Executive Summary
DB FPX 8410 Assessment 4 This criticism critiques one of the complaint letters that would land CapraTek in legal trouble and liability. One, out of 30 complaint letters received, stands out for its potential severe legal issues, excluding the wrongful death letters they received. Intern Omari Masri wrote a complaint letter regarding uncompensated work hours. This conversation involves U.S. laws and regulations regarding the complaint, possible damage to the company and workers if the complaint is not handled professionally, and preventive measures to prevent future liabilities. Legal defense suggestions CapraTek needs to use to protect itself from this complaint and the ethical implications will be discussed.
Salient Facts
The intern Omari Masri complaint letter outlined the expectations of working excessively in a hostile work environment. The key facts are the intern doing the work of a staff employee who was employed on a full-time basis and treated offensively. Overworking of the intern causes compliance issues, and the discrimination and harassment claims pose legal threats to CapraTek. According to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), an unpaid internship must be educational in nature similar to training and cannot replace a regular employee (Miller, 2017). If Masri is able to establish that the internship broke DOL regulations, CapraTek may suffer. A court decision instructed employers to apply the primary beneficiary test to distinguish an intern from an employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (U.S. Department of Labor, 2018). The latest test consists of seven factors (U.S. Department of Labor, 2018):
DB FPX 8410 Assessment 4 Propose Preventative Measures to Avoid Legal Liability
• The extent to which both the employer and the intern have a clear understanding that there is no expectation of compensation. Any express or implied promise of compensation means that the intern is an employee—and vice versa.
• To what extent the internship is akin to training that would otherwise be offered in an educational environment, such as clinical and other hands-on training offered by schools.
• The extent to which the internship is linked to the intern’s formal education program via integrated course work or via academic credit awarding.
• To what extent the internship is congruent with the intern’s academic obligations by falling within the academic calendar.
• The extent to which the period of internship is restricted to the period during which the internship provides the intern with useful learning.
• The extent to which the internship work supplements, and does not replace, paid staff work and provides significant educational benefit to the intern.
• The extent to which the employer and the intern understand that the internship is being pursued without hope of employment upon completion of the internship.
DB FPX 8410 Assessment 4 Propose Preventative Measures to Avoid Legal Liability
Courts have concurred that the test is flexible, and the classification varies for each case based on the facts (U.S. Department of Labor, 2018).
Masri’s letter also states that when she raised her concerns to her supervisor, the supervisor attacked her nationality and suggested she return to where she came from. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) defines national origin discrimination as discriminating against an employee because of their nationality (National Origin Discrimination | U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, n.d.). The Immigrant and Employee Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice enforces the provisions of the EEOC (National Origin Discrimination | U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, n.d.). This places CapraTek at risk of legal liability.
Legal Exposure
Based on allegations in the complaint letter to fact, CapraTek faces considerable legal risk. If the harassment based on nationality allegations prove correct, the firm would face legal jeopardy from both the EEOC and the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) prohibits discriminating against an employee on the basis of his or her citizenship or immigration status (National Origin Discrimination | U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, n.d.). This also includes national origin harassment. However, the reality that the intern is an unpaid employee may not fall under these provisions unless she proves she failed the beneficiary test under the DOL (Share, 2017).
In order to prove legal liability, Masri needs to prove that CapraTek misrepresented her internship as unpaid and should have paid her wages, going against FLSA rules and regulations, incurring resulting fines and penalties. Luckily for CapraTek, Masri did not get COVID-19 during work since this would have created another problem with worker’s compensation insurance. Paid interns are covered under worker’s compensation, and since Masri’s complaint involves the classification of paid or unpaid internship, this would have led to another legal liability, as Illinois law requires employers to cover workers with insurance (Employer Guide to Internship Laws, n.d.; Insurance – About, n.d.).
Harm to Company
The worst harm to CapraTek is the settlement cost of any lawsuit. Besides financial loss, there are also internal issues that could arise from discrimination cases. There can be morale shift, which will adversely affect employee productivity and company performance. CapraTek could also suffer from reputational harm, especially among consumers of different nationalities.
Internships are useful to companies since most of them employ interns as full-time employees. Internships allow firms to try out individuals’ work ethic, flexibility, and team fit (Steele, 2017). Paid internships result in approximately 65% of interns receiving job offers, and unpaid interns receive offers 39% of the time (Steele, 2017). Without its internship partnerships with colleges, CapraTek stands to lose skilled prospective employees.
Preventative Measures
Having a good human resources staff is where it begins to remain free from legal liability because they ensure compliance with laws (B&F System Admin, 2017). HR ensures the hiring process is compliant with laws such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (B&F System Admin, 2017). Referring to the HR department for guidance if issues are observed can prevent liabilities since they help ensure activities do not result in legal consequences.
Sensitization by regular employee and management training in policies and regulations can prevent legal liabilities. Training should include extending to avenues of support which are available for employees who chance upon violations. A proper procedure for reporting chance violations and information regarding the resultant punishment for violation can also prevent liabilities.
Defense
CapraTek’s initial defense is to prove the intern met the DOL standards of an unpaid intern. This includes confirming documentation of hours worked by the intern. If Masri is able to prove she was not an unpaid intern, CapraTek must prove she met the unpaid internship standards in order to stand a possibility of winning the case.
Exploring the harassment claim for nationality against Masri is important. In case the supervisor in question has no previous complaints about this, the defense may plead that there were no witnesses to the discriminatory statement and no record of such behavior, leaving it as Masri against the supervisor.
Ethical Implications
Ethically, working interns for free is not what the mission and values of CapraTek stand for. It is unethical to ask for free labor when workers are already stressed due to the pandemic. Allowing derogatory comments to take place creates a hostile work environment, which is unethical. Allowing the behavior to occur may create inner turmoil, making workers unsafe in the workplace, which is unethical for any firm.
Conclusion
Addressing complaints seriously and appropriately is crucial for any company. This paper highlights the legal, reputational, cultural, and ethical implications of Masri’s complaint. One complaint can significantly impact a company from multiple facets. CapraTek should take this complaint seriously and work to address the issues presented, both in this specific case and for the future.
References
B&F System Admin. (2017, October 3). What Are the Legal Responsibilities of Your Human Resources Department? Www.justiceatwork.com.https://www.justiceatwork.com/resources/2017october/what-are-the-legal-responsibilities-of-your-huma/#:~:text=The%20reality%20 is%20that%20 HR%20 performs%20a%20virtual
Employer Guide to Internship Laws | Symplicity. (n.d.). Www.symplicity.com. Retrieved October 15, 2022, fromhttps://www.symplicity.com/
Insurance – About. (n.d.). Www2.Illinois.gov. Retrieved October 15, 2022, fromhttps://www2.illinois.gov/sites/iwcc/about/Pages/insurance.aspx
Miller, S. (2017, August 21). Despite Gains, Average Intern Wage Still Below Pre-Recession Level [Review of Despite Gains, Average Intern Wage Still Below Pre-Recession Level]. SHRM.https://www.shrm.org/homepages/is-your-unpaid-internship-program-legal.aspxhttps://www.shrm.org/
DB FPX 8410 Assessment 4 Propose Preventative Measures to Avoid Legal Liability
National Origin Discrimination | U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (n.d.).https://www.eeoc.gov/national-origin-discrimination
Share, M. A. B. (2017, June 12). The Law Regulating Unpaid Interns, Part II: Rights Under Federal and State Nondiscrimination Lawshttps://www.pullcom.com/unpaid-interns-part-ii-rights-under-federal-and-state-nondiscrimination-laws#:~:text=For%20 unpaid%20 interns%20and%20 volunteers%2C
