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Week 3 Discussion – Case Studies

Dr. Rashida Jones, Regional Office Director, Great Plains Medical Supply and Service Company

Dr. Rashida Jones is the new director of the regional office of the Great Plains Medical Supply
and Service Company. Her Customer Care Delivery Team (CCDT) employees are responsible for
responding to online orders from their health system clients and ensuring deliveries are
completed within 24 hours. To accomplish this, the CCDT employees drive company vehicles
and, on occasion, assist with direct purchase transactions. Safety and reliability are key
characteristics of the CCDT employees.

As a new director, Rashida is taking the time to review the new hires and terminations for her
department over the past year. She also wants to ensure that there are no pending concerns
with violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Rashida knows that if an employee
is terminated, compliance with ADA is an important consideration. As she makes her way
through the hiring and termination files from the previous year, she notes that the following
four terminations have recently occurred in her regional office:

1. Charlie was terminated after the company discovered he was an alcoholic.
2. Jennifer was terminated after the company discovered she had a history of cancer.
3. Jose was terminated after he was diagnosed with epilepsy.
4. Conner was terminated after he was seen on the news at a Gay Pride March.
5. Bruce was terminated after the company discovered he had a compulsive gambling

problem.

Employee termination decisions can be difficult for any manager. If you were Rashida, which of
these terminations would you think violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), if any?
Explain your answer. How would you recommend Rashida address these termination issues and
possible violations of ADA? Support your Discussion with evidence from this week’s Learning
Resources and any additional research you have done.

Mr. Thomas Cantu, Human Resource Manager, Kind Hearts Assisted Living Center

Mr. Thomas Cantu is the Human Resource Manager at Kind Hearts Assisted Living Center. The
assisted living facility is seeking to ensure that unintended instances of unlawful discrimination
do not occur during either recruitment or promotion processes within the organization. Explain
at least one method you would recommend that would be most effective in preventing
unintended instances of unlawful discrimination during recruitment and one method you would
recommend that would be most effective in preventing unintended instances during
promotion. Support your Discussion with evidence from this week’s Learning Resources and
any additional research you have done.

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Ms. Camille Cooper, Director of Nursing, River Basin Healthcare System

Four Rivers Regional Healthcare System and Rural Middle America Healthcare, with facilities

across three states, recently merged and became River Basin Healthcare System. There is

concern that both health systems have potential instances of discrimination in their past and

that there is potential for these discriminatory practices to continue to be used for promotions

within the newly formed River Basin Healthcare System. The merger presents new

opportunities for advancement within the nursing department.

How would you suggest that Ms. Cooper, Director of Nursing, address the potential for

discrimination? Specifically, Ms. Cooper has been told that promotions often happened by

“word of mouth” recommendations. What are the advantages and disadvantages of “word of

mouth” recommendations? What do you recommend Ms. Cooper do to address the concerns?

Support your Discussion with evidence from this week’s Learning Resources and any additional

research you have done.

Chester Cruise, Human Resources Manager, Springfield Clinical Healthcare Associates

Chester Cruise is the Human Resources Manager for Springfield Clinical Healthcare Associates.

Chester recently investigated a complaint from an Asian American nurse who quit his job in the

outpatient center because he noticed that Asian American nurses were being passed over for

promotions in favor of Caucasian nurses. Chester decided to review the promotion reports from

the past two years to see if the reports substantiated or refuted the claim. Chester summarized

the data contained in the reports in the following table.

Health System Nursing Personnel Promotion Rates

Units Year Caucasian Rate Asian American Rate

Ambulatory Care
Facilities

2017 12.48% 8.35%

Ambulatory Care
Facilities

2016 7.50% 9.76%

Medical Surgical
Units

2017 10.85% 7.57%

Medical Surgical
Units

2016 9.64% 8.97%

Quality Assurance
Division

2017 11.48% 7.66%

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Based on the data contained in this table, explain whether there is evidence to support the

claim that Springfield Clinical Healthcare Associates passes over Asian American nurses in favor

of promoting Caucasian nurses. How might this positively or negatively impact Springfield

Clinical Healthcare Associates? How do you recommend that Chester address the situation?

Support your Discussion with evidence from this week’s Learning Resources and any additional

research you have done.

