case

Determining Discrimination

"Although discrimination still occurs in society today, the legal system in the United States has taken several steps to limit and prevent the number of instances in which this occurs. First, the legal system provides protection for individuals who have experienced disparate treatment, or have been dealt with differently in selection or employment settings due to their demographic characteristics. Second, laws against disparate impact, or unintentionally having hiring practices that affect members of a protected group, have been enacted to protect minorities. A four-fifths or standard deviation rule is used to determine if adverse impact has taken place. Lastly, reasonable accommodation has been emphasized by the legal system in making facilities accessible to individuals with disabilities or observing religious practices.

In this exercise, please read the mini-case and answer the questions that follow.

Gloria Santiago, a Latin American woman, overheard two of her male co-workers boasting about the promotions they had just received to district sales managers. When Gloria complained to her boss about not receiving the same promotion, he told her the men were among the company's top salespeople and the company had to offer them a higher position to keep them from joining one of the company's competitors. Gloria was not satisfied with this response as she had been working hard all year to reach high sales figures. She decided to check the archival data the company stored on each employee's sales. She discovered that although one of the men had sold more than she had, Gloria actually had almost exactly the same sales numbers as the other salesman. She went back to her boss to reveal her findings and he told her that since most of the customers were male, he felt as though having men in the district sales manager positions was necessary because it would help build rapport and enhance sales in those areas. After hearing this news, Gloria listed several instances of women in district sales manager positions who had succeeded despite serving mostly a male clientele."

Q4. Gloria has the burden of proving the manager has committed an illegal act. She can "do this" by demonstrating all of the followingexcept (explain in a para or two why your answer is correct)

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• that someone filled the position with similar qualifications.
• that she was qualified for the promotion.
• that she belongs to the Latino American community which is a protected group.
• that she was rejected for the promotion despite her qualifications.
• that some filled the position with lower qualifications.

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