Religious Discrimination Essay Example for Free

Religious Discrimination Essay Religious discrimination under Title VII as defined by the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) involves treating a person unfavorably because of his or her religious beliefs. The law protects not only people who belong to traditional, organized religions but also others who have sincerely held religious, ethical or moral beliefs. The law forbids discrimination on the basis of religion in any and all aspects of employment. This includes hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, and benefits. Title VII also prohibits workplace segregation based on religion, such as assigning an employee to a non-customer contact position because of actual or presumed customer preference. Title VII also addresses reasonable accommodation in relation to religion. The law requires that the employer must reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs or practices, unless doing so would cause more than a minimal burden on the employers business. For example, if an employee needs to be off work on Sunday mornings to regularly attend church services it would be the responsibility of the employer to reasonably attempt to accommodate this need. An accommodation for this could include paying another employee to cover the Sunday morning shift, even if it requires paying overtime. Or the employer could hire an additional employee to be able to cover the shift. Since Title 7 of the United States Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964 there have been several judicial decisions that have molded the way this law in interpreted and applied. The first such court case that I came across was the case of Welsh V. United States which brought into question what types of beliefs can be used to obtain conscientious objector status when being selected to go to war. In this case the prosecutor was convicted of refusing to accept induction into the armed forces; he did claim conscientious objector status but did not base this decision off religion. He did not claim to believe in a deity that would morally keep him from fighting in a war, he instead asserted his own personal moral opposition to any conflict in which people are being killed. He alleged that the sincerity of his belief should qualify him for exemption from military duty under the Universal Military Training and Service Act. The Act allowed only those people whose opposition to the war was based on religious beliefs to be declared conscientious objectors. However in a 5-3 decision the court allowed Welsh to be declared a conscientious objector even though his opposition was not based on religious convictions. The implication this case has on Human Resources Management is that HR personnel must be aware of the broad scope of beliefs that will be protected under Title 7. Whereas before this case only majorly defined religions such as Judaism and Catholicism would be protected you now see religions such as scientology seeking protection under the law. Another relevant case would be Seshadri v. Kasraian which established that an employee bringing a religious discrimination claim does not need to belong to an established church. Another case that has shaped this law and impacted human resource management was Campos v. City of Blue Springs. In April 1996 Campos was hired as a crisis counselor for the Blue Springs Police Department’s Youth Outreach Program (YOU). At the time she did not have the advanced degree as required by the written job description, but her supervisor told her that she would have until February 1997 to obtain her degree and guarantee her position. She was also guaranteed via verbal contract that she would be paid an extra $10,000 per year for support group work, she would be a team leader within three months, and she would be an assistant director within six months of starting her full-time employment. She began working in October 1996, enjoying her job until she disclosed to her supervisor that she observes tenets of Native American Spirituality, not Christianity. Campos claimed that immediately her supervisor’s behavior towards her changed; she was unfriendly and critical, excluded her from employee meetings, and told her that she may not have been a good fit for the job. After failing to show up to work due to attending a mandatory meeting to obtain her dissertation, which was required by her employer, Campos received so much scrutiny from her supervisor that she resigned. After her resignation, Campos filed suit against the City, alleging that she suffered from employment discrimination based upon her religion, sex, and national origin. The charges of sex and national origin discrimination were eliminated, and the case was submitted to the jury on the theory that Campos was constructively discharged because of her religion. On April 13, 2001, the jury awarded Campos $79,200 for back pay and compensatory damages. The district court denied the Citys Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law, or in the Alternative, for a New Trial, and awarded Camposs attorneys 90,556. 20 in fees and $11,825. 41 in expenses. This case has implications on Human Resources Management today because it establishes that employment decisions cannot be made based on whether or not an employee or potential employee agrees or disagrees with the employers religious views. One relevant business that comes to mind is Chik Fil A and their openly Christian beliefs. Even though they include Christian values in the core content of their mission statement and business plan they know that they cannot make any employment decisions based on religious affiliation. In Eatman V.  United Parcel Service in 2002 the company’s policy of requiring its drivers that had unconventional hairstyles to wear hats was called into question. The plaintiff was required by the company to wear a hat while on the clock because his hairstyle of choice was dreadlocks, a hairstyle where sections of hair are hand-rolled together in tight, interwoven spirals. After putting a lot of thought into the decision, Eatman, who is black, began wearing locks in February 1995 as an outward expression of an internal commitment to his Protestant faith as well as his Nubian belief system. At this same time he also became enlightened about locked hair and its connection to African identity and heritage. The position that his supervisor at UPS took on his hair was that the company uses common sense to determine which hairstyles are not businesslike; he finds ponytails, Mohawks, green hair, carved shapes, and locked hair—short or long—unacceptable. And there were currently 19 other drivers at this particular UPS that were required to wear hats to cover their unconventional hairstyles, including others that had dreadlocks. Even though Eatman claimed that the policy was discriminatory the jury did not rule in his favor. It was ruled that Eatman’s hairstyle was dictated by a personal choice. Nowhere in his religious texts did it dictate in any way that followers of the faith must wear their hair uncovered in dreadlocks. The implications of this case are actually pro employer and pro Human Resource Manager. It shows that not every claim that an employee makes based off of religious need has to be immediately catered to. There are cases where the request can be frivolous and off topic of religion, in which case the employer does not need to go out of their way to make accommodations. Another very interesting court case that I came across was EEOC v. Union Independiete De La Autoridad De Acueductos y Alcantarillados De Puerto Rico. I found this case to be very interesting because it stipulates that employees cannot pick and choose which parts of their religion they wish to follow and which ones they do not. In this case the issue was whether or not a Seventh day Adventist’s objection to union membership was the product of a sincerely held belief. Although the religious foundation of the Seventh day Adventist faith’s opposition to union membership has long been recognized, there was evidence that this employee often acted in a manner inconsistent with his professed religious beliefs. He was divorced, took an oath before a notary upon becoming a public employee, worked five days a week (instead of the six days required by his faith), and there was some evidence that the alleged conflict between his beliefs and union membership was a moving target. This case seemed important because is forces the employee to prove that religion is vital part of their life. It keeps them from claiming that they are Christian for the sole purpose of being off on Christmas, or from claiming that they are Catholic only to be off on Easter. It not only keeps people from faking being religious but it also helps to ensure the sanctity of those who actually are as religious as they claim to be. And the final court case that I found addresses sincerely held beliefs that have not always been there but can conceivably come about. In the case of E. E. O. C. v. Ilona of Hungary, Inc. an employee sincerely believed that she should refrain from working on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur even though she had not frequently celebrated Jewish holidays in the past. Her rise in faith was brought on by recent family events such as the passing of her mother-in-law and father, the birth of her son, and her husband’s rising faith. The court decided that these were significant enough to have caused a change in lifestyle and that she did believably have a real change of faith. After reviewing all of the cases mentioned above, along with numerous others, I have found that the topic of religion isn’t nearly as â€Å"black and white† as most would assume. There are many grey areas: What constitutes religion, how do you know if someone legitimately believes in their religion, and what aspects of someone’s lifestyle are pertinent to their claimed religion are just a few examples of where courts have to make a decision that will affect the way this topic is viewed for years to come. With the world become more and more diversified every day the topic of religion and all others under title 7 will continue to be tested and pushed to their limits. It is the job of the Human Resources Management team to be on high alert of potential discrimination cases and have all employees properly trained on these matters to ensure it does not happen at their company.

