Regina Foxwell is employed as a Detention Officer (%u201CDO%u201D) with Howard C
ID: 403328 • Letter: R
Question
Regina Foxwell is employed as a Detention Officer (%u201CDO%u201D) with Howard County Department of Corrections (%u201CDepartment%u201D). Ms. Foxwell was hired in September 1997. She is African-American. Ms. Foxwell has long complained to management that there are not sufficient African-Americans in supervisory positions. Howard County is located in the State of Maryland. Maryland has a 706 agency. As a government employer, the Department of Corrections employs 827 people.
In January 1999 DO Foxwell applied for a promotion to Sergeant, which is a first-level supervisory position. She was selected for the position in June 1999. However DO Foxwell declined the offer because she wanted to concentrate on obtaining her undergraduate degree in criminal justice. She felt the demands of the job would distract her from finishing her degree. She ultimately obtained her degree in May 2000.
Foxwell applied for promotion again in 2003, 2007 and 2011. Each time she was deemed to meet the minimum qualifications of the job and referred for interview. She was in fact interviewed on each occasion but never selected. Each year the promotion process begins in January and the selections are announced in June of that same year.
After not being selected in 2011, DO Foxwell requested a meeting with the Director of the Department, Brian Coleman. Mr. Coleman has been the director since 1998. DO Foxwell wanted to discuss her concerns about not being able to receive the promotion on her last three attempts. She sent an e-mail to Mr. Coleman on July 7, 2011 requesting a meeting.
Fearing an emotionally charged meeting that he earnestly wanted to avoid, Coleman told his secretary to tell DO Foxwell that he could not meet with her; however, she is a valuable member of the Department and he encourages her to continue in her attempts to obtain a promotion. His secretary sent DO Foxwell an e-mail relaying this message. Because the secretary was on vacation, she did not send the e-mail to DO Foxwell until August 10, 2011.
In January 2012, Ms. Foxwell filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC, alleging she was not promoted in 2003, 2007 and 20011 because of her race. Ms. Foxwell claims that there is no other explanation for her non-selection in 2003, 2007, and 2011. She is more qualified now than she was in 1999 when she was offered the promotion. She has more seniority than any of the other persons who were selected. On September 1, 2012, DO Foxwell received her right to sue letter from the EEOC and filed a lawsuit approximately 30 days later.
Howard County%u2019s Office of Human Resources investigated the complaint. Mr. Coleman denied any racial discrimination. He advised that within the Department all interviews were conducted by a panel of three persons who each score the candidates during the oral interview. The scores from each panelist are averaged for a final score. The person with the highest final score is recommended to the Director for promotion.
The Director does not sit on the interview panel. Each interview panel consisted of both African American and Caucasian employees. The Director always accepts the recommendation of the interview panel. Each time in 2003, 2007 and 2011, the person with the highest score was recommended and ultimately selected. The person selected in 2003 and 2011 was Caucasian. The person selected in 2007 was African American.
ASSIGNMENT
You are employed with Office of Human Resources and have been assigned to investigate DO Foxwell%u2019s complaint and provide information to the Director of Human Resources, Rhonda Weaver, regarding the following questions.
QUESTION A: Under Title VII, is Foxwell%u2019s claim for all three promotion decisions timely? Fully explain. (10 pts)
QUESTION B: If you indicated that all or some of her claims were untimely, and knowing the lawsuit was not filed until on or about October 1, 2012, is there another law (we learned about during the course) that Foxwell can use to pursue her race discrimination claims that may have been untimely under Title VII? Fully explain. (If all promotional decisions are timely under Title VII, simply indicate %u201CNot applicable as all claims are timely under Title VII%u201D.) (10 pts)
QUESTION C: Under Title VII, there are two different theories that can be utilized to prove discrimination. First, fully explain each theory being certain to include what must be proven by the employee and employer under each theory. (20 pts)
QUESTION D: Which theory is most applicable to Ms. Foxwell%u2019s claim? Please analyze her claim using this theory being certain to indicate what facts apply to each element of the theory. (30 pts)
QUESTION E: Is there a bona fide occupation qualification defense that can be raised by the Department? (10 points)
QUESTION F: The lawsuit alleged race discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The relief requested includes $500,000 in compensatory damages for pain and suffering and $500,000 for punitive damages.
Risk Management has a normal practice of putting the amount of money requested in the lawsuit in a reserve account unless instructed to do otherwise by the Office of Human Resources. Would you recommend advising Risk Management to set aside $1 million dollars in a reserve account for this case? (For this question, we are only focusing on the request for pain and suffering and punitive damages.) (10 pts)
QUESTION G: Regarding Foxwell%u2019s request for a meeting in July 2011 with Coleman, do you believe Coleman%u2019s response to this request was appropriate. If yes, fully explain why. If not, indicate why it was not appropriate and how as a manager you would have handled it differently. (5 pts)
QUESTION H: Do you believe the Department is liable for race discrimination? Fully explain. (5 pts)
Explanation / Answer
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