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Unlawful Discrimination?

Case Studies

Directions: Read the following cases below. Do you think unlawful discrimination has
occurred? What would you decide if you were the judge? Why? What are the legal issues
involved?

Case #1
Edward Roberts, a black truck driver, applied in person for a tractor trailer truck driver position
at a trucking company on March 31, 2005, in response to a newspaper ad. Roberts’ application
listed 22 months of prior experience as a road driver. He had an additional 10 years of
experience which he did not list on the application due to lack of space on the form.
Roberts was neither interviewed nor contacted by the company about the status of his
application. In June 2005, Roberts saw an identical ad for tractor trailer drivers. Upon inquiry,
Roberts learned that eight persons (all white) had been hired as truck drivers between April and
June 2005. All of those hired had less than 22 months of driving experience. The company
contended that Roberts was not hired because the company had no openings when he applied.
Roberts filed a discrimination complaint in District Court.

Case #2
Thelma Jones worked for a large public accounting firm for 5 years when the partners proposed
her as a candidate for partnership. Of the 662 partners in the firm, seven were women. Of the 88
persons proposed for the year, Jones was the only woman. Forty-seven were admitted to
partnership, 21 were rejected, and 20, including Jones, were held for “reconsideration.” Thirteen
of the 32 partners who submitted comments on Jones’s performance supported her candidacy,
three recommended holding her application, eight stated that they had insufficient knowledge to
comment, and eight recommended denial. While the partners praised her outstanding
performance, both supervisors and opponents of her candidacy, indicated that sometimes she was
overly aggressive, unduly harsh, difficult to work with, and impatient with staff. One partner
described her as “macho.” In a meeting with a senior partner about her candidacy, she was told
that, to improve her chances for partnership, she should “walk more femininely, talk more
femininely, dress more femininely, wear make-up, style her hair, and wear jewelry.” When the
partners refused to consider her candidacy the following year she sued the firm, charging them
with sex discrimination.

Case #3: Dignity Health Case (July 11, 2018)


According to the EEOC's investigation, Alina Sorling worked as a food service technician in
Mercy Medical Center's cafeteria for over ten years, performing tasks that included cashiering,
grilling, cleaning and stocking. Surviving a severe illness that left her with vision loss, Sorling
took an unpaid leave of absence to rehabilitate and learn non-visual techniques necessary for
independent living.
After she successfully mastered everyday tasks, including cooking in her own kitchen and
excellent proficiency with knife skills, Sorling sought to return to work and informed her
employer of multiple accommodations that she or the California Department of Rehabilitation
could provide to allow her to perform the duties of her job. Making unsupported assumptions
about safety and her capacity, Dignity Health unilaterally rejected the suggestions, and cited a
20/40 vision requirement when they fired her in June 2015 - even though they had never
administered a vision test in the ten years she had worked there.
According to company information, Dignity Health, headquartered in San Francisco, is the fifth-
largest health system in the United States and comprises more than 60,000 caregivers and staff,
delivering care to communities across 21 states. Dignity Health is the largest hospital provider in
California and operates Mercy Medical Center in Redding, where Sorling worked for ten years
before she was fired.

"After unexpectedly losing her vision and working incredibly hard to rehabilitate herself and
learn new skills, Ms. Sorling was ready to go back to work without restrictions for an employer
she had served loyally for over a decade," said William Tamayo, the EEOC's San Francisco
District Office Director. "Instead of allowing her to demonstrate her abilities, Dignity Health
excluded her due to fixed assumptions about her disability and limitations.

Case #4
A state medical school had reserved 16% of its admission places for minority applicants. John
Smith, a white man from California who had twice unsuccessfully applied for admission to the
medical school, sued the university. Citing evidence that his grades and test scores surpassed
those of many minority students who had applied to the medical school and had been accepted.
Smith charged that he had suffered “reverse discrimination” on the bases of race.

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