At Pizza Party Place (PPP),the organization's website states that its culture is one of inclusion, safety, health, and care for its employees. At monthly meetings of the HR Director for PPP and its department leaders, the group goes over ways to ensure that injuries for its employees are handled appropriately, ethically, and legally. However, an audit of the previous 6-months activities shows that PPP may not be walking its talk.

You are an intern with the PPP HR team, and the new director (hired last week) has asked you to help her out by giving her a brief rundown of some of the concerns you may have regarding the compliance with OSHA and New Jersey State laws for protection of the health of the employees. Further, she has asked you to provide some insights on ethical issues with respect to how current (or past) employees have been treated after being injured.

Review the following injuries of employees located in five of the companies' eight locations throughout the state of New Jersey and write a brief memo to the new HR Director explaining why you are concerned. Be sure to use what you know about OSHA from your textbook, as well as any New Jersey information you may discover through online research on the

https://www.nj.gov/labor/

January 12, 2017 - Amy Adams fell down the stairs on her way to the storage area in the basement of PPP located in Bayonne, New Jersey. She was heading down to get pizza sauce when the stair railing broke off. She hit her head on the way down and got a concussion, as well as a broken left arm. She filed for worker's compensation, and was terminated as a result. Her case is currently under investigation. She lost her health benefits, as did her 8 year old daughter, who suffers from Type 1 diabetes.

January 22, 2017 - Bobby Barker was killed while delivering a pizza to a customer in Hackensack, NJ. He was following PPP's "drive in five" rule where all pizzas will be delivered within a 5 minute window of projected time and sped through a train crossing where the warning lights were sounding (it had no safety arm). He was struck by the train and killed instantly. PPP sent his family a lifetime supply of PPP pizzas (which includes 4 pizzas/week - cheese only). He had no life insurance with the organization, and his wife was told that as an independent contractor, there were no other benefits provided to Bobby. Bobby was driving a PPP delivery truck when he was hit, and was paid for an average of 38 hours/work/week for the past 4 years. His lawyer claims Bobby was an employee, not an independent contractor, that he was paid with a paycheck that withheld his taxes, and received a W2 each year. Further, his lawyer said in a statement, "not that this means anything! PPP should pay! Haven't you heard of the https://law.justia.com/cases/new-jersey/appellate-division-unpublished/2014/a3845-12.html (You sure are glad that he provided the link to the case in his statement).

March 10, 2017 - Cyndi Lawper was a janitor at the PPP in Fort Lee, NJ. While cleaning the men's bathroom, she was assaulted by a customer, and left on the floor, bleeding from a head wound. No one found her until the next day, and she has suffered dementia and memory loss. She is on permanent disability leave, and her medical bills have all been paid by worker's compensation. She will receive monthly payments under her long-term disability payments and never has to work again. Because this injury occurred by a customer's hand (and he is being prosecuted criminally), PPP did not report this injury to OSHA or to the NJ DOL.

April 29, 2017 - Dechlan York wasthe Vice President of PPP, working from their headquarters in Newark, NJ. While driving to work, Dechlan watched as an armed robber left a bank, and then jumped into Dechlan's unlocked BMW, pointed his gun at Dechlan, and forced him to drive the robber to a location in New York where the robber proceeded to beat Dechlan and steal his car, leaving Dechlan on the side of the road and covered with leaves. He was found and saved by actor Stephen King, dressed in a clown costume, but Dechlan now suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome, which has caused him to experience serious difficulties with driving to work. (He also has a frightful fear of clowns, which PPP insists on continuing to use at PPP parties, since clowning has always been one of PPPs pet projects). Dechlan has demanded to work from home, and the organization has stated that his work duties include being present in the headquarters at least 4 out of 5 days/week. He is currently on a leave of absence under FMLA, but that will run out in 2 days. The organization is considering offering him a quiet termination package to leave the organization. The package will be worth two years salary, and all medical costs covered. Declan feels he is being mistreated and has demanded worker's compensation and accommodations to work from home.

May 3, 2017 - Evelyn Smith is a waitress at PPP, who slipped and fell when the power went out at the store in Brick, NJ, so that she did not see that a customer had spilled his soda on the floor. She landed on her back end and broke her tailbone. Then, because the store was dark, the manager stepped on her hand and broke two of her fingers. After six months of physical therapy and chiropractic care, she has returned to work. However, since the soda was spilled by a customer, PPP has objected to her claim with Worker's Compensation and is also fighting OSHAs finding that the failure to have emergency lighting contributed to the injury. The manager denies having stepped on Evelyn's hand, although his shoe print was verified by the ambulance first-responder at the scene. OSHA has required that PPP put up emergency lights in three locations of the store for safety reasons (including Exit lights which do not exist) - but PPP has refused, saying that there are enough windows in the store to provide light from the outside street lights in power outage situations.

Please provide your thoughts to the new HR Director about your concerns regarding the above situations and the PPP response to them. Suggest some ways that PPP may increase workplace safety and become more wellness focused. Cite any sources you use.

This should be a memo to the HR Director (Lizzie Bardon), with length about two to three pages.

(Note that the organization ,PPP, is fictional and does not exist. The injuries, names, and places noted here are fictional. Any coincidental similarity to a real place or people is totally accidental. The reference to Stephen King and his movie clown in It was parody. The Perry Horse Stable case is real.)

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Your Name Your Position Date To Lizzie Bardon HR Director Pizza Party Place PPP Concerns and Recommendations for Workplace Safety and Employee Wellbeing Dear Ms Bardon I hope this memo finds you well ... View the full answer