Every manager, at some point in his or her career is likely to be faced with the difficult task of laying off employees. Assume you were a recently appointed manager (without any HR training) in the accounting department of a 4,500 member corporation. You've been notified by top management that due to COVID-19 you must permanently reduce your staff by two individuals. You have no other options except for laying off two employees. Below is some information about your five employees: Emma Connor  Emma is a 32-year old African-American female who has been employed by your company for five years in the accounting department. Her evaluations over the past three years have been outstanding, above average, and outstanding. Emma has an MBA from a top-10 business school. She has been on short-term disability for the past 2 weeks because of the birth of her second child, who has Down's syndrome. She expects to return to work in 18 weeks. Emma is also an officer with the Army Reserves and her unit is scheduled to be activated in six months for a one-year deployment overseas. Ron Johnson  Ron is a 49-year old white male who has been with the accounting department for four months. Previously, he spent 11 years in the company's payroll department. He has an associate's degree in business administration and a bachelor's and master's degree in accounting. He is also a CPA (Certified Public Accountant). Ron's evaluations over the past three years in payroll have been average, but he did save the company $150,000 on a suggestion he made regarding the use of electronic timesheets and he was named Employee of the Year that year. Ron had a serious heart attack 3 years ago, but had two stents put in and he appears to be healthy now. Jose Hernandez  Jose is a 31-year old Hispanic male. Jos has been with the company almost 4 years and his evaluations during the past three years in the accounting department have been outstanding. He is committed to getting the job done, and devoting whatever it takes. He has also shown initiative by taking job assignments that no one else wanted, and he has recovered a number of overdue and uncollectible accounts that you had simply thought should have been written off as losses. Jose has a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting and is currently working on his MBA. Jose's husband also works for the company in the Marketing department. Julie Sapp  Julie is a 38-year old white female. Julie has been with your company for seven years. Four years ago, Julie was in an automobile accident while traveling on business to a company location 35 miles away. As a result of the accident, she was disabled and is a paraplegic. Rumors have it that she is about to receive a $1,000,000 settlement from the insurance company of the driver who hit her. Her performance during the past two years in the accounting department has been above average. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting with a specialization in Cost Accounting. After the accident, her husband left her and their two children, ages 7 and 9, and his whereabouts are unknown. Bobby Hayden  Bobby is a 48-year old African American male who recently completed his Master's degree in Accounting and his law degree (J.D.). He passed the bar exam six months ago. He has been with your department for four years. His evaluations have been good to above average. Twelve years ago, Bobby was a production employee and he won a lawsuit against your company for discriminating against him in a promotion to a supervisory position. Rumors have it that now, with his new degrees and his law license, Bobby is actively pursuing another job outside the company, but Bobby loves working for the company and has no intention of leaving the company. In fact, he dreams of someday being the company's CFO or Corporate Council. 

Given these five brief descriptions, which two employees should be laid off? Why? how is each person protected by EEO law?

 Do you think the two individuals that you lay off could have some legal recourse against you and your company?

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

The decision of whom to lay off is a complex one and should be based on legal and ethical considerations Its important to approach this situation with ... View the full answer