Megan is a young Black woman who was hired at Mensa Corporation. Mensa Corporation is one of the leading cloud-based corporations in the United States that made twenty billion dollars in net profits last year. The company employs less than 1,000 workers annually and is notorious for frequently firing staff.

Megan was interviewed and hired without signing an employment agreement. After 5 months at the company, Human Resources claimed to still be working on her package. Secretly, Mensa had a history of hiring certain employees who the corporation called "special employees" to fulfill diversity requirements and were considered "at-will" employees (which the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) did not know about).

Megan is one of a few women working for Mensa and is the only Black woman at the company. From her first day of work, her manager, Tom, disliked Megan. He disliked her braided hairstyle and choice of clothing, telling his colleagues that she dressed "too Black".

Megan graduated Summa Cum Laude from a popular University in New Jersey with an undergraduate degree in Computer Science. Tom knew this, but told her it meant nothing to him and that she would have to prove that she was worthy of the job. He was never satisfied with her work, though he often claimed Megan's ideas as his own without giving due credit.

One day, Megan approached Tom to discuss his attitude toward her. She pointed out that he often took credit for her work and ideas and, though she never outwardly complained, felt that he held some prejudice against her. Tom admitted that he did not care for his female and black colleagues, causing Megan to take the issue to Human Resources.

The Human Resources director was Tom's brother. In retaliation against Megan's complaint, Tom reported that Megan's work was poor and untimely and recommended her termination from the company. Since Megan did not sign a contract, the director claimed that she was an "at-will" employee, so she could be fired at any time without cause. The director fired Megan without any investigation.

1. Megan's employment circumstances are not under her control and are the responsibility of the Corporation. It appears from the evidence she had done all that was required of her as an employee in the absence of receiving the credit from her Manager, Tom. The discriminatory corporate culture fostered by executives and exploited by Tom was not addressed by HR but further exacerbated by the HR director (Tom's brother). Do you agree or disagree with HR that Megan is an "at-will" employee? From your evaluation of the facts, does Megan have any protection under federal law(s)? If yes, which law(s)? If not, why not?
2. How do the concepts of at-will employment and "special employees" impact the legal rights and protections of workers in situations like Megan's, where she was terminated without cause and without a signed employment agreement? What are the implications for employers who use such policies, and how can they be held accountable for their actions?
3. In this scenario, the EEOC did not know of the employees being labeled "special employees" and their hiring process. If you were the EEOC's Commissioner, would you find these actions/processes objectionable and contrary to federal law? And as the Commissioner of the EEOC, do you think Megan has a justifiable case in view of federal law(s) that she can bring to the EEOC, and you can defend before a U.S. District Judge? Why or Why not?
4. How does the behavior of Megan's manager, Tom, constitute workplace discrimination and harassment, and what legal remedies are available to Megan under federal and state anti-discrimination and anti-harassment laws?

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Megans Employment Status and Legal Protections AtWill Employment Yes Megan likely is an atwill employee In most states absent a contract employers can fire employees atwill without cause However this ... View the full answer