Bullying and Violence in Public Schools Essay -- Religion in Public Sc

Bullying and Violence in Public Schools Although bullying has always been a problem in schools, it has more recently become a bigger crisis with vicious consequences. â€Å"However it is defined, bullying is not just child’s play, but a terrifying experience many schoolchildren face everyday. It can be as direct as teasing, hitting or threatening, or as indirect as exclusions, rumors or manipulation† (Garrett 2). Most kids do not think certain actions are classified as bullying, yet they do not realize the severity of the way they treat their peers. What they may see as â€Å"joking around† can be viewed as them being a bully, and they may even be hurting someone’s feelings without realizing the effect that they have. This can then lead to school violence, which is a prevalent issue in today’s society. There are many causes to bullying and school violence and many effects as well. However, if dealt with properly, there are ways to solve these prevailing problems. â€Å"One in seven children is a bully or the target of a bully, according to the National Association of School Psychologists† (Garrett 34). Therefore, it is important that everyone understands what causes this much bullying to occur. One of the first things influencing kids is violence in the media. â€Å"Countless studies have determined that there is an irrefutable link between violence in the media and violent behavior in children, argues former secretary of education William J. Bennett† (Grapes 57). Popular culture seems to have an enormous effect on the young, and a lot of times it is not in a positive manner. For example, many television shows and movies show violence in school. The movie Scream is about two high school students who are trying... ...or problems, especially in today’s society. There are many reasons why these issues arise, and many negative effects that stem from them. It is pertinent that solutions are brought about so that children can stop being hurt. â€Å"In our quest to provide the quality education that our children deserve, this problem can no longer be treated lightly† (Garrett 2). If this problem of the present can be turned around to make a brighter future, school will be a safer place where all students can be comfortable and able to succeed. Bibliography Garrett, Anne G. Bullying in American Schools: Causes, Preventions, Interventions. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2003. Grapes, Bryan J. School Violence: Contemporary Issues Companion. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2000. Hurst, Marianne D. â€Å"When It Comes to Bullying, There Are No Boundaries.† Education Week. 24 (2005): 8.

