HR Issues, Case Study Example

Was Jill McNair correct when she told her manager, Jerry Tarkwell, “You had no right to read my personal email?” If yes, explain why. If no, explain why not.

A1. Jill McNair was wrong when she told her manager, Jerry Tarkwell that he had no right to read her personal email. First of all, the email was written on a company’s asset which means Jill could not expect privacy over an action performed using company’s asset which was office computer in this case. In addition, Jill wrote the email while at work which means she used the time for which she was being paid for, on writing the email.

Even the courts have ruled that employers have right to monitor and check employees’ emails and other form of communication that take place using company-provided tools, during work time, or at company’s property. Jill’s argument also becomes weaker if she was informed by the company at the time she joined the company that company’s computers are to be used for business purpose only, employees’ communication is monitored, and employees should not expect any privacy. Jill’s argument also becomes weaker if she was using the corporate email server to send the message. (Privacy Rights Clearinghouse).

Even if Jerry had not seen the message on the computer, communication records are saved by corporate servers and upper management could have accessed it anyway if it wanted to. The message Jerry read had important implications for company’s sexual harassment policy which also strengthens the legal argument for reading Jill’s message. Reading the message has made it possible for Jerry to respond to a problem and in doing so he has served a valid interest of the company. It is clear that Jerry had a right to read Jill’s message even if he stumbled upon it accidently and he exercised his right in a rightful manner.

2. Was Jill McNair correct when she told her manager, Jerry Tarkwell, “You had no right to call the equal employment officer before talking to me?” If yes, explain why. If no, explain why not.

A2. Jill McNair was not correct when told her manager that he had no right to call the equal employment officer before talking to her. It is irrelevant whether the affected party agrees to the incident to be reported because it was not only about protecting Jill but other individuals in the organization as well. Jill failed to realize that the stakes were much higher and were not limited to her only.

Jill was also wrong because it was not Jill’s private matter as she implied but instead a work-related matter, thus, Jerry didn’t need Jill’s permission. In addition, Jerry didn’t act in a personal capacity but as a guardian of the company’s interest. Incidents like these can expose companies to expensive lawsuits.

The offender who was harassing Jill was also an agent of the company and the company is responsible for the actions of its agents. In other words, the company has a vested interest in regulating the behavior of its agents, thus, Jill was not the only stakeholder. The fact that one of the company’s agents was engaging in sexual harassment was sufficient reason for Jerry to take action without seeking Jill’s consent.

3.Was Jerry Tarkwell correct when he told Jill McNair, “ as your manager, I have to report this”. Did Tarkwell have to report the incident to the equal employment officer? If yes, explain. If no, explain why not.

A3. Jerry Tarkwell was correct when he told Jill McNair that as her manager, he had to report the incident. Managers at all organizations whether profit or non-profit are expected to report incidents of sexual harassment to the HR department when they observe, suspect, or are informed of such an activity. Since Jerry clearly saw an evidence of potential episode of sexual harassment, he had a duty to report to the Equal Employment Officer (EEO). Failure to do so would also have potentially exposed Jerry to disciplinary action.

Jerry was Jill’s manager and one of the manager’s responsibilities is to prevent a hostile work environment for his/her subordinates. Jerry knew that it was negatively affecting Jill and he also wondered how many others may be under the same situation as Jill. If Jerry didn’t take action, it would only have given more courage to the offenders and set a wrong precedent. Upper management’s actions have major impact on organizational culture and failure to report would have made Jerry guilty of helping develop an organizational culture in which sexual harassment is tolerated and subordinates are afraid to report due to potential negative implications for their career.

Jerry was also right to report because neither him nor Jill had the expertise to deal with the issue. Issues like sexual harassment are usually dealt the HR departments who are well versed in employment laws including sexual harassment regulations. Jerry reported the incident to equal employment officer so that he could take the measures to deal with the issue in the most effective manner and helps ensure such incidents are minimized in the near future.

4 Jerry Tarkwell’s singular focus only on the legal liability that his company may face may be blinding him to a larger problem: an office culture where sexual harassment thrives. Some analysts believe that sexual harassment claims are function of larger cultural patterns within the organization. How should Tarkwell use this case to address the possibility of a permissive organizational culture that allows sexual to thrive?

A4. Jerry Tarkwell should focus on building a harassment-free culture in order to prevent the incidents of harassment from occurring in the first place. He can take several measures to help build an organizational culture that strictly discourages harassment of any kind. One strategy may be providing sexual harassment training to all employees which will send the message sexual harassment will not be tolerated at workplaces. Similarly, the management should take measures to ensure employees know where to turn when they may be faced with incidents of harassment and what steps they may need to take. If employees don’t know what the formal company policy is, they may either be hesitant to report such incidents or may counter it in their own ways which would only lead to inconsistency within the organization in its dealings with the issue of sexual harassment.

The management has a huge impact on the organizational culture, thus, it should set personal examples for subordinates that sexual harassment will not be tolerated within the organization. It will send a powerful message to the subordinates and increase their trust in the organizational culture and even give them courage to be more forthcoming with episodes of harassment whether they are victims or observers (Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat).

The management should also implement monitoring tools to catch potential instances of harassment before they become bigger problems. Jerry found about Jill’s case by accident but monitoring tools will ensure the management is actively looking for signs that may indicate potential size of harassment taking place at work (Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat).

Open communication plays a major role in increasingly subordinates’ trust in the management, thus, the management should foster an environment of open communication by continuously reaching out to subordinates and inviting them to do the same in case they may have ideas or concerns (Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat). It is also the management’s job to identify factors that may discourage employees from reporting incidents of harassment and address them. Jill’s example shows that employees sometimes do not report harassment because they expect the costs to outweigh the benefits. Unless they can be assured the potential benefits will outweigh the costs, it will be difficult to encourage them to help build a culture free of harassment.

Works Cited

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. Workplace Privacy and Employee Monitoring. 13 December 2013 <https://www.privacyrights.org/workplace-privacy-and-employee-monitoring#4>.

Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. Preventing and Resolving Harassment in the Workplace – A Guide for Managers. 14 December 2013 <http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/gui/hars01-eng.asp>.