Games & Entertainment

Rising Action

Eeoc Claims on the Rise

The analysis of claims brought to Equal Employment Opportunity Commissions around the country for 2007 are in.  Pregnancy discrimination claims reached an unprecedented high with nearly 5,600 charges being brought.  Racial discrimination claims reached a new high of 30,510, which surpassed last year’s claims by 12% and is a high that hasn’t been seen since 1994.  And retaliation, sex, disability and age discrimination claims were also at new highs. 

Legal commentators often speculate that during times of economic uncertainty, the lack of job alternatives can result in the prosecution of workplace claims that might otherwise go unreported.  What this means to some business owners is that if You Are engaging in unfair and unlawful hiring and employment practices, you must stop because your bad actions could cost you your business.  And what this means to a larger number of American employers is that during uncertain economic times, employees will likely object to perceptions of being treated unfairly or wrongly with legal vigor.

What to do?  Safe-proofing your work environment from merit-less employment law claims is as easy as 1-2-3.  Compliance, consistency, and good communication are key to assuring employee satisfaction that they are being treated fairly and lawfully.

Compliance can be accomplished through updating and adhering workplace practices so that they comply with handbook and other written policies which meet current labor and employment law requirements.  Compliance is also achieved by assuring that day-to-day employment practices serve as proof that all applicants and employees are treated fairly and equally and all have the same opportunities for advancement and for enjoying the benefits of loyalty and satisfactory job performance.

Practicing consistency in applying workplace rules and exceptions to everyone should always serve as a basic rule of thumb for organizational leaders.  While it is not always possible to manage all work issues identically, exceptions to usual and customary practices should only be extended after great consideration and only when distinguishing circumstances exist.  And in every case, practices should comply with current law and written workplace policies and procedures.

Good communication is essential to successfully navigating all workplace concerns/disputes.  Of course “open door” policies which provide employees the opportunity to discuss concerns with the confidence that any and all managers of an organization are empowered to effectively address problems is best.  But when an “open door” policy is not possible (due to the size or physical set-up of a workplace), then managers must be properly trained to listen to and resolve employee concerns effectively so as to facilitate ongoing employee trust and job satisfaction. 

About the Author

Crystal M. O’Brien, Esq. serves as MMC’s Employment Law Manager/Corporate Counsel. She also sits on the company’s panel of HRCI/MCLE trainers which provides ongoing training to H.R. professionals through its onsite MMC University. Ms. O’Brien’s practice experiences focus on providing labor and employment law counseling advice to MMC’s 400 clients. She also mediates private disputes for the Los Angeles County Superior Courts as well as represents employers in litigated labor and employment law matters. Prior to joining MMC, Ms. O’Brien practiced law with national and boutique law firms on the west coast. Before entering law school, she served as a workers’ compensation insurance hearing representative for several years. Collectively, Ms. O’Brien has 19 years of litigation experience.

After receiving a double-degree in psychology and sociology from Oberlin College in 1988, Ms. O’Brien earned a workers’ compensation insurance claims adjusting license in 1991. She completed post-graduate studies in Human Resources Management at Portland State University’s Graduate School of Urban & Public Affairs from 1996-1998 and earned a Juris Doctorate and Certificate in Dispute Resolution from Willamette University College of Law in 2001. Immediately following law school, Ms. O’Brien served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Faith Ireland (ret.) of the Washington State Supreme Court. She is licensed to practice law in California and Washington, as well as before U.S. District Courts in each state.

what is a falling action, a rising action in a story?

i am reading in the heat of the night which is about segregation in the south of the