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EEOC Paper and Presentation

William Montgomery

SOC/315

October 16th, 2017

Dr. Shyamal Das

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The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) founded, July 2, 1965, by the

US Congress to enforce laws and policies against discrimination in the workplace. The EEOC

enforces discrimination from a race, color, religion, age, sex, national orientation, age, disability,

and others. The EEOC's also ensures the protection of employees from retaliation by the

employer for reporting the discrimination, filing charges, or being part of an employment

discrimination investigation or lawsuit. (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2017) In

this paper, I will discuss a recent lawsuit against The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Office of

Public Records. I will review the compliance issues of the organization that led to the lawsuit

and its ramifications. A summary review of the functions of the EEOC; an explanation of the

EEOC's role in the suit and whether this trial will promote social change. A comparison of the

EEOC press release to a news article will be reviewed and describing their differences if any.

Lastly, strategies I would implement if I were a senior manager of the company, to ensure future

compliance and inclusion in the workplace.

Compliance Issues

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Office of Public Records was forced to pay $60,000

to resolve an aging lawsuit filed by the EEOC. This suit was brought to the EEOC's attention

when Joseph Bednarik had applied for an appeals officer position with the Office of Public

Records, although Bednarik had graduated law school and had about thirty years of experience.

During his second interview, the Executive Director expressed concerns that Bednarik "might

not have a long tenure with the agency since he had already worked for the commonwealth for

17 years and might be nearing retirement." Despite Bednarik's educational experience and

positive references, the Office of Public Affairs selected a younger and less experienced

applicant.
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Age discrimination is a violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967

(ADEA), which makes it illegal to discriminate against individuals 40 or older based on age.

The inability to reach a pre-litigation settlement through the EEOC's conciliation process, the

EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Office of Open Records, Civil

Action No. 1-15-cv-01895).

Summary of Functions

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission set up in 1965 by the United States

Congress that oversees and implements social liberties laws against working environment

segregation. The EEOC will examine segregation objections dependent on race, shading,

religion, age, sexual direction, national direction, age (more than 40), handicap, sex personality,

hereditary data, and youngsters. The EEOC will likewise guarantee the security of

representatives from reprisal by the business for detailing the segregation, recording charges, or

being a piece of a work separation examination or claim.

The EEOC commission implements all work circumstances which incorporate enlisting,

terminating, advancements, badgering, wages and advantages, and preparing. The EEOC will

examine allegations of oppression businesses; researching to locate a reasonable and exact end.

Not all examinations bring about claims being documented, and different assets might be

initiated like preparing and instruction.

EEOC’s Role

The job of the EEOC in this age separation case is charging The Commonwealth of

Pennsylvania's Office of Public Records with illicit segregation of age (more than 40) against
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Joseph Bednarik and enlisting a less experienced and more youthful candidate. The EEOC has

position to examine charges of oppression managers who overstep the law, damaging human

rights. On the off chance that, in its decision, or its failure to agree, the EEOC can document

charges against the organization and gather advantages, wages, and assurance for the segregated

individual.

Social Change

Age segregation, in spite of the fact that Congress sanctioned the Age Discrimination in

Employment Act (ADEA) in 1967 to advance the work of more seasoned specialists, the US has

gained little ground from 2009 to 2016 in lessening these cases. As per the EEOC site for

charges of age segregation 1,517 grumblings documented crediting to 25.8% of the charges

recorded by the EEOC in California while 7.3% recorded in the US. (Equivalent Employment

Opportunity Commission, 2017)

"Age separation is boundless, very much archived and, unfortunately, profoundly dug in

the American working environment." (Farrell, C., 2017) The courts, government and state, have

started to concede to bosses on procuring and business choices with regards to "sensible factors

other than age." (Farrell, C., 2017) There are even reports that lawyers and laborers are

additionally debilitated from carrying these sorts of segregation to lawful consideration as the

court frameworks have turned out to be increasingly hard to move in these cases and reject

without prosecution.

More established American's need to work, and managers have underestimated and

thought little of the information and experience of these laborers. Catch, P., (2017) partner
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educator of financial matters at Tulane University expressed: "We have to concentrate on more

established ladies since they are working longer and they face more segregation than men."

EEOC versus News Release

Miller, M., (2017) reported: “Nearly two years after the complaint was filed, a federal age

discrimination lawsuit against the state Office of Open Records has ended with a $60,000

settlement. The settlement, announced Monday by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity

Commission, involves Joseph Bednarik's claim that he wasn't hired by the open records

office because he was 55 when he sought a job as an appeals officer in 2009.” The report

from Mr. Miller is consistent with the EEOC charges publication as Spencer H. Lewis, Jr.,

Director of the EEOC’s Philadelphia District Office, added: (Equal Employment Opportunity

Commission, 2017)"As we mark the 50th anniversary of the ADEA this year, this case illustrates

that age discrimination remains a serious problem in the workplace. This resolution should send

a strong message to all employers, public and private, that the EEOC will not tolerate age

discrimination in the workplace."

Strategies

First, one needs to accept that the verbal and non-verbal communication style that we are

most familiar with, often becomes our unconscious norm against which we judge the

communication styles of others. (Harvey, C. & Allard, M. J., p. 211, 2015) However, the

commitment of top leadership, developing diversity as part of the organizational culture and

strategic plan, accountability, succession planning, recruitment, and diversity training included in

each progression plan of managers and leaders of the organization.

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In his landmark work, Beyond Race and Gender, Thomas argued that “to manage diversity

successfully, organizations must recognize that race and gender are only two of many diversity

factors. Managers and leaders must expand their perspective on diversity to include a variety of

other dimensions.” (Thomas, 1992, p. xv) It is important that leadership manage without

discrimination and providing the tools necessary for success are the organizational responsibility.

Conclusion

In conclusion, "management too often seems blind to the opportunities available from

recruiting older applicants with skills, knowledge, and experience." (Farrell, 2017) The

inclusion of cultural diversification enables organizations to build strategic value, commitment

from their employees; that take down the walls of prejudice. The EEOC was established to

enforce discrimination complaints based on upon race, color, religion, age, sexual orientation,

national orientation, age (over 40), disability, gender identity, genetic information, and children.

In the case filed by the EEOC on behalf of Joseph Bednarik, the Commonwealth of

Pennsylvania's Office of Public Records illegally discriminated against him because of his age

(over 40). Ensuring organizations have a diversity plan in place and is robust to secure the

leadership follows processes, are provided training, and develop organizational success; a

business can and should flourish with all individuals equally.

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