Case Study Complaints

Case Study Complaints

LTC/ 328

Case Study 1

The police department of Chicago, IL consists of 90 full-time officers varying in ages, from 21 to 59. The tenure of the officers also varies with some being newly hired and others with 10 or more years of service to the force. The city just instituted a pay-for-performance plan that states that police officers who have better performance will receive increased compensation after biyearly performance appraisals. A police officer’s job requires strong physical ability in most situations and the performance appraisal includes assessment of physical ability to perform the job.

This is a case of discrimination because of the city’s denial of benefits or compensation for those police officers who are stronger than others. While it is true that the police officers’ physical ability will involve their levels of skill, competence, expertise in certain areas of combat, along with their on-the-street capabilities, they should all be graded along the same lines of job appraisal. Simply because one officer is better on-the-beat circuit than another officer should not entitle him or her to better working conditions or more pay and compensation than another officer who is an excellent shot on the shooting range. Some officers are great at handling individual people with whom they come in contact. Other police officers do better in crowd control situations. It would not be a very healthy situation for the City of Chicago, Illinois, to have some officers receiving more in compensation and benefits due strictly on their bi-yearly performance appraisals. The town and its residents would be the ones to receive a possible backlash from disgruntled police officers as it is an unfair policy. To do otherwise and pit those with better agility or skills against officers with lesser amounts is unfair and discriminatory. Under Constitutional Law the rights of the individual are at stake, along with Private Laws governing small groups and Civil Law having jurisdiction in contracts. The above case is one of discrimination and is covered under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VI (Singh, 2010).

Letter

This letter is to inform you of problems that your department could face if the actions in

the complaint is not corrected. The discrimination that would be taking place in this case study

would that of age discrimination. The performance pay will not be eligible to all employees

because it based on a performance assessment that is made up of the physical ability that an

officer must be able to perform the job. Since the police department consists of employees

ranging in varying ages, from twenty-one to fifty-nine. Also, there is the fact that some of the

employees have had many years of experience in the field while others only have a year if that.

With this being the case the performance-based pay would more than likely got to the veteran

employees who are not high in age but have the experience that is needed to be able to receive

this. If the employees were to do these performance assessments and the same employees keep

receiving the pay then this could possibly be brought to the attention of the police chief or it

could also bring a lawsuit on the department for discrimination.

Case Study 2

In the Patient Financial Services Department of a hospital, A 52 -year old woman named Sally is not given the same advantages as a 25-30- year old colleague who has minimal education and limited work experience. Sally has a degree and over fifteen years of work experience related to her job, but her age has been a cause of her being looked over by management for a promotion. The department is pre-dominantly in age range of 45 and older. Many have given the company over 10 years of employment, but they feel they are being overlooked just like Sally. New employees are hired and are promoted within a year while Sally and several of the other older colleagues are not given a chance to show their skills even if their quality shows they are qualified for the position of management or a lead. Management does not encourage their employees to seek to strengthen or work on their skills by providing training courses.

In addition, Sally and her coworkers discuss amongst each other how they are never praised or recognized for the hard work they do, so it leaves them feeling inadequate or in a state of unfairness. Sally discussed her concerns with her manager regarding the changes that were being made in the company regarding the management team. The changes had raised concerns, in which the older colleagues may have to retire early. Several months later, the company announced they would be offering severance packages for an involuntary separation. It was for many employees within different departments on a case by case situation. The company decided to go through a reorganization because they were bought out by another hospital, which involved people who have given over-20 years of service, and a certain age bracket. Unfortunately, Sally was one of the people within her age bracket that were chosen to involuntary separate from the company. Many of the company’s employees were older adults over the age of 45 and were afraid of losing their jobs as they grew older and had experienced many drastic changes within the company. This is an example, of The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), which protects workers of age 40 and over.

References

Singh, D. (2010). Effective management of long-term care facilities. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.