reply to the students response in 150 words minimum and provide 1 reference

question

Jason works for a car rental agency. Part of his religious observance is to pray several times per day.  He approaches Supervisor Jan with a request for two additional 10-minute breaks per day in order to engage in prayer.

Student response

 

In analyzing this case the federal statues and/or theories of law that are applicable in this matter is Title VII of the civil right act of 1964. The definition of religion in the context of the federal statues includes “all aspects of religious observance and practice, as well as belief.” (page 544). Even though religion is a protected class under title VII there are some specifications and/or limits on the accommodation of this class when it comes to employment. According to Bennett-Alexander, D. & Hartman L. P. (2019) “Unlike the other categories included in Title VII, there is not an absolute prohibition against discrimination on the basis of religion. Rather, under Title VII, we see for the first time a category that has built into it a duty to reasonably accommodate the employee’s religious conflict unless to do so would cause the employer undue hardship.”(Page 541) A reasonable accommodation in relation to this situation refers to; after an employee/s notifies the employer the need for a religious accommodation, the employer is obligated to accommodate the religious practice. In terms of undue hardship,  an employer has the right to refuse to accommodate if it causes “more than de minimis cost” and the employer can prove this. Some examples that may cause undue hardships include; Violating a seniority system, causing lack of the necessity’s of staffing, compromising health and or security, or costing the employer more than a minimal amount. Another statute that is also applicable to this case is the United States constitution’s 1st amendment free exercise clause. The First Amendment states; “The Free Exercise Clause reserves the right of America Citizens to accept any religious belief and engage in religious rituals. Free-exercise clauses of state constitutions which protected religious opinion, expression of opinion and practice were all expressly protected by the Free Exercise Clause.” In doing more research I have found that the Free-Exercise Clause and the Establishment Clause may be contradicting because the establishment clause prohibits the government from making any law “respecting an establishment of religion” which seems very interesting. 

The legal issues that exist in this case is that Jason took it upon himself to approach his co-workers in the lunch room everyday with bible versus while asking them to join him in reading the bible keeping in mind that there is a no-solicitation policy. After several employees complaining, the supervisor told Jason to cease this practice, Jason told her it was part of his religious observance. Even though Jason has the right to practice his religion he does not have the right to continue to harass his co workers every day with bible verses and asking him to join him in reading the bible. Also highlighting that the retail department store has a no-solicitation policy and even though Jason may feel like he is exercising his religious freedom he may be imposing other’s religious beliefs by soliciting his own. The elements of the law is that although Jason has the right to practice his religion he is doing so by causing undue hardship to the employer; Therefore he may be in violation of the no solicitation policy and could be subject to termination.  This is a hypothetical, who knows how the others are feeling and or what they believe, but respect has to be exercised at all times. Reasonable accommodation can come into play in this scenario by finding other solution for Jason to continue his practice, which may be limited but the effort may go a long way. Based off this case it doesn’t seem like Jason expressed his religious belief and expressed an need for an accommodation to conduct this practice. At this point due to receiving multiple complaints from other employers, this seems to be causing undue hardship to the company if these employees decide to quit; therefore it could cause lack of necessities of staffing, the cost seems far more greater here than the reasonable accommodation.

One case that I felt was on point with this scenario is Chalmers V. Tulon Company of Richmond (Page 565). “The supervisory employee sued for religious discrimination and failure to accommodate after being terminated for sending employees letter at home about their personal and religious lives. One employee received the letter while at home ill on leave after delivering a baby out of wedlock, and the other employee’s wife opened the letter and became distraught because she thought their reference in the letter meant her husband was having an affair. The court held that there was no duty to accommodate the terminated employee’s religious practice of sending such letters.” The comparison between these two cases/scenarios is that both Jason and Chalmers took it upon themselves to practice their religion and impose on other’s without asking for an accommodation first and harassing co workers with their practices and beliefs. In both cases it seems as though that upper management is not going to accommodate due to the fact that they are practicing their religion on others with no permission and are in turn violating policies themselves. The difference between the two cases is that Chalmers seem to be more aggressive in sending criticizing letters to her co workers pertaining to their personal lives that does not align to her religion. Jason was not as aggressive as he was approaching others with bible versus and asking them to join in reading although it is still not right to do as he was also imposing on other’s beliefs and personal space. I feel that both of these individuals have invaded privacy and damaged work relationships which in turn cause more harm than a benefit to an organization. 

