new employees:

• Allison - female, age 24
• Brad - male, age 22

Both seem perfectly suited for the job. The company set up their own physical testing, including a physical agility test that included push-ups, sit-ups and chin-ups, which both candidates passed, proving that they should be able to handle the physical elements of the job.

At the beginning of their first day on the job, Sue took Allison and Brad down to meet Jim and Fred. Jim then put them to work.

Allison and Brad, being the two new employees, worked well together, and watched out for each other. They quickly developed a solid, respectful, co-worker relationship.

However, the same could not be said for the relationship developing between Allison/Brad, and the rest of the workforce.

Over the first two weeks, the following occurred:

Given the physical nature of the position, a shower and change room was provided for the workers. At the end of her second shift, Allison asked Jim whether there was a separate facility for women. Jim laughed and said "no, just where do you think the company would find money for that". Jim mentioned this to a few of the male employees, and the next time Allison walked by those employees one of them said "Come on honey, you can shower with us". Everyone, including Jim, thought it was hilarious. Allison thought that she might get some sympathy from Gwen, so she approached Gwen and said "Gwen, I'd like to keep this between you and me, but aren't you a little uncomfortable with only one shower and change facility. Don't you think that there should be a separate facility for women?". Gwen looked at her and said "Sweety, you're either going to fit in here or you're not. If you want to fit in, you better learn to be one of the boys in a real hurry". Gwen then shared their conversation with a few of the guys.

Prior to the start of a shift, a few of the guys were standing around talking. Suddenly they all burst into a fit of laughter. Brad, wanting to fit in, walked over and tried to join in the conversation. "Sounds like something's really funny" Brad said. One of the workers said "Oh, yeah, you gotta hear this; Alf here just told this hilarious joke. Tell the new guy Alf". So Alf began to repeat the joke "Two gay guys walk into a bar....". Brad stopped Alf. "Hey Alf, sorry to cut you off, but I have a brother that's gay, and I really don't want to be a part of that kind of humour, no offence". Brad walked away. Alf went to Jim and told him about the encounter. Jim said to Alf "I wonder if it's his brother that's gay or him". They had a good laugh, and couldn't wait to share it with the rest.

Allison was working at her machine one afternoon. She suddenly realized that two of her coworkers were standing behind her. She turned off her machine and turned around. The coworkers were looking at a center fold picture from a Playboy magazine. One of the coworkers said "See, I'll bet she looks just like that with no top on. The second coworker said "it's hard to tell because of the coveralls. Gwen, overhearing the conversation, wondered over and said "Let me look at that, I'm a better judge of this than you two clowns. Yup, you take her coveralls and top off, and I'll bet she looks just like that. Good eye guys". Brad also heard what was going on. He came over and said "Look, why don't you guys grow up and leave her alone. That's really inappropriate." As they went back to their work station, Gwen said (rather loudly) "Yup, Alf was right, queer as a three dollar bill".

Brad and Allison, wanting to give it one last try, approached their coworkers at the end of a shift. They told their coworkers that they really like their job and want to fit in, but that they don't appreciate the things that have been going on. They asked whether there was any way that they could just start over, and have a working relationship that works for everyone, based on dignity and respect. Mack, one of the more senior and gruffer workers said "no problem you two. If that's what you want, that's what you'll have. For the next three days, not one of the other members of the workforce acknowledged or spoke to Brad or Allison. They had to eat lunch on their own. When they asked questions about certain job tasks they were ignored. Brad almost lost a finger because no one, including Jim, would show him how to operate a piece of equipment.

Brad and Allison finally had enough. They went to Jim and complained about the behaviour that they were being exposed to. Jim's advice to them was "this is an old shop steeped in tradition. You either fit in or you don't." He turned specifically to Allison and said "we don't mind women working here, but they have to fit in. We've proven that, just look at how well Gwen gets along with everyone. It's up to you. If you don't want accept things and change, then find another job."

Brad and Allison went to Sue with their concerns. Sue advised them that, although she hired them, they now report to Jim and Fred. They need to take their concerns to them. There's nothing that she can do.

Brad and Allison went to Fred. Fred quickly stopped them and said "look, I have too many other things to worry about. If you've got a problem on the shop floor, go see Jim. Don't bother me with it".

Allison had enough. She went in to Jim's office and said that she'd have to resign if her concerns couldn't be addressed. Jim told her that he didn't care either way, since he didn't hire her in the first place. Sue did. Jim showed her where the door was. As he was escorting Allison through the shop to the exit door Jim yelled out "have a good look at her backside one more time boys, you're not going to see it again". Everyone laughed

Brad heard this and had enough as well. He resigned and left the premises.

That evening Brad and Allison met and determined whether they could do anything about what they had been experiencing.

REVIEW:

• The information provided in module 2 and 4, and
• The information provided by Ontario Human Rights Commission related to workplace harassment and discrimination through the following link: http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en

ASSIGNMENT:

1. Assuming that Brad and Allison decide to file a complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal, please comment on the following:
   1. Has discrimination and or harassment occurred? If so, what prohibited ground (s) is likely to be cited?
   2. Are there examples of both direct and indirect discrimination? What are they?
   3. Who is likely to be found to be at fault and why?
2. If you were hired as an external consultant to come in and fix this situation, what steps would you recommend to the company.

Due Date
Feb 15, 2022 11:59 PM

Attachments

Ontario Human Rights Commission |