Human Resources

Case Study #1 – Religious Freedom at Work
Fred Rotelli’s situation is an example of the challenges relating to protection of religious freedom at a school or employment setting. In this scenario, Fred Rotelli was fired on the basis that he used religious expression for arrogance and insubordination. Despite the various attempts by the school district and the principal to warn him, Rotelli continued to express his religious beliefs in the school. The eventual solution to Rotelli’s situation was an out-of-court settlement in which he voluntary resigned as a music director but continued his work as a social studies teacher. In addition, the school board cleared him of all personnel record of indiscipline while he promised not to sue the district for violating his religious liberties. However, the case provides many discussion points relating to religious freedom at a school or an employment setting as discussed below.
Fairness of the Solution
According to Kearney & Coggburn (2016), the solution reached in this matter was deemed fair to all parties as stated by the school board chair. In this case, each of the parties made a compromise that enabled them to reach a relatively good solution to an extremely sensitive and difficult problem. Similar to many companies, the root cause of the problem was the lack of written policy on how the school would handle religion in school in a manner that protects the interests and views of all stakeholders. Given the lack of such a policy, most of the actions adopted by the school district and the school were reactive approaches that responded to Fred Rotelli’s actions. The school principal and the superintendent were reactive to Rotelli’s religious beliefs since they did not establish policies that would determine the extent with which teachers or students are allowed to express their beliefs in the school setting.
The solution reached in this matter was fair to all parties since it protects religious neutrality. In this regard, the ruling provided a clear balance of the interests of all parties involved without any discrimination. At first, the school district’s stands that relatively prohibited Rotelli from expressing his religious beliefs infringed on his rights and seemingly violated the First Amendment to the Constitution. On the other hand, Rotelli’s insistence on expressing his religious beliefs without consideration of the beliefs and interests of others infringed on their rights. Therefore, the most suitable solution to this situation would be a ruling that protects the religious beliefs of all parties. As shown in the case facts, the ruling protected the interests and religious beliefs of all parties involved.
Religious neutrality is an issue that continues to affect modern school and work settings, particularly in light of the First Amendment to the Constitution. According to Donovan (2004), equal treatment neutrality should be expanded to the nation’s school setting and curriculum. School districts need to establish non-discriminatory and fair policies that seek to protect religious neutrality of all parties. Despite the fair solution to the matter, the school district should have also used the opportunity to establish non-discriminatory policy on religious neutrality. However, the policy should be established in a manner that does infringe on people’s religious beliefs and expressions.
Avoidance of the Dispute
The emerging dispute from Rotelli’s actions could have been avoided through establishment of non-discriminatory religious neutrality policy. Similar to some companies and learning institutions, the school did not have written policy on religious neutrality or religious expressions. Many workplaces and learning institutions experience numerous challenges relating to religious discrimination due to the lack of written policies that address how to handle religion in the workplace (Gerdeman, 2018). This usually results in disputes that are similar to the situation involving Rotelli and the school. The enactment of such policy would have helped in the dispute resolution process by ensuring each of the parties play their respective role in implementation. In the dispute resolution process, the principal would have focused on ensuring implementation of the written policy on religious neutrality. During this process, the principal would have reminded Rotelli of his responsibilities based on the existing religious neutrality policy. The principal would have avoided providing suggestions to Rotelli on what he should do to avoid religious bias or discrimination. For Rotelli, the existence of a written policy would have guided his actions and helped determine the extent of his religious expressions. During the dispute resolution process, Rotelli would have explained the extent with which his actions did or did not violate the policy. The superintendent’s role would have entailed examining the extent with which Rotelli’s actions violated the written policy on religious neutrality.
Personal Religious Freedom of Expression v. Observance of Christmas
At the heart of this dispute is the perceived conflict between personal religious freedom of expression and observance of Christmas in a school or public employment setting. The observance of religious holidays in schools, employment settings and public places has generated numerous issues in the United States because of the increase in cultural and religious diversity. These issues emerge from concerns relating to the free exercise of religious beliefs and the establishment of religious clauses in the First Amendment to the Constitution (Ryman & Alcorn, n.d.). To avoid such issues or conflicts, boundaries or limits should be set on personal religious freedom of expression and observance of Christmas. Christians should be permitted to observe Christmas but in a manner that does not infringe on others’ rights. When observing Christmas, Christians should not be permitted to carry out activities that directly affect the religious beliefs and values of others.
Case Study #2 – Ethic Discrimination
The associate director of Human Resources at the Eastern New Mexico Medical Center, Susan Finn, is facing a dilemma following numerous complaints of alleged abusive behavior by Indrit Khalsa, a contract physician. Khalsa is accused of abusive behavior toward Hispanic and female staff and patients over the past few months. The complaining staff members did not write their allegations for fear of retaliation by the hospital’s management given the huge revenues Khalsa brings. These complaints range from tirades and abusive remarks to derogatory remarks to belittlement in front of patients. However, Finn has directed her boss Jeff McKeleher not to investigate the claims unless they were put in writing. On the other hand, McKeleher told Finn to let him deal with physicians while she handles staff issues. This situation escalated to a point Finn wrote a memo to the vice of president of Medical Affairs, Dr. Tristani, to protect herself from any potential litigation.
