Labor Discrimination Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Labor Discrimination - Essay Example The intention of this study is labour discrimination refers to the discriminating behaviour practices within the process of hiring, promoting, assignment and allocation of job responsibilities and compensation to the employees. There are several types of harassment also included in labour discrimination like sexual harassment, cultural harassment and wages discrimination etc. There have been several jurisdiction implemented to prohibit different types of labour discrimination and the victims have been given the right to file lawsuit against the employers in case of encountering discrimination at work place. Labour discrimination could occur intentionally or intentionally due to prejudice or ignorance. The discrimination of labour has been evolved as an important and serious area of concern for the business related people, workers and general people because all over the world it is common to see filing of lawsuits against major companies of the world on the charges of labour discrimin ation.If the lawsuits are filed against well-known companies then the cases often turn sensational and gain the attention of the community to look for the outcome of the case. Several cases of labour discrimination have been ended with multimillion dollar settlement. The class actions taken against the companies are usually supported and favoured by the people because they think that decisions in favour of labour put pressure upon the employers to change their practice and make it justified and fair with the workforce. (Susan et al, p28). The paper discusses two lawsuits filed against popular American companies Abercrombie & Fitch and Wall Mark on the allegation of labour discrimination. These two cases were widely followed by people because they involved popular retail brands of the country. These cases ended up with different conclusion and the accused companies are given different decisions. Abercrombie & Fitch was ordered to pay $50 million compensate the plaintiffs however, the case of Wal-Mart was blocked by the Supreme Court due to lack of sufficient evidences about the existence of discriminating labour practice by the management of Wal-Mart. The decision of Abercrombie & Fitch encouraged the class workers to raise voice for their due rights however, the case of Wal-Mart clarifies that the lawsuit must be filed with complete preparation and practice so that the court become able to make a justified decision. These two important lawsuits of the U.S. business world are discussed below and their comparative analysis has also been conducted to illustrate the practical implications of these decisions to the business world and labour management practice. Abercrombie & Fitch Lawsuit Abercrombie & Fitch is a popular American retailer company that main deals with the casual wean for the consumers age group 18-22. It also operates three other offshoot brands of children wear and other fashion wear. The company has established around 300 locations across US and t he process of international expansion is also on its way. The company employs over 22,000 workers in over 700 stores. Most of the employees are college age adults of different sex, race and ethnic groups (Jane, p2). The case was filed by the employees of the company who charged it for discrimination of the work force at workplace. The case against Abercrombie & Fitch was settled on the 14th of April 2005 when Judge Susan Illston of U.S. District Court for the Northern district of California finally approved the settlement of case Gonzalez v. Abercrombie & Fitch. The court required Abercrombie & Fitch to pay $40 million to several plaintiffs that were mostly females and others belonged to minority community (Shiffer et al, p7). After the settlement of the case the company established settlement fund to distribute the amount among the workers. The plaintiffs were sent the award checks in