Constructive Discharge Summary

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Date: Memorandum # 1 From: Name Manager, Elementary Division To: The CEO Subject: Former Employee's Constructive Discharge Claim ______________________________________________________________________ Background: Our company attorney notified me about a former employee who filed a claim against the company citing Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for constructive discharge. Findings: A. How is constructive discharge as a legal concept relevant to the scenario? At the beginning of the New Year, we implemented a new shift policy to keep up with the company growth. We required employees in the production group to work 12-hour shifts with 4 days of work then 4 days off in a rotating shift, which…show more content…
We are doing the shift change to accommodate our growth. Not doing so would result to catastrophic financial losses because of lost opportunities. In Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Townley Engineering & Manufacturing (1988) the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit granted EEOC’s motion for summary judgment on 2 issues regarding religious service attendance of employees, but denied summary judgment on the constructive discharge issue on behalf of a former employee, Pelvas. Townley Engineering and Manufacturing, as a company borne out of faith in God, requires its employees to attend religious services and they are aware of the requirements by the time they get hired. The former employee, Pelvas, complained to the EEOC that the mandatory services are in conflict with his beliefs. One of the defenses that Townley used was the “undue hardship” if they accommodate religious beliefs of Pelvas, which would excuse him from attending the religious services. Townley lost in this argument because the court did not see undue hardship happening for the company if they not allow Pelvas to attend the services. For our situation, we can win in this case because our claim of undue hardship is valid, unlike the Townley’s. We needed this shift change because of business necessity. Not doing so would cause us undue

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