Dr. Barbara Bennett, Medical Director, Greybull Medical Center

Workplace violence is a growing concern within the healthcare employment sector. Dr. Barbara

Bennett is the medical director for Greybull Medical Center, a rural hospital in Greybull,

Wyoming. Over the past year, there has been an increase in workplace violence reports coming

from the operating room facilities. This trend is deeply concerning to her, as well as the fact

that several of the reports have included incidents with some of her physicians. One nurse has

indicated that she is planning to press criminal charges including battery. To counter workplace

violence at her facility, what do you recommend that Dr. Bennett do, in partnership with the

Human Resources team to address the issue? Along with your recommendation, outline the

steps you would have Dr. Bennett follow. Support your Discussion with evidence from this

week’s Learning Resources and any additional research you have done.

Mrs. Carmen Silva, Medical Technologist, Rocky Mountain Medical Systems

Mrs. Carmen Silva is a medical technologist with Rocky Mountain Medical Systems and a native

Brazilian. She had applied to become the supervisor of the clinical lab department and was

shocked when she found out that she did not receive a promotion. Carmen believed that she

was fully qualified for the specified responsibilities of the supervisor position, so she filed a

lawsuit alleging national origin discrimination. Identify at least two specific points from Title VII

of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that the courts will need to apply to decide her case. Explain your

answer. Support your Discussion with evidence from this week’s Learning Resources and any

additional research you have done.

Mr. Mark Winters, Project Manager, Goodcare Medical Center

Mark Winters is a project manager in the human resource department at Goodcare Medical

Center. He is currently working with the food service employees to better understand their

needs. He is also working with Viola Jensen, the Food Service Director, to design training

programs to enhance job satisfaction. Identify at least two specific and fundamental goals of

human resource management that Mark will be addressing as he works on this project. Explain

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how partnering with Viola will help achieve these goals. Support your Discussion with evidence

from this week’s Learning Resources and any additional research you have done.

Ms. Josie Davis, Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator, and Mrs. Patsy Buckinghorn, Senior

Clinical Research Coordinator, Garrison-Craig Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Josie Davis is 26 years old. She recently graduated from college and was just hired on as the

Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator at Garrison-Craig Pharmaceuticals, Inc. She is young and

energetic and excited to be working on the clinical research team.

Patsy Buckinghorn is 59 years old. She has worked for Garrison-Craig Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

since she was 21. She began as an Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator and was eventually

promoted to Associate Clinical Research Coordinator and then Senior Clinical Research

Coordinator. She is good at her job and she is confident in her skills.

Generational differences can impact an individual’s approach to work. These differences can be

observable in the workplace. Explain how employers may tend to view older workers like Patsy

as compared to younger workers like Josie. Consider characteristics like productivity,

attractiveness, and expense to the organization in your explanation. Support your Discussion

with evidence from this week’s Learning Resources and any additional research you have done.

Mr. Dennis Bennett, Human Resources Specialist, North American Managed Care Health

Insurance Company

Dennis Bennett is a Human Resources Specialist for North American Managed Care Health
Insurance Company. He specializes in investigating discrimination and sexual harassment cases,
as well as creating and delivering corporate training on these topics. Over the last few months,
Dennis has been working on investigating the following cases that were reported to the Office
of Human Resources.

1. Ms. Carl contacted the HR office to report that Mr. Ange, a coworker, invited her
out to a bar and that Mr. Ange encouraged her to wear something sexy and
fun…the more revealing the better.

2. A colleague of the health plan’s medical director, Dr. Choi, contacted HR to
report that Dr. Choi told him that Ms. Blackstone did not get a raise because she
refused to engage in the sexual activities that he had asked for.

3. It has come to the Office of Human Resources attention that Mr. Kelly and Ms.
Tisdall have been dating and have willingly agreed to have intercourse.

4. Ms. Connor, a utilization review nurse in the Medicaid managed care office, has
reported that Dr. Kensic refuses to give her a favorable performance evaluation
unless she agrees to go out on a date with him.

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Sexual harassment continues to be a serious issue in the workplace. Consider the four

examples provided. Which of these examples do you think are not examples of sexual

harassment? For each example, provide your rationale and supporting evidence. Support your

Discussion with evidence from this week’s Learning Resources and any additional research you

have done.