Blue Ocean Study

What is Blue Ocean Strategy? by Nattida Sae-Iw MBA Student What is Blue Ocean Strategy? Let’s start with the metaphors To understand the term of Blue Ocean, imagine a market universe composed of two sorts of oceans: Red Oceans and Blue Oceans. Red Oceans represent the existing market space which is known market. Companies in red oceans are competitive-base; they are fighting each other and aim to get a bigger market share from their competitors. The world now is globalized, the competitions are fiercer than ever, they are battling on the same demand thus this is bloody competition.That’s why it’s called red oceans. Blue Oceans are new, defined as unknown market space. In blue oceans, competition is irrelevant because the rules of the game are waiting to be set. Blue oceans are the opportunity for highly profitable growth. The space is new, no battle so it’s clear market, that’s why this is called Blue Ocean. Productivity ManagementCreativity Managem ent Companies are always successful in the red ocean. How many companies tend to follow the right side of the diagram? Most of companies are tending to follow the left side as that’s normal practice and easier.The right side is a risk taking and companies are trying to avoid it. The red ocean is always matter and is a fact of business life. However, with exceeding demand and more competitors, companies need to go beyond competing. To grow business opportunity, the companies need to create blue oceans. Unfortunately, blue oceans are uncharted and large. Without guideline and frameworks to create blue oceans is seen to be risky. Therefore, there are some methodologies to help on how to create them. According to the article, it can be summarized that the basic structure of creating blue oceans are as follows: Focus on Future, answer yourself with these questions whether you are ready to create blue oceans. Simple questions you need to challenge you are really blue color. How Blu e is your strategy: 1. Creating new demand instead of striving to do better than competitors 2. Looking for non-customers instead of getting a bigger share of customers 3. Challenging assumptions and reconstructing industry 4. Voluntary participating self- initiated teams 5. Executing strategies while conserving time and resources †¢ Strategies Canvas – Capture both current state and also demand side of alternatives 1.Do dimension on graph: value factors that are important, what your industry focuses on. Graph the company then graph for your own 2. Look at the frameworks 3. Try to answer 4 questions (New value curve) and review what does the industry curve look like? And what does your company’s curve look like? Then apply four actions frameworks to build a winning strategy. Reduce: Which factors should be reduced well below the industry’s standard? Eliminate: Which of the factors that the industry takes for granted should be eliminated? Raise: Which factor s should be raised well above the industry’s standard?Create: Which factors should be created that the industry has never offered? Blue Ocean is not about taking risk and also not avoiding risk. It’s maximizing opportunities and minimizing risks. Blue Ocean focuses on six different risks that are associated with formulations strategy. o Search risk – How you come up with the right idea? o Planning risk – Not just let strategic tools store in document shelf. Create a big picture and make it visualized. o Scale risk – To make sure you are going out to the ocean, not just a pool and try to reach beyond existing demand. Business model risk – Get the strategic sequence right o Organizational risk – Strategy must come together with good resources. o Management risk – Motivation which is associated with people’s attitudes and behaviors. 4. Execute – After lying out the tools and frameworks in the formulation and then mot ivating people to act on and execute a blue ocean strategy. In short, Blue Ocean is about changing in what current industries believe, and create new value to serve customers, that’s called â€Å"Value Innovation†.Focusing on non-customers and find out why they are non-customers then provide high value to them and change them from non-customers to be your customers (Create and capture new demand). Besides, the creation of Blue Ocean is about driving costs structure down while driving value up for buyers. This systematic process is all about Blue Ocean point of view. ———————– Managing cost Quality Control Assets Utilization Operational Efficiency Growth/ Innovation Creativity methods New Brand Development Global Reach