The actions that supervisor Jan could take is to ask him to stop and highlight the no solicitation policy as well as educating him on his rights, the reasonable accommodation and undue hardship. The immediate assumption is that Jason is correct he does have the right to practice his own religion as he pleases but this is where Jan could come in and explain that they could talk through some possible accommodations but if these recommendations are not realistic than he will need to stop. One idea that came to mind is asking co workers if they are comfortable with this practice and those who are, Jason could then continue to approach those individuals while avoiding those who are not comfortable. If this continues to become an issue she would then need to explain the undue hardship it may be causing the company and the other employees. If for some reason Jason refuses to stop, Jan has the right to terminate because this is not only causing lack of necessities of staffing by making others quit but it is also violating other employee’s beliefs and privacy. Jan must exhaust all ideas and accommodations for Jason before making the decision to terminate. 

REFERENCES

Bennett-Alexander, D. & Hartman, L.P, (2019) Employment Law for Business. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.

First Amendment. (n.d) Retrieved from https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/first_amendment.

In a November 30, 2001 report to congressional requesters, the General Accounting Office (GAO) outlined the need for a thorough evaluation of the potential use of the software before developing and contracting for the loan monitoring system, the SBA needed. The SBA agreed to do so (see http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d02188.pdf).

In July 2004, Inc.com reported that … monitoring system that can help it oversee a portfolio of $45 billion in loans. Now it needs to lay out exactly how it is going to use it, says Senator Olympia Snowe, chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. In 2003, the Small Business Administration (SBA) awarded a contract to Dun & Bradstreet to provide the agency with a loan monitoring service to help it assess and manage risk associated with its borrowers and lenders. The GAO reviewed the service, at Senator Snowe’s request, and reported that the service was on par with those used by private sector lenders, but that the SBA did not have policies in place to use it to fulfill the agency’s needs. Snowe pushed the SBA to develop those policies.

SBA’s new Disaster Credit Management System (DCMS) was launched in November 2004 and faced its first critical test in the fall of 2005, when the nation was hit with some major hurricanes in 2005, including Katrina, the costliest hurricane with an estimated cost of $35 billion. SBA was (and still is) swamped with loan applications as is the Small Business Administration Disaster Credit Management System Support.

In July 2006, GAO issued a report evaluating the following:

• Factors affecting SBA’s ability to provide timely disaster assistance
• Actions SBA took after the disasters to improve its response to disaster victims (see Report GAO-06-860 at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06860.pdf)

Use the above links, the material in the textbook, Argosy University online databases, and the Web to address the following questions:

1. What was wrong with the existing loan management system and why did SBA decide to replace it in 2004?
2. In what other ways could the agency use information systems to improve the process of loan application, approval, and maintenance?
3. Go to the SRA, Inc. Web site (http://www.sra.com/) and identify the features of the company’s software used by SBA (http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=131092&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=616444&highlight=)What other features should SBA think of using?

Your response should be a 2–3 page Microsoft Word document, double spaced, and in 12 point Times New Roman or New Courier font. All written assignments and responses should follow APA rules for attributing sources. Be sure to cite the references you used.

Discuss one (1) project where you used a problem-solving approach to address what turned out to be common-cause variation, or where you used a process improvement approach to deal with a special cause.

If you do not have a personal experience that echoes either of these situations, you may use Internet to search for a case that reflects either of these situations.

Examples:

·                     one’s personal investment strategy since 2008

·                     reducing waiting times at the local hospital or emergency room

·                     reducing difficulties trying to connect to a Wi-Fi Internet provider

 Answer the following questions in the space provided below:

1.     Describe the experience in the project.

2.     What were the solutions used to address the problem?

3.     Was the case you described a special-cause or common-cause?

4.     Do you feel the solution or approach used appropriate for the cause?

5.     What would you do if you could do it again?

6.     What conclusions can you draw from the problem-solving or process-improvement techniques?

7.      

Note: You may create and / or make all necessary assumptions needed for the completion of this assignment. In your original work, you may use aspects of existing processes from either your current or a former place of employment. However, you must remove any and all identifying information that would enable someone to discern the organization(s) that you have used.

Imagine that you own a small, local clothing store along the Jersey Shore boardwalk and decide that you want to engage in e-Commerce.

 

Write a 4-5 page paper on the following:

 

    Identify the advantages and disadvantages of taking your small business online by performing a SWOT analysis. Include 2-4 items in each category.

