Essay Question 3: Screening process-25 marks

Maria Smith works as a data entry clerk in a government department that is undergoing downsizing. Smith, who is severely hearing impaired, has been a productive employee in her department for the last five years. Her performance has always been above average.

Smith has received notice that her position is being eliminated as part of the downsizing. Under her unions contract, she must be given preference for any government job for which she is qualified. She must be given the job at the expense of other workers, even those already in the position, who may have less seniority. This practice is known as bumping.

Smith has been invited to apply for a term position in another government department, which is converting archival data from paper to an electronic database. To qualify for the position, Smith will have to pass an interview, a timed typing test, an accuracy test that involves accuracy in transcribing information from a computer screen, and another accuracy test that involves following written instructions to enter written records into the computer database. Those are the same tests that all candidates for the position have had to pass to become eligible for the job.

Smith was interviewed on week prior to being administered the three-skill test. The interview protocol followed a standardized form used by tall government departments. The tree skill tests were administered to groups of nine applicants each. The applicants were seated at desks with computers, which were arranged in three rows, of three desks each. The instructions for the tests were given verbally by the test administrator. Smith was provided with the services of a sign language interpreter during the testing and interview sessions.

Smith passed the interview but failed the skill test. Her scores are presented in the table below along with the minimum scores that had to be obtained on each test to receive a job offer. Based on her performance on the tests, Smith did not receive an offer for the job and was laid off when her current job ended. Smith now believes that she was the victim of discrimination based on. Her physical disability; she claims that during the interview many references were made to her disability and that the interview always addressed questions to the sign language interpreter and never made eye contact with her. She feels that she was at a disadvantage in taking the skills tests.

Smiths scores relative to standards needed to pass each test
	Standards	Smith
Interview	30/50 points	36 points
Typing	50 words per minute with 5 or fewer errors	36 words per minute with 5 errors
Accuracy Following Questions	7/10	5.5
Accuracy - Transcribing	7/10	5

Case Questions

1. Should Smith have received a job offer? Why or why not? (5 marks)

2. Was Smith the victim of discrimination because of her disability? (5 marks)

3. Did she receive appropriate accommodation? (3 marks)

4. Are the employers standards defensible as a BFOR? (5 marks)

5. If you were the employers legal counsel, how would you defend the employer at a human rights tribunal that is called to hear Smiths complaint? What would you advise your client to do with respect to the charge? (7 marks)

When qualified applicants are scarce, recruiting becomes extremely competitive, particularly when two companies go after the same candidate, as often happens in the case of searching for professionals.

After interviewing three shortlisted candidates, a high-tech company, Company X, made an offer to one and advised the other two candidates that they were unsuccessful. He successful candidate was given one week to consider the offer. The candidate asked for a weeks extension to consider the offer but was granted only an additional 3 days.

At the end of the time period, the candidate verbally accepted the offer and was sent a contract to sign. Rather than returning the signed contract, the candidate informed Company X that he had accepted a position at Company Y. He had received the second offer after verbally accepting the first position at Company X. The second company knew that the candidate had verbally accepted Company Xs offer.

Before accepting Companys offer, the candidate had consulted a respected mentor who advised him to ignore his verbal commitment to Company X and to accept Company Ys offer. There were no substantial differences in the salaries being offered by each company or in the work that each would expect the candidate to perform. The candidate simply saw Company Y as the more prestigious of the two employers.

Case Questions:

1. Did the candidate act in an appropriate manner? (5 marks)
2. What should the candidate have done? (5 marks)
3. Did Company Y act ethically, knowing that the candidate had verbally accepted another offer? ( 3 marks)
4. Does a verbal acceptance constitute a legal and binding contract? (3 marks)
5. Should Company X take any action to enforce the verbal commitment? Should it take any legal action against the candidate or Company Y? Why or why not? (5 marks)
6. Describe what Company X should have done to maintain the candidates interest in the position. (4 marks)