Diversity Case Studies: Workplace Scenarios and Legal Considerations

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Diversity Case Studies
Case study one
Valarie is employed as an Administration Officer. She also answers calls from customers. Valarie has
recently married and converted to Judaism. Her husband follows the Jewish faith and converting was
something she felt was really important to her new relationship. Valarie has mentioned that she would
like to leave work early on Friday afternoon to begin to observe the Sabbath.
Valarie has now written a formal letter to you requesting permission to leave work early on Friday
afternoons. She has stated that she will take responsibility to catch up on any missed work.
The company does not currently have flexible working arrangements.
Valarie has been employed with the company for 2 years and is a permanent employee.
Consider:
 What issues do you consider in your response?
The issues which will be considered in the response of the query requested by the Valarie is that in
her absence it would be difficult for the office to handle the clients on the telephone because she is
the one who is answering all the calls coming from the customers. As, the office is not providing any
flexible working arrangements also it is quite difficult for her to manage the work after office and the
work missed by her will create the problem for the company as some important calls from customer
will be missed (Littleton, 2018).
 What are the legal requirements?
The legal requirements, in this case, will be that as a Valarie is a permanent employee and is
seeking permission to leave early from office by promising to cover up her due work. So, as a legal
requirement the organization should allow her to leave early because as per the law of Duty to
Accommodate an Employee's religion, it is important that employees can be allowed to follow their
religious beliefs and in this case, the organization should also provide support to its employees.
Also, as per the law of religion in the workplace, it is important that office should respect the religion
of all the employees working in the organization and manager should grant her the permission by
making sure the work doesn’t get hampered.
 What would be your response as a Manager?
As a manager I would like to give permission to Valarie because she is an old employee and she is
part of the organization from the past two years and she has provided all the support to the
organization and it is now the organization's turn to support her with her new marital life by allowing
her the permission to leave earlier but along with the permission, as a manager I will make sure that
the work of the office doesn’t get hampered and the operations of the business are well maintained
in her absence. Also, as she has mentioned that she will catch up on the missed work it is the
responsibility of the manager to make sure that all the work missed is fixed up,

Case study two
You have observed that a Muslim staff member never shakes hands with female clients. You are
concerned that this will impact on his relationships. You are considering asking him to shake the female
client’s hands.
Consider:
 What issues should you consider in your response?
The issues being considered in this case is that because of his mentality of not shaking hands with
the female employee will affect the working of the overall organization and also it will create
differences among the employees in the organization. The habit of his not shaking hands with other
female employees will also make the female employees feel insecure and it will also affect the
image of that Muslim staff among the entire office. All of these issues will affect the overall growth
and smooth functioning of the organization which is not good for employees as well as for the
company also.
 What are the legal requirements?
Legal requirements which must be considered in this scenario is that at the workplace it is important
that all the religions must be treated equally and with due respect by making sure that no
discrimination is done on any basis like caste, creed, sex, and other backgrounds. Following the
policy of religious discrimination will further lead to religious discrimination and harassment which
will create a negative environment in the office and this negative environment will have a strong
effect on the organization (Adams, 2016).
 As a Manager, how should you deal with this issue?
For dealing with this issue it is important as a manager to make clear the employees with the
organization policy that all employees must be treated equally and with respect irrespective for the
caste, creed, sex or any other backgrounds. Also, apart from this it is important for the manager to
have a meeting with the Muslim staff member and make him understand that his behavior is
affecting the entire office and the female staff is not comfortable with his such behavior and also if
after discussion the Muslim member states that it is against his religion to follow any such practice
then organization and all other employees must respect his this decision and maintain the decorum
of the office.

Case study three
A staff member, Delores, has approached you with a request not to have to deal with a particular
customer because they feel she is treating them in a racist manner.
Consider:
 Can she refuse to deal with a customer on these grounds?
No, as she is working in a professional environment and it is her responsibility to behave
professionally with the customers by not maintaining any kind of personal relationship with any of
the clients. In this situation, Delores should have behaved more maturely and acted professionally
and also if she had any such issues related to the racism she could have simply informed the
management about the same so that management can take the required action and it is hands of
the management to take decisions related to the customers. And after a discussion on this with the
management if she feels that she cannot deal with such customer than organization must respect
her comfort level and investigate the matter further.
 What are the legal requirements?
The legal requirement which must be taken in this situation is that according to the Civil Rights Act
of 1964 there should be prohibition related to discrimination that should be respecting the
relationship of employees among the organization and it is important to take care that all the anti-
discrimination laws and policies are well followed by the organization to maintain the harmony in the
organization. Also, all these policies are laws should also be well communicated to the customers
and clients also so that no such problems are faced (Phillips et al. 2015).
 As a Manager, how should you deal with this issue?
As a manager, it is important to deal with this issue professionally by maintaining the balance
between the employees as well as customers. Being a manager it is important first to understand
the issue being faced by the employee and discussing the same with the management, then finding
out the problem being faced is genuine or employee is just overreacting to it because losing a client
on such basis it not a good ideas as customers are important assets of the organization so it is
important as a manager to analyze the entire situation and then take a decision.

