Another practical application of this knowledge comes from a couple of different cases, where a company won a case because it had documented past indiscretions of the worker and another company lost because it did not have a well-documented history of poor performance. In the latter case, the company's contention that the firing was for poor performance was viewed by the court as a pretext for dismissal, and the employee won her case. This material relates to Chapter 3, which covers the Civil Rights Act and workplace discrimination. Workplace discrimination is a challenging issue for companies. While there is some clarity in the statutes and case law, some areas are still evolving, as this article shows. The article also highlights the different variables that come into play once a lawsuit has been undertaken by an employee....

It is worth considering for an HRM professional that knowing the law is a great way to prevent such cases from ever reaching court. Litigation is a very expensive way of resolving grievances, so companies should ensure that HR departments have full knowledge of the laws surrounding civil rights and workplace discrimination. In most cases, some interpretation will need to be made on the part of the courts. It is too bad that the article did not actually come to a conclusion about the watermelon comment -- there were other factors that worked against the employee so that comment was not the central issue of the case. Managers also need to be aware of what constitutes discrimination and under what circumstances the company can face a discrimination or wrongful dismissal suit. This article and others like it can provide…