Following your reading for the week, your class discussion will focus on aspects of employee selection. Review and choose from the scenarios presented in the lesson's Activities and Assessments under "legally selecting employees".

Consult the reading and/or additional research you feel is relevant and approach the topic from the perspective of a hiring manager or legal adviser. Read the details of the scenario and formulate your opinion based on thequestions asked.You will justify a determination of the correct course of action in the given scenario. Incorporate answering the questions in each segment within your justification.

Note: Each scenario should be addressed in the discussion. If you are posting and a topic is not addressed, you should discuss that topic. Try to keep the attention evenly distributed, meaning 8 students in the class will have each of the 4 scenarios presented twice.

Employment Decisions and Laws

Review the following scenarios presented by Barth (2012), select one, and use as the basis of your discussion for week four. See forum details for further instruction. Ms Wong and the Golden Dragon Ms. Wong is the owner and manager of the Golden Dragon oriental restaurant. The restaurant is large, inexpensive, and enjoys an excellent reputation. Business is good, and the restaurant serves a diverse clientele. Ms. Wong places a classified ad for a table busser in the employment section of her local newspaper. The response is better than expected but Ms. Wong is able to narrow the field to two possible candidates. The first of the two is the same ethnic background as Ms. Wong, most of the staff, and of the restaurant theme and cuisine. The second candidate is Danielle Hidalgo, the daughter of a Mexican citizen and an American citizen. Ms. Hidalgo was born and raised in the United States. While both candidates are pleasant, Ms. Wong offers the position to the candidate who matches the background of the restaurant and Ms. Wong. Her rationale is that, since both candidates are equal in ability, she has a right to select the candidate she feels will best suit her business. Ms. Wong feels diners will expect to see Asian servers and bussers. No one was discriminated against, she maintains, because Ms. Hidalgo was not denied a job on the basis of race, but rather on the basis of what was best for business. Ms. Wong simply selected her preference from among two equal candidates. Ms. Wong communicates her decision to Ms. Hidalgo. Ms. Hidalgo maintains that she was not selected because of her Hispanic ethnic background. She threatens to file a charge with the EEOC unless she is offered employment.

1. Do you think Ms. Hidalgo was denied the position because of her ethnicity? 2. In the situation described here, does Ms. Wong have the right to consider ethnicity as a bona fide occupational qualification/ Alex Bustamante and A.A. Alex Bustamante is applying for the position of executive chef overseeing food service at the hospital where you serve as director of human resources. The hospital has more than 800 beds and the meal service offered to patients and visitors alike is extensive. Patients in this facility are extremely ill and dietary concerns are an important consideration because of theirweakened condition. While reviewing Mr. Bustamante's work history with him during an interview, he states that he was let go from his two previous positions for "excessive absence." When you inquire as to the cause of his excessive absence, Mr. Bustamante voluntarily explains it was due to the effects of alcoholism. He has struggled with alcoholism for over ten years but is currently undergoing weekend treatment and attending meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). He stresses that he never drank while at work but sometimes missed work because he overslept or was too hung over to go in. His past employers will neither confirm nor deny Mr. Bustamante's problem. Both simply state that he had worked for them as an executive chef and that he was no longer employed by their organizations. Based on his education and experience, Mr. Bustamante is clearly the most skilled candidate for the vacant executive chef's position; however, his ability to overcome his dependence on alcohol is, in your opinion, clearly questionable based on his life history. Your recommendation on Mr. Bustamante's hiring will likely be accepted by the manager of dietary services.

1. Is Mr. Bustamante protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)? 2. If Mr. Bustamante were hired but needed three days off per week to undergo treatment, would you grant that accommodation? Under what circumstances? 3. How do the rights of Mr. Bustamante and the concept of negligent hiring mesh in this instance?

Naomi Yip and Clubs International Naomi Yip is the sous chef at one of the city clubs managed by Clubs International, a company that specializes in the operation of golf, city, and other private clubs. You are advising Clubs International HR executive. Naomi has been with the organization for five years and is considered one of the company's best and brightest culinary artists. Chef Hayhoe is the executive chef at the club where Naomi currently works and is her immediate supervisor. Naomi's previous annual evaluations have been very good and she has been designated as "ready for promotion" in her past two evaluations. In January of the current year, Naomi announces she is pregnant and her due date is in July. In March, Chef Hayhoe's evaluation of Chef Yip stated he does not recommend her for promotion to executive chef, Naomi's next step up, citing, "the extraordinary demands on time placed on an executive chef within the Clubs International organization," which he claims Naomi will be unable to meet. Chef Hayhoe also referencesconversations he has overheard where she declared, "I'm looking forward to spending as much time as possible with my baby." If promoted, Chef Yip would be assigned to a new and lucrative account, the Hawk Hollow Golf Club.

1. Do you feel Chef Hayhoe's evaluation of Naomi is valid? 2. Based on Chef Hayhoe's recommendation, would you recommend Naomi for the executive chef's position at the new account? 3. How would you respond if the new client objected to the appointment of Naomi based on her pregnancy?

Karl Schurr and Resorts International Hotel [Nexis Uni link] Schurr is a white male who worked on a part-time basis as a light and sound technician for Resorts International Hotel, a New Jersey casino and hotel. A full-time position became available and Schurr applied. He was one of five applicants for the position. Resorts narrowed down the pool to Schurr and one other candidate, Ronald Boykin, a black male. Both candidates were regarded as equally qualified by Resorts. At the time, a New Jersey law was in effect requiring all casino license holders to take affirmative action measures to ensure equal employment opportunities. In short, the regulations required the casinos in New Jersey to employee a certain percentage of women and minorities in specific job categories throughout the casino organization. The job was in the technician category. Under the regulations, 25 percent of Resorts technicians were to be minorities. At the time Schurr and Boykin applied, only 22.25 percent of the technicians working for Resorts were minorities. In an attempt to comply with state law and state casino regulations, the management for Resorts hired Boykin over Schurr on the basis of race. Bill Stevenson, the director of show operations and stage manager for Resorts, stated he was obligated to pick the equally qualified minority candidate in order to put Resorts in line with state employment goals. Schurr filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for discrimination on the basis of race and sued Resorts for a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 1. What was the decision of the court? The appellate court? 2. Do you agree with the decision? Why or why not?