Duke v. Walmart, Inc., is a case the set precedent because it charge the largest retail giant in the United States with gender discrimination. Discrimination is a claim that charges companies with bias because of someone’s race, religion, sex or national origin. The plaintiff and 5 others, all women, alleged that Walmart discriminated again them because of the sex. The case was surprising because Walmart claims to pride themselves on their anti-discrimination policies. In order to understand the lawsuit in its entirety research is required based on Chapter 7, case 19 (Walmart ongoing challenges with gender discrimination).
Questions
Based on the stated human resources philosophy of Walmart, would it be likely that the company would discriminate…show more content… Also, Walmart’s wish is to ensure that employees are fulfilled enough to meet Walmart’s consumer demands (Quote). Yes, it is unconceivable that there would be discrimination claims against the corporate giant. According to PBS 2014, the majority of employees earn wages that are below the poverty line, and are dependent upon social welfare programs for assistance. Also, Walmart employees have continuously complained about the treatment from upper management, low pay, lack of raises and lack of affordable benefits. (Gordon, 2013). Therefore, it is not hard to believe that Walmart’s discrimination problems are in the forefront.
Put yourself in the role of Walmart. What ethical arguments would you offer to counter the plaintiffs’ allegations?
Placing oneself in the plaintiffs’ position the ethical arguments that are advisable in support of the gender discrimination claim would be to prove that more women employees are in stagnate positions than their male counterparts. Another ethical way to prove discrepancies is to subpoena performance, salary and disciplinary records for comparison purposes. Lastly, is to interview women employees about their history and beliefs on whether or not there are any noticeable concerns on how Walmart treats the male/female…show more content… Is it not conceivable with so many stores; line/department managers and supervisors that gender bias is possibility. According to Walmart 2015 website there is a corporate culture that denounces unfair treatment of any employee. However, how would Walmart honestly monitor unfair treatment in its stores? One suggestion would be for Walmart to ensure that employees receive compliance training in regard to discrimination and unfair practices. Also, after researching Walmart’s website it appears as if employees file complaints anonymously, there is a message that states it would be hard to investigate complaints (Walmart, 2015). If an individual takes time to complete the intake form with a specific description of the issue then it should be easy to investigate said complaint. A suggestion would be to send an anonymous individual to investigate. This author can honestly state that there has been witnessed unfair treatment of employees while shopping and said author felt it was necessary to address the supervisor and inform them what was happening is wrong and