Case Study

Ms. Mendoza filed two complaints with EEOC against Dade County. Her claims were that she got passed up on a promotion because she was female and Hispanic. Her manger, Mr. Flood, claims it wasn’t because of her sex or race that she got passed up, but because of her abrasive personality and detrimental effect on the work performance of others. Some specific examples he cited were that, Ms. Mendoza constantly criticizes upper management in front of employees, she degrades employees rather than try to offer constructive criticism, and she uses her authority very unwisely. Mr. Flood also claims that his perception of Ms. Mendoza is shared by two other supervisors, one who happens to be Hispanic. If Mr. Flood would have promoted Ms. Mendoza, about half of the twenty bookkeepers and clerks would probably resign because they were so adamant in their negative feelings toward Ms. Mendoza.

In Ms. Mendoza second complaint filed with the EEOC regarding her annual performance appraisal. She was down-graded form excellent to satisfactory and her conduct was considered border-line. The report included some instances of behaving inappropriately at work, which included, talking with employees about personal matters, use of office telephone for personal use, left work for extended hours without notifying her supervisor, and conducted personal business during business hours. She claims that these complaints are totally without merit. Mr. Flood also brings up the time Ms. Mendoza visited two employees’ homes and asked for letters of personal recommendation. They were concerned if they didn’t comply their job status would be affected. Each of Ms. Mendoza’s weaknesses on the performance report was discussed with her and she was told that all the reports in the past were inflated. In fact, two-thirds of the current employees evaluated this year had received lower ratings on their performance reports.

Mr. Flood shows a lot of merit to his claims against Ms. Mendoza. He shows...