BHR 3565  

Employment Law

Question 1

1.   William worked for autilities company, Power, Inc., in an installation and maintenance position which sometimes required that William use man-lift equipment and climb utilitypoles. William was obese, and the utility company had safety regulations thatrequired that employees who worked in William’s position not weigh more thanthe load limits of the equipment that was regularly used in that position.William weighed more than the safe load limits of the equipment used in hisposition, so his supervisor made sure that the job assignments given to Williamdid not require him to use the man lift equipment or to climb utility poles. Aspart of a regular workers’ compensation insurance review, the insurance companyfor Power, Inc. determined that William’s weight presented an unreasonable riskof injury if he continued to work in the installation and maintenance position,so William’s supervisor advised William that he would have to lose weight inorder to continue being employed by Power, Inc. Although William tried to loseweight, he was not able to lose enough to satisfy the insurance company.William said his inability to lose weight was due to the fact that he sufferedfrom a lack of self-confidence and that he had never been able to control hisweight. When William did not lose the weight necessary for him to perform hisduties safely as determined by the insurance company, he was terminated. DidPower, Inc. improperly discriminate against William on the basis of adisability?

Your response should be a minimum of 200 words in length. You are required touse at least your textbook as source material for your response. All sourcesused, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quotedmaterial must have accompanying citations.

Question 2  

2.   Sidney worked for thepost office as a letter carrier, but after Sidney had hip surgery, he was nolonger able to do the work of a letter carrier that required extended periodsof walking and lifting of moderately heavy loads. After Sidney had exhaustedthe sick leave that he was entitled to take, he asked to be reassigned fromletter carrier duty to light duty work in the post office where he worked. Thepost office did assign Sidney to a temporary light duty position, but afterseveral weeks, the post office notified Sidney that there was no permanentlight duty position for him. Sidney then requested that the post office createa permanent light duty position for him, but the post office refused thatrequest, and Sidney accepted disability retirement. Sidney then sued the postoffice for failing to reasonably accommodate his disability. Is Sidney correct?What does an employer have to do to provide reasonable accommodation for anemployee’s disability?

Your response should be a minimum of 200 words in length. You are required touse at least your textbook as source material for your response. All sourcesused, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quotedmaterial must have accompanying citations.

Question 3

3.   Gene Johnson, who worked for Cable Fixers, Inc. for 21 years,was terminated when he was 69 years old and was replaced by a much younger manwho Cable Fixers paid a significantly lower salary than it was paying Gene.Gene’s only evidence of age discrimination is an email from his manager statingthat he (the manager) understood how long Gene had worked for Cable Fixers butthat Gene was not doing as good a job as he used to do. Is this enough toestablish age discrimination? What elements must Gene show to prove age discrimination?Can Cable Fixers fire an older, higher salaried employee and replace him with ayounger lower paid employee?

Your response should be a minimum of 200 words in length. You are required touse at least your textbook as source material for your response. All sourcesused, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quotedmaterial must have accompanying citations.

Question 4

3.   In accordance with FAA regulations that require commercialairline pilots to retire at age 60, Fast Airlines has a broader policy thatrequires that all member of a flight crew – pilots, co-pilots, and flightengineers – must retire at age 60. Richard worked as a flight engineer for FastAirlines for more than 25 years, and, when he approached the age of 60, heinformed Fast Airlines that he felt that he was as able as ever to perform theduties of a flight engineer, that he had more experience as a flight engineerthan any other employee of Fast Airlines, and that he wanted to work as aflight engineer beyond his 60th birthday. Fast Airlines responded to Richard’srequest by agreeing that he was one of the airline’s most valuable employeesand that his performance evaluations confirmed that he was as able as ever toperform the duties of flight engineer, but that company policy required that heretire. Is this age discrimination? Why, or why not? Could Fast Airline’spolicy be modified to avoid the issue of age discrimination? How?

Your response should be a minimum of 200 words in length. You are required touse at least your textbook as source material for your response. All sourcesused, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quotedmaterial must have accompanying citations.