Legal Issue Assignment

Short Paper Assignment

Question 1: Case Investigation – what rights have been violated, by ACME

Military and Veteran Status Discrimination

California Military and Veterans Code section 394 protects veterans from employment discrimination and grant certain employment rights to veterans and active service members. Peter Pettibone was a veteran in the United States Army; therefore, he is a member of a protected class. Lane Kiffen was anti-war and military. When Lane knew Peter’s years of service in the military, he refused to hire Peter. If Peter was treated differently from similarly qualified members who were not in the military protected class, Lane constituted improper military and veteran status discrimination.

Disability Discrimination

The Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibits discrimination against applicants or employees with physical or mental disabilities. Peter has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; therefore, he is a member of protected class. However, when Lane knew that Peter has a disability, he didn’t explore any possibilities of reasonable accommodation prior to rejecting Peter for making employment-related decision. Accordingly, Lane’s action constituted disability discrimination.

Employee Status Determination

Martha Smith and Peter had an oral contract for the sales clerk position because she told him that he was hired. Also, Peter was an employee, and not an independent contractor of at ACME Nutrition, Inc. because he was paid by the hour not by the job, and he was provided with all the necessary instrumentalities, tools, and the place to do his job. However, AMEC Nutrition, Inc. didn’t pay Peter’s payroll taxes. On the other hand, if AMEC Nutrition, Inc. classified Peter as independent contractor, they didn’t provided Peter with an IRS form 1099.

Question 2-1: Write a model sexual harassment and discrimination policy for an employer in the State of California.

Policy Statement

This defines the sexual harassment and...