HRMN 408 Assignment 2 CaseStudy

Religious Discrimination and Racial Harassment Case Study

Relevant Facts

The fact that Jenkins had joked about Maalik belonging to an Internationalist faith-based spiritual movement during a company party was a pointer to his discriminatory tendencies towards Maalik. He was not comfortable with his different religion.

2014 Statute of Kansas unlawful employment practices prohibits: practicing a hiring activity, recruitment, or selection of employees based on their color, age, gender, sex, or religion. The Statutes also prohibit an individual from expulsion, prevention from promotion, or discrimination because the individual is opposed to acts, behavior, and conduct present in the pervasive organization or furtherance of a discriminatory activity (Kansas.gov, 2020).

It is unlawful for an employer to fill a vacancy based on patronage. For instance, the person who is being hired attends the same church with you and this becomes the basis for which hiring is done (Kansas.gov, 2020). From the word go, Jenkins was so concerned and unable to offer any positive information to Maalik when he heard about the new religion he was now subscribing to. The incessant questioning, the reluctance to offer him time to go for the weeklong confirmation is evident of future discrimination based on religion.

Religious accommodation

Maalik was not given accommodation due to his religious beliefs because: Jenkins was so reluctant to give Maalik time off to attend to his religious activities and gave an excuse that at the moment they were too busy[ CITATION Com09 \l 1033 ]. Because members of his religion were considered as people who practiced witchcraft, the employees had similar prejudices about him which were not based on truth but what other people thought about him. If he were given accommodation based on his religious affiliation, there would not be instances of harassment where disturbing images, dolls with pins, hats, and a picture of Africa which has been decorated with quite strange letters. This instance made Maalik is disturbed. The fact that they laughed at him also shows that they were not ready to accept his religion and give him an acceptable and harmonious working environment.

HR Director Actions

The actions of the Human Resources Director were majorly effective and assisted in controlling the discriminatory behavior based on religion. Her behavior when dealing with Maalik was assuring and encouraging. Her actions also showed concern. She at first assured him of the support that the employees in his department would bring no problem to him. The HR director, herself, did not reveal any incidences of discrimination when she dealt with Maalik; she encouraged him to apply for the position of the systems manager because she believed in his level of qualifications. She was proactive and was one individual who did not wait for long to act when she realized that a problem had occurred. She immediately sent out a reminder to all the employees in the organization reminders concerning the discriminatory actions[ CITATION Com09 \l 1033 ].

However, she did not address the specific discrimination case that Maalik was experiencing at the Middle Western division of Treton Communications. There was quite a little investigation to know who had caused all that and the manager of the division was not fully investigated before the employment complaint. The Human Resources director resolved these issues from a policy perspective and not stamping out or nipping the problem in the bud.

Two actions were prompted Maalik to complain to the Human Resources Director. The first was about harassment and discrimination based on his belonging to a church considered weird. The second complaint was about him being denied a promotion he so richly deserved based on his academic qualifications. Mata Ford should have conducted a wide-scale investigation, found the people culpable in the first instance, and punished them before the problem got out of hand instead of just warning the people.

Human Resources Manager should have provided sufficient education to all the department managers concerning the discrimination at the workplace and the steps that should be taken to ensure that workers exist in harmony, respect, and tolerance for one's religious inclinations[ CITATION Com09 \l 1033 ]. The legal and compliance issues and rules should be drummed into the managers so that they are on the frontline for the prevention of the practice. She should have carried out a wide-scale audit of the beliefs and the practices of the organizational employees regarding the discrimination of people based on religion (Society for Human Resource Management, 2020). Even before this act, the Human Resources Manager should have been that individual who promotes a culture of tolerance, respect, and acceptance (Society for Human Resource Management, 2020).

Acts of Religious and Racial Harassment

Acts of religious harassment are evidenced by Jenkins asking him too many questions and seeking information regarding his decision to go for the confirmation to become a fullfledged member of the Internationalist church. Employees bombarding Maalik about their perceptions about his religion being viewed as a center of witchcraft and voodoo[ CITATION Com09 \l 1033 ]. These perceptions were documented and realistically made into dolls with pins and hats that showed that his colleagues associated his religion with witchcraft.

Acts of racial harassment are seen because The depiction of Africa as an image with strange markings showed that employees that worked with Maalik despised Africa, which is a part of his origin. Jenkins thought that Maalik, as an African American, he was supposed to bear with the tantrums that he had received from his fellow employees because Africans practiced a witch-craft and a sorcery based religion. Jenkins thought that it was right to taunt and discriminate people of Maalik’s ilk.

Clive Jenkins behavior

Jenkin’s behavior is a direct violation of Treton's communication policy on harassment: The policy on discrimination is related to the rules contained in the Age Discrimination Act where harassment is an unwanted physical abuse. The things that were placed in Maalik's office infuriated him and caused him a lot of mental anguish[ CITATION Com09 \l 1033 ]. Jenkins also appeared to condone the discriminatory behavior which was the direct opposite of what he should have done as a manager. Because he offered a job position to an individual who belonged to his church rather than by merit, he did not conform to the equal employment requirements of the organization.

References

Combs, G. (2009). Religious Discrimination and Racial Harassment: Whatever Happened to

Marshawn Demur? Society for Human Resource Management. (1-12)

Kansas.gov. (2020). Statute | Kansas State Legislature. Retrieved 17 September 2020, from http://www.kslegislature.org/li_2014/b2013_14/statute/044_000_0000_chapter/044_010_

0000_article/044_010_0009_section/044_010_0009_k/

Society for Human Resource Management. (2020). Accommodating Religion, Belief and Spirituality in the Workplace. Retrieved 17 September 2020, from https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-

Samples/toolkits/pages/accommodating-religion,-belief-and-spirituality-in-the- workplace.aspx