You are the judge in the following cases. Please render a decision in each case (your decision can be in executive [short] Memo format) and include your rationale:

A) The administrator of Hapless Hospital was extremely anxious for the minority recruitment program at the hospital to succeed. He felt that a person of color would be able to develop a better rapport with minority applicants than a white person. Jim Brown, an African American personnel specialist, was working in the benefits and compensation section of the HR department at Hapless. The administrator reassigned Mr. Brown to work in the minority recruitment area. Mr. Brown did not want the job. He thought the whole assignment and its rationale was racial and expressed this to the administrator. The administrator disagreed and told Mr. Brown that his assignment was crucial to the overall organizational success of the hospital. Mr. Brown then sued Hapless.

B) Thelma Jones had worked at a large accounting firm for five years when the partners proposed her as a candidate for partnership. Of the 662 partners in the firm, seven were women. Of the 88 persons proposed for partner that year, Jones was the only woman. Forty-seven were admitted for partnership, 21 were rejected, and 20 including Jones, were held for reconsideration. Twelve of the 32 partners who submitted comments on Jones performance supported her candidacy, three recommended holding her application, eight stated that they had insufficient knowledge to comment, and nine recommended denial. While the partners praised her financial productivity and performance in getting work done, both supporters and opponents of her candidacy indicated that she was often overly aggressive, unduly harsh, difficult to work with, and impatient with staff. One partner described her as macho. In a meeting with a senior partner about her candidacy, she was told that to improve her chances for partnership she should walk more femininely, talk more femininely, dress more femininely, wear make-up, style her hair, and wear jewelry. When the partners did not repropose her candidacy the following year, Thelma Jones sued the firm.

C) Paul Martin had worked for 12 years for the Department of Transportation when he applied for a promotion to dispatcher. Martin scored 75 on the interview test. Martin sued the county for discrimination when Betty Palmer, another candidate, scored 73 and got the job. The county said that both Martin and Palmer were qualified and that Palmer got the job as part of an effort designed to achieve a work force that reflected the race and gender composition of the county. The county pointed out that none of 238 skilled craft worker jobs in the county were held by women.

D) Herbert Fox worked as an office furniture salesman for 25 years with the same company. In his 25th year with the company, he went on leave for clinical depression. When it was time for him to return from leave, he told the company he could not return to work as scheduled. Subsequently Fox and the company agreed upon a new date for return. However, Fox also requested that he be allowed to miss the first couple of morning sales meetings (a request prompted by the side effects of his antidepressant medicine) or work on a part-time basis. His request was denied by the company, and they also told Fox that because of increasing financial pressures, the company would be expecting 100% from him on his return to work. Fox did not report to work on the agreed upon date and filed for disability benefits. The company subsequently terminated him. Fox filed a discrimination suit against the company alleging that the requirements attached to his return to work caused a relapse of his depression.

E) Andrew Johnson, a black maintenance worker, was frequently referred to as Chicken Little, Chicken George, Sparerib Kid, Boy, and Watermelon Man by his white supervisor. These names were used not only during private conversations but in the presence of other workers. Despite several complaints to senior management, the name-calling persisted for several months. When management finally investigated Johnson s claims, the supervisor admitted the comments but argued that he was only kidding. The supervisor was instructed to stop both the name-calling and the kidding. A fellow employee warned Johnson that his days were probably numbered because he had gone over the head of his supervisor.

Shortly thereafter, Johnson was injured on the job. While he was at home recuperating, his supervisor called to say that he accepted his resignation. Johnson denied resigning and wrote asking for his job back. He was reinstated and returned to work. He subsequently was written up on several occasions for substandard work performance. He is still employed but has filed a lawsuit against his employer.