Legal Issue Analysis

Diversity in the workplace has become an increasingly important issue not only for the potential growth aspects of businesses that diversify but as a legal protection from lawsuits. Some spectacular lawsuits of recent years have involved former employees complaining of hiring, promotion, seniority, pay raise or benefits policies of their respective employers. These discrimination lawsuits have not only been initiated by individuals but have been class action lawsuits covering many current and former workers. This paper will examine one particular sexual harassment issue from the Mitsubishi companies Normal, Illinois plant.

Summary of Case

In a recent case Mitsubishi Motors decided to settle out of court a lawsuit by 350 women who had documented harassment and work discrimination abuse by male supervisors and coworkers over a full decade. These women had been exposed to sexual graffiti and pornographic pictures in public places and called names with sexual connotations. They were kissed and fondled against their will and repeatedly asked for sexual favors, plus retaliated against when they did not comply. Both managers and supervisors participated in this behavior, and did nothing when these women complained. Mitsubishi Motors soon thereafter received a formal, legal complaint. The evidence against the company was so overwhelming that executives decided to pay a $44 million dollar settlement which included anti-harassment provisions from an outside consultant plus a no retaliation clause (Smiley-Marquez, 1999).

Legal aspects

Harassment laws over the years have been reinvigorated with provisions for compensatory damages by juries against companies. Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act, the 1866 Civil Rights Act, and the 1991 Civil Rights Act all provide for punitive damages when there is evidence of malice and reckless indifference (Smiley-Marquez, 1999).

Thoughts and Beliefs

I have always been amazed when I hear of harassment cases like that of Mitsubishi Motors. The supervisors and managers in this case were totally negligent. There were absolutely no policies in place to counter the harassment and abuse that prevailed against women employees. How top executives could be unaware of such behavior surprises me even more. At my job there has been numerous complaints of harassment by women employees against at least 2 supervisors. In both cases the supervisors behavior had been noted by the manager but with no action taken until absolutely necessary. The supervisors were eventually dismissed.

There was never any solutions at my job that dealt directly with this particular diversity issue. No anti-harassment training evolved just a warning from human resources regarding sexual discrimination. In other words, do not commit sexual harassment or there will be consequences. Managers have been caught off guard with harassment cases in part because they believe that people they hire already have the social skills necessary to have healthy relationships with their coworkers.

Studies however, reveal that 90% of the terminations in the United States are caused by relations problems rather than the lack of technical or functional skills. And 18% of managers time is spent resolving employees personality clashes. This puts lack of relationship skills at the heart of discrimination and harassment cases (Hemphill & Haines, 1998).

Conclusion

Of all the diversity issues that have arisen over the years one that I particularly remember is the Dennys restaurant case in which black secret service agents had been ignored when they sat down to order. These agents were assigned to the presidents security detail so their complaints had real credibility. In the end Dennys restaurant had to pay punitive damages and implement hiring and promotion practices that reflected their customer base. Dennys restaurant in my opinion has never recovered from this negative publicity. I have often wondered why companies would put themselves in such a position that would jeopardize their reputations and future business. Even before the Secret Service incident there had been other incidents which showed real relationship issues at Dennys. It was this case however, that broke the cycle of behavior at the restaurant chain. But I also remember other cases from other companies that should not have happened.

It seems that even after this much publicized case other companies still did nothing to implement programs voluntarily to correct their own harassment and abuse cases. In came the federal government to establish laws and procedures to deal with the rising complaints coming from all over the country. Most companies that can afford a comprehensive anti-harassment training and discrimination class are opting to do so, because in the end the cost of the training will circumvent lawsuits from employees costing companies a great deal more.

References

Hemphill, H., & Haines, R., (1998, July). Confronting discrimination in you workplace. HR focus, 75

(7), S5.

Smiley-Marquez, C. (1999, Fall). Prevention vs. remediation: Anti-harassment training pays off. Diversity factor, 8(1), 36.