All American Gear, Inc. makes American flags. It has just under 50 employees. It

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All American Gear, Inc. makes American flags. It has just under 50 employees. It is proud of its tradition of making its product only in the U.S., and with American workers. All American Gear (AAG) hires people of all ancestries, but requires that all its employees be U.S. citizens. Pedro, an immigrant from Costa Rica, who holds a resident alien card (showing he is in the U.S. legally) applied for a position at AAG for which he was otherwise qualified, and was turned down based on lack of U.S. citizenship. Two employees of AAG, Rajid, a first generation American of Pakistani ancestry, and Sonja, a first generation American of Serb-Bosnian ancestry complained that two co-workers of Mexican ancestry made abusive, derogatory remarks about them in Spanish. There was some dispute about what was said, since everyone else who overheard the exchange speaks little or no Spanish. As a result, AAG adopted an "English only" policy at the workplace. Juan and Garcia, the alleged harassers, complained that the English-language-only rule discriminated against them because of their national origin. Bernie is the national sales manager for AAG. His job duties include giving sales presentations to large groups. Several months ago, he was severely injured in a motorcycle accident, resulting in permanent hearing loss and a broken arm. The broken arm now requires months of physical therapy. Bernie wants AAG to hire an assistant for him to hear questions in the back of the room at sales presentations, and special equipment to type his reports. There is a job opening at AAG for a sewing machine operator. This position requires someone who can operate and maintain the large industrial sewing machines that the company uses for stitching large cloth flags. The sewing machine itself has an emergency stop pedal on floor level, as well as other levers at 2', 3 1/2' and 5 1/2' off the floor. It also requires someone who can set, reset, and un-jam large pieces of fabric from the sewing mechanism, which requires upper body strength, mobility, and flexibility. Dana, a paraplegic with sewing experience, has applied for the job. Recently, after a wave of rumors began to cause complaints and absenteeism, two AAG employees disclosed certain medical conditions. Trace admitted that he is HIV positive and is taking a cocktail of drugs to combat his condition. Farah admitted that he is suffering from an attack of West Nile virus. Other AAG employees are refusing to work with or near either Trace or Farah and state that they will quit if they are required to do so.

1. What laws, if any, apply to these HR issues at AAG?

2. Can AAG discharge Trace or Farah due to their medical conditions or because other employees refuse to work with them? Why or why not?

3. Are English Only policies lawful? Why might an employer adopt an English only policy?

Explanation / Answer

The summary of the case tells that , In AAG the HR policy is very weak. Organization or specially HR department needs to work on this .

1) What laws, if any, apply to these HR issues at AAG?

Answer : There are so many laws that protects to employees . In this case three incidences has been mentioned .

a) Abusing languages by Spanish origin worker to Pakistan worker

b) Medical problem of a Sales personal

c) Medical problems of a worker & opposition by other workers.

For

Abusing languages by Spanish origin worker to Pakistan worker : Federal Regulations on Employment Relationships law can be applied.This law is used for any kind of discrimination occur in organization premises.

For Medical problem of a Sales personal :Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) law can be applied.In this Sales personnel can not be complete the task without assistance. So He need assistance.

For Medical problems of a worker & opposition by other workers : Family and Medical Leave Act , Workplace Safety & Health ,  Long shore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA) these laws can be applied .

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2. Can AAG discharge Trace or Farah due to their medical conditions or because other employees refuse to work with them? Why or why not?

Answer : AAG can not discharge Trace & Farah .These are the employees .Organizations can not discharge them.In this case being considered the opposition from the other Labor company may shift these workers to other departments where they will work individually & there will not be any other human being.But this needs to be have very smooth execution otherwise this will termed as employee discrimination.

At the same time Company needs to give them medical leave & other required leaves.

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3. Are English Only policies lawful? Why might an employer adopt an English only policy?

Answer :

See to have clear communication at a common platform ,English is the common language which helps for understanding the communication.

Now company cant make it compulsory but , can be regularized to all the employees communication in English language for avoiding the language barrier problems. Employer adopted the English language for smooth execution of the business processes.

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