Claims of Constructive Discharge

TO: CEO

FROM: Elementary Division Manager

DATE: November 7, 2011

SUBJECT: Claims of constructive discharge:

This memo is being written in regards to a former employee who has filed a case against the company under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, constructive discharge, on charges that the company's employees are required to work on a religious holy day. The reason for the charge is due to a policy change with the work schedule that affected the entire production staff. The new schedule requires that employees work 12 hour shifts with four days at work and then four days off. The rotating shift can start any day of the week and is the reason for the case against the company.

A. Constructive discharge:

Constructive discharge is a legal term used when an employee believes that the employer changed working conditions and made them so intolerable that they were legally justified in resigning. In this case the employee claims they were discriminated against when forced to work on a religious holiday due to a schedule change with their shift. There are two tests that were developed by the courts to determine if an employee was discriminated by the employer and constructively discharged. Under "Majority view" constructive discharged is only consider true if a reasonable person working in the same condition's would have found it intolerable and discriminatory. Under "Minority view" the employee must show that the intolerable conditions were created to force them to resign (Finnegan, 1986). Even though the schedule changed was enforced on the entire production staff, it affected this employee more negatively because of their religious beliefs.

B. TITLE VII:

According to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employers are prohibited from employee discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. Under this law, employers that deny a request for reasonable accommodation of an employee's religious beliefs or practices is considered discriminatory if the accommodation does not cause a diminished cost or burden on the employee's business (Myers, 2002). By imposing a 12-hour shift and requiring the employees to work on any day of the week has been construed to be religious discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

C & C1. Recommended steps and legal references:

The following recommendation in regards to the charges would be to develop a task force group with management, HR and legal representatives to look at the following