The Civil Rights Movement in the United States - 1401 Words

Social movements are one of the primary means through which the public is able to collectively express their concerns about the rights and wellbeing of themselves and others. Under the proper conditions, social movements not only shed light on issues and open large scale public discourse, but they can also serve as a means of eliciting expedited societal change and progress. Due to their potential impact, studying the characteristics of both failed and successful social movements is important in order to ensure that issues between the public and the government are resolved to limit injustices and maintain societal progress. Social movements are not spontaneous events, and they must build towards their goals over time on a series of phases and preconditions. Successful social movements rely on a number of micro and macro factors including efficient organizational structures, the ability to mobilize human and material resources, as well as effective leadership and rapid diffusion of id eas. As it will be shown, the presence of mobilizing structures, movement frames as well as suitable political opportunities combined with reactionary incentives during the Civil Rights Movement helped culminate both short and long term societal changes. The Civil Rights Movement is oftentimes regarded as the largest social movement of the 20th century. This mass popular movement, which peaked in the 1950’s and 1960’s, helped African Americans gain access to more basic privileges,Show MoreRelatedThe Civil Rights Movement Of The United States1668 Words   |  7 PagesThe civil rights movement in the USA in the 1950’s and 1960’s.can be termed as a democratic movement. The basic reason behind this was the discrimination of the African-Americans that were enslaved and did not have citizen rights. The African-Americans protested greatly against their injustice. The birth of the civil rights movement was before the 1954 Supreme Court’s decision on Brown versus Board of Education (Topeka) which stated that separate but equal schools was against the Constitution. FromRead MoreThe Civil Rights Movement Of The United States1157 Words   |  5 PagesAnd by virtue of the power and for the purpose of the aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States and parts of States are and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.† (CITE TEXT) It took just over 100 years for African-Americans to achieve the dream that Abraham Lincoln envisioned nearly a centuryRead MoreThe United States And The Civil Rights Movement1727 Words   |  7 Pagesdistinctions. An example of this in the United States was the Civil Rights Movement during the 1950s through the 1960s. African Americans fought to assert their full rights as Americans. Women fought to be able to stand next to a man in any profession and receive equal pay and respect. Now, since the late 1960s it is the homosexuals who still struggle for their equal rights. The homosexuals movement is a civil rights movement that advocates for equivalent and social rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual,Read MoreThe United States And The Civil Rights Movement903 Words   |  4 Pagesstrength of the civil rights movement struck the attention of political figures that influenced calls to reform the U.S. immigration policy. In the 1920’s immigration was based on the national-origins quota system. The system assigned each nationality a quota, which restricted immigration on the basis of existing proportions of the population due to its representation in past U.S. census figures. The goal of the quota system was to maintain the existing ethnic composition of the United States. However,Read MoreThe United States Of The Civil Rights Movement1803 Words   |  8 Pagesmany wars in the United States of America occurring. After World War two things began to change. The Soviet Union and United States of America had many differences. Even the world after World War Two was very different than before. A doctrine of containment was developed and programs began to be put in place due to this doctrine. There was also a Cold War and there were many important causes that lead to this war. The United States also had a lot going on because of the Civil-rights revolution. ThisRead MoreThe United States And The Civil Right Movement1594 Words   |  7 Pagesthe United States more than two million people are incarcerated and seven million are under correctional supervision. There are 13 million adults that have been convicted of a felony and 47 million American have something on their record. Having a felony has attained a newfound relevance in the United States (King, 2006) . In many states begin a felon come with obstacles both informal and formal in the lives of people wit h a felony convicted. In the midst of the growing civil right movement, theRead MoreThe Civil Right Movement Of The United States1712 Words   |  7 Pageswere only a climax of the protests and civil movements during the time period. Not only segregation, racial inequality has also existed for hundreds of years- it is only during these specific years that the conflict and involvement of citizens across the country peaked through the use of protests as well as the influential people that led them. While influential leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. led the Civil Right Movement, segregation in the United States continued to affect the daily life ofRead MoreThe Civil Rights Movement Of The United States3431 Words   |  14 PagesThe civil rights movement began to influence view about people with disabilities. Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954, the US supreme court ruled that it was unlawful under the fourteenth amendment to discriminate subjectively against any group of peopl e. The court applied this to the education of children. Soon people with disabilities were acknowledged as another group whose rights had often been dishonored because of discrimination. Pennsylvania Assoc for Retarded Children v. Commonwealth (1972)Read MoreThe Civil Rights Movement Of The United States1914 Words   |  8 Pagescollective systems meant to dictate how the masses who believe in and follow them, live and act. Each institution has its own collective set of rules, often times mostly unspoken, to guide what others in the institution should be doing in terms of right and wrong. But these rules are never fixed and may fluctuate with changes in leadership or environment among other things. The fluctuations of these rules mean that they must often be tested by people more on the fringe of the institution in orderRead MoreThe Civil Rights Movement Of The United States Of America2015 Words   |  9 PagesUntil the 19th century, no abortion laws existed in the United States o f America. By the 1880s, most states had banned abortion except in cases where it was necessary to save the mother’s life. The cause of this shift in attitude can largely be attributed to the American Medical Association, founded in 1847. The organization wanted to stop unlicensed abortions by forcing the people giving them out of business. Religious leaders supported the American Medical Association’s move and worked with