    Because the Internet connects computers all over the world, any business that engages in e-Commerce instantly becomes an international business. The key issues that any company faces when it conducts international commerce include trust, culture, language, government, and infrastructure. Explain how you would address each of these issues.

    Businesses that operate on the Web must comply with the same laws and regulations that govern the operations of all businesses, but they face 2 additional complicating factors as they try to comply with the law. First, the Web extends a company’s reach beyond traditional boundaries. Second, the Web increases the speed and efficiency of business communications. Explain how you would overcome these complicating factors that come with e-Commerce in order to comply with the law.

    Law enforcement agencies have difficulty combating many types of online crime. Describe 2 online crimes prevalent in e-Commerce and what you would do to prevent these crimes.

 

Your assignment must:

 

    Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.

    Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

 

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

 

    Identify the basic elements of the technology infrastructure used to conduct electronic business.

    Explain the basic communications and network concepts used in electronic commerce and the basic functioning of the Internet and the World Wide Web.

    Describe the critical legal and ethical issues related to electronic commerce.

 

    Use technology and information resources to research issues in fundamentals of e-business.

    Write clearly and concisely about fundamentals of e-business using proper writing mechanics.

 

Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic/organization of the paper, and language and writing skills, using the following rubric.

 

 

Points: 200

 

 

Assignment 1: Starting a Business Online, Part 1

 

Criteria

 

 

 

 

Unacceptable

Below 60% F

 

 

Meets Minimum Expectations

60-69% D

 

 

 

 

Fair

70-79% C

 

 

 

 

Proficient

80-89% B

 

 

 

 

Exemplary

90-100% A

 

1. Identify the advantages and disadvantages of taking your small business online by performing a SWOT analysis. Include 2-4 items in each category.

Weight: 25%

 

 

Did not submit or incompletely identified the advantages and disadvantages of taking your small business online by performing a SWOT analysis; did not include 2-4 items in each category.

 

 

Insufficiently identified the advantages and disadvantages of taking your small business online by performing a SWOT analysis; insufficiently included1- 2 items in each category.

 

 

 Partially identified the advantages and disadvantages of taking your small business online by performing a SWOT analysis; partially included 1-4 items in each category.

 

 

Satisfactorily identified the advantages and disadvantages of taking your small business online by performing a SWOT analysis; satisfactorily included 2-4 items in each category.

 

 

Thoroughly identified the advantages and disadvantages of taking your small business online by performing a SWOT analysis; thoroughly included 2-4 items in each category.

 

2. Explain how you would address each of the international commerce issues.

Weight: 25%

 

 

Did not submit or incompletely explained how you will address each of the international commerce issues.

 

 

Insufficiently explained how you will address each of the international commerce issues.

 

 

Partially explained how you will address each of the international commerce issues.

 

 

Satisfactorily explained how you will address each of the international commerce issues.

 

 

Thoroughly explained how you will address each of the international commerce issues.

 

3. Explain how you would overcome these complicating factors that come with e-Commerce in order to comply with the law.

Weight: 20%

 

 

Did not submit or incompletely explained how you would overcome these complicating factors that come with e-Commerce in order to comply with the law.

 

 

Insufficiently explained how you would overcome these complicating factors that come with e-Commerce in order to comply with the law.

 

 

Partially explained how you would overcome these complicating factors that come with e-Commerce in order to comply with the law.

 

 

Satisfactorily explained how you would overcome these complicating factors that come with e-Commerce in order to comply with the law.

 

 

Thoroughly explained how you would overcome these complicating factors that come with e-Commerce in order to comply with the law.

 

4. Describe 2 online crimes prevalent in e-Commerce and what you would do to prevent these crimes.

Weight: 20%

 

 

Did not submit or incompletely described 2 online crimes prevalent in e-Commerce and what you would do to prevent these crimes.

 

 

Insufficiently described 2 online crimes prevalent in e-Commerce and what you would do to prevent these crimes.

 

 

Partially described 2 online crimes prevalent in e-Commerce and what you would do to prevent these crimes.

 

 

Satisfactorily described 2 online crimes prevalent in e-Commerce and what you would do to prevent these crimes.

 

 

Thoroughly described 2 online crimes prevalent in e-Commerce and what you would do to prevent these crimes.

 

5. Clarity and writing mechanics

Weight: 10%

 

 

More than 8 errors present

 

 

7-8 errors present

 

 

5-6 errors present

 

 

3-4 errors present

 

 

0-2 errors present