Copies of the Memo
Finn wrote a memo to the Medical Affairs’ vice president at a time when the situation was worsening. While her decision to write the memo was slightly motivated by the fear of potential litigation in the future, McKeheler was seemingly reluctant to address the problem despite receiving all complaints from Finn. Susan Finn’s decision to write the memo was in the best interest of the organization as she sought for a better way to address the escalating ethical discrimination problem. In addition to sending her memo to Dr. Tristan, Finn should have sent a copy of it to McKeheler since he was her boss. McKeheler should have received a copy of the memo since he was also aware of the issue. However, Finn was seemingly uncomfortable of sending a copy of her memo to McKeheler given his reluctance to address the issue despite receiving numerous complaints.
Dr. Tristani’s Probable Response
Gausepohl (2017) states that employees are usually uncomfortable reporting forms of discrimination or harassment to their bosses or human resources manager. In this case, Finn was relatively uncomfortable reporting the issue to the management and could only relay the complaints to her immediate boss. For Dr. Tristani, the memo could have come as a surprise to him since he was unaware of Dr. Khalsa’s behavior. Nonetheless, he needs to respond to the various parties involved in the situation as part of finding a lasting solution to it. This essentially means that Dr. Tristani would need to respond to Susan Finn, Khalsa, and McKeheler. His response to these individuals should be based on existing policy and regulations regarding workplace harassment and discrimination.
Dr. Tristani’s response to Finn should indicate the first steps toward dealing with the complaints of workplace harassment. As the vice president of Medical Affairs, Dr. Tristani should appreciate Finn’s courage to report or notify him of the harassment complaints. He should state that such allegations are taken very seriously and are not tolerated in the organization’s workplace. Dr. Tristani should also assure Finn that no adverse or retaliatory actions will be against her for reporting the incidents. Finally, Dr. Tristani should notify Finn that investigations to the complaints will commence immediately and disciplinary actions taken based on the results of the investigation and severity of the alleged workplace harassment or discrimination.
Dr. Tristani should also write to McKeheler to notify him of receipt of complaints of inappropriate behavior by the staff of the Department of Radiation Oncology. During this process, Dr. Tristani should not reveal the source of this information as a means to protect Finn’s privacy and confidentiality. Additionally, protecting Finn’s identity would help protect her from any retaliation by the affected parties. In his memo to McKeheler, Dr. Tristani should seek to find out whether he has received such complaints and what measures he has undertaken so far. This would help Dr. Tristani understand the extent of Dr. Khalsa’s inappropriate behavior and actions taken by the human resource department to deal with the situation. The vice president of Medical affairs should also seek to understand existing policies on harassment, inappropriate behavior, and discrimination in the company’s workplace.
To Dr. Khalsa, Dr. Tristani should notify him of complaints against him regarding inappropriate behavior targeted toward Hispanic and female staff and patients. He should notify Dr. Khalsa that investigations on those complaints have commenced. Dr. Tristani should also request to meet Dr. Khalsa’s to get his side of the story regarding these allegations.
Documentation
Since the complaining employees have not provided any writing to support their claims, Finn may find it difficult to provide necessary documentation. However, Finn could write down a list comprising the different incidents of inappropriate behavior as reported by the various employees. Decker (2018) states that one of the critical measures toward proving harassment in the workplace is writing down specific instances of inappropriate behavior. While she may not have the details of each of these specific instances, she need to write down the complaints she received. In the appointment with Dr. Tristani, Finn should also bring the consent forms and charts thrown by Dr. Khalsa at Betty Cabeza de Baca. Such documentation would help her prove the complaints she received regarding Dr. Khalsa’s inappropriate behavior. In preparation for the meeting, I would not telephone anyone given the seriousness of the allegations and the fact that Dr. Khalsa is not happy with the situation. Finn should focus on preparing her case and the necessary documentation to support the claims instead of calling any other parties regarding this workplace harassment situation.
References
Decker, D. (2018). How to Prove Harassment in the Workplace. Retrieved February 4, 2019, from https://careertrend.com/how-6494331-prove-harassment-workplace.html
Donovan, M.D. (2004). Religion, Neutrality, and the Public School Curriculum: Equal Treatment or Separation? The Catholic Lawyer, 43(1), 187-224.
Gausepohl, S. (2017, April 21). Workplace Harassment: How to Recognize and Report It. Business News Daily. Retrieved February 4, 2019, from https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/9426-workplace-harassment.html
Gerdeman, D. (2018, September 27). Religion in the Workplace: What Managers Need to Know. Retrieved Harvard Business School website: https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/religion-in-the-workplace-what-managers-need-to-know
Kearney, R.C. & Coggburn, J.D. (2016). Public human resource management: problems and prospects (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Ryman, H.M. & Alcorn, J.M. (n.d.). Religious Holidays. Retrieved from Middle Tennessee State University website: https://mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/917/religious-holidays