Assignment

The Week $2-$ Groovia Case Study can be found in the Week $2-$ Content section.

You have been approached by Samantha Diaz, one of the team supervisors at Groovia. Six weeks ago, her boss, the Operations Manager Tracy Mueller, hired her nephew, Emilio Saucedo, to work at Groovia, Inc. under the direct supervision of Diaz.

Saucedo was completely unqualified for the position for which he was hired $($quality control supervisor$)$ and in the six weeks that he worked at Groovia, never did any work. He came to work, went online, talked on his cell phone and took long lunch and coffee breaks to do personal shopping and errands.

Diaz told you that on June $28,$ she had had enough. Saucedo was late to work, offered no apologies and then promptly left for the rest of the morning, returning to work only after lunch. When he returned, Diaz approached Saucedo and warned him that he would be fired if he didn$$t improve his attendance and if he didn$$t do the work he was hired to do$.$ Instead of listening, Saucedo complained to Brooklyn Carver, the CEO, that he felt that he was being treated differently and less favorably than other employees because he was Tracy$$s nephew. Carver asked Diaz about this, and Diaz denied that she was treating him unfavorably and explained the situation.

The next morning, Diaz sent Saucedo the following text message $($on the PDF of the case study, under Content$),$ telling him that he was fired. When you asked Diaz why she had terminated Saucedo, Diaz said that it was not only because he wasn$$t doing anything but also because he had become a $$pain in the neck,$$ complaining to Carver about this supposed unfair treatment. Diaz saw Saucedo as a whiner.

You have not approached Tracy Mueller about her nephew and in fact, didn$$t know that he had been hired. You found out from Diaz that Mueller had gone behind your back in hiring Saucedo and had asked one of the newer HR generalists to do the paperwork. Because the HR generalist was new to the company and not completely familiar with the policies for new hires $($and that all be approved by you as the HR manager$),$ he completed the paperwork and thus left you in the dark until all of this $$mess$$ regarding Saucedo$$s termination occurred.

Carver has arranged a meeting with you to discuss this situation and would like your advice on how to proceed. Carver is concerned with Groovia$$s exposure to legal liability for Mueller$$s actions, as well as for Diaz$$s termination of Saucedo. In addition to considering the Groovia handbook provisions $($on the next page$),$ you must also consider whether there are any state or federal laws that were or may have been violated either by Mueller when she hired Saucedo or by Diaz when she fired him.

Your answer should be an email to Carver in which you discuss:

$$ Whether Groovia faces any legal liability for this situation and for Saucedo$$s termination

$$ If the company does, what laws $($federal or state$)$ might be violated?

$$ If a claim were filed, would Groovia be liable? Why or why not?

$$ Discuss any other issues that you see are relevant as well and provide Carver the advice sought.

Relevant provisions from the Groovia, Inc. Employee Handbook:

ANTI$-$NEPOTISM: Groovia, Inc. does not allow the employment of relatives of employees, of the employee's household, or immediate family. After careful consideration, Groovia has reached the conclusion that such employment creates actual conflicts of interest between the family members and with other Groovia employees. For purposes of this policy, $"$ relative" is defined as a spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, first cousin, corresponding in$-$law, "step" relation, or any member of the employee's household.

ANTI$-$RETALIATION: Choosing to speak up about workplace concerns helps builds a healthy, ethical, and compliant company and is part of our culture. To promote that culture, Groovia encourages employees to speak up and raise questions and concerns promptly about any situation that may violate our Code of Conduct, our core values or our policies. At Groovia our people are our most valuable asset. It benefits all of us if we raise our concerns so the Company may consider them carefully and address them properly.

PROGRESSIVE CORRECTIVE ACTION PROCESS POLICY: Corrective action is a process designed to identify and correct problems that affect an employee's work performance or the overall performance of the department. The progressive corrective action process should be handled consistently within each unit and for each problem.

The Progressive Corrective Action Process refers to the following actions:

$1.$ Counseling or verbal warning;

$2.$ Written reprimand and warning;

$3.$ Suspension or Suspension pending investigation and final determination;

$4.$ Specific warning of termination; and

$5.$ Termination.

These steps are usually taken in sequence when an em