Case study four
In a meeting with you (Team Leader), a staff member, Jackie, expresses concern to you. They have
recently disclosed their sexuality to a colleague, Jill, whom they have always got on well with. Jill was
surprised and stated that she has a strong moral objection to lesbians and gay men. Jill had said as she
felt it was not acceptable to be a lesbian but did want to maintain a positive relationship with Jackie, she
requested Jackie should help in this matter by not referring greatly to their sexuality again.
Consider:
 Is this response acceptable?
No, this response is not acceptable on part of Jill because any issues related to sexuality must not
come between the professional relationships in the office which will lead to negativity.
 What are the issues to consider?
The issues which are required to be considered in this scenario involves the problem between
Jackie and Jill will affect the entire environment of the office because if any one of them doesn't
perform his best in the office work the office will have to suffer. Apart from this, it will also have an
impact on the other employees working in the organization because of the issues related to
sexuality (Okoye et al. 2016).
 What are the legal requirements?
The legal requirements which organization must be considered related to sexuality, especially with
the gay and lesbian issues, are that as per LGBT law there should be no discrimination related to
sexuality at the working place. Also, in the organization it is important to develop certain policies
and laws related to sexuality and these policies must be well informed to the employees too while
they are joining so that they don’t mix up the personal and professional relationships.
 As a Manager, how should you deal with this issue?
Being a manager, it is my responsibility to think in favour of employees as well as for the benefit of
the employees because it is important on part of manager to solve the problems faced by the
employees like in this situation being faced by Jackie and Jill related to sexuality the manager
should conduct one to one meeting with each one of them and make them understand that they
should not bring out any personal issues in their professional life. Also, issues like sexuality must
not hamper the work environment.

Case study five
A staff member employed with the company for five years ago was diagnosed with depression about a
year ago. She did not tell you until three months ago; when she confided in you about what she was
experiencing and the treatment she was getting from her doctor and therapist. A month ago the staff
member was signed off on sick leave.
She returned to work last week but is overwhelmed. You are prepared to help this staff member for
another month but after that, you are feeling it might be time to terminate the staff member’s
employment.
Consider:
 What support could you offer the staff member?
As a support to the staff member it is important to provide the employee with the emotional support
an employee is suffering from depression and bring the staff out of patients involves provide him
with the mindset which is free from any kind of office work and pressure because the constant
workload will not help the staff to come out of the depression but also it will increase the problems
faced by the staff member. Apart from this as a support to the staff member organization can
provide him with some extra benefits like any one or two day trip which can provide the staff with
some break and relaxation for some time (Kazyak et al. 2018).
 Are there any legal requirements?
The legal requirements related to the health issues being faced by the employees at the workplace
involves health and safety at Work Act 1974 is making sure that all the employees which are
working within the organization should be protected by keeping in mind the health and safety of the
employees because the safety and health of the employee should be priority of any organization
and any leniency of the health of the employees or staff member will affect the office work that will
eventually be affecting the overall growth and success of the organization. Apart from this, there are
rules formed by HSC (health and safety committee) which are stating the policies for the health and
safety of the employees (Colvin, 2015).
 As a Manager, how should you deal with this issue?
As a manager, this issue will be dealt by having a personal interaction with the staff member
suffering from depression and by providing the required counseling to the staff member so that just
in case if any manner manager can provide him with the help so that recovery of the staff member
can be ensured. Also, in this situation, it is important for the manager to ask for the reasons behind
the depression or any such health issues which staff members are facing. Also, being a manager
and thinking on behalf of the organization it is my responsibility to find another suitable employee
who will be replacing this staff member who has been terminated. Also, the manager should find out
if any other employees are facing any such health issues at the workplace and support should be
provided to them.

References
 Littleton, C. A. (2018). Reconstructing Sexual Equality [1987]. In Feminist legal theory (pp. 35-
56). Routledge.
 Adams, E. M. (2016). Human rights at work: Physical standards for employment and human
rights law. Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism, 41(6), S63-S73.
 Phillips, J. A., Holland, M. G., Baldwin, D. D., Gifford-Meuleveld, L., Mueller, K. L., Perkison, B.,
... & Dreger, M. (2015). Marijuana in the workplace: Guidance for occupational health
professionals and employers: Joint guidance statement of the American Association of
Occupational Health Nurses and the American College of Occupational and Environmental
Medicine. Workplace health & safety, 63(4), 139-164.
 Okoye, P. U., Ezeokonkwo, J. U., & Ezeokoli, F. O. (2016). Building construction workers’
health and safety knowledge and compliance on site. Journal of Safety Engineering, 5(1), 17-
26.
 Colvin, R. (2015). Shared workplace experiences of lesbian and gay police officers in the
United Kingdom. Policing: an international journal of police strategies & management, 38(2),
333-349.
 Kazyak, E., Burke, K., & Stange, M. (2018). Logics of freedom: Debating religious freedom laws
and gay and lesbian rights. Socius, 4, 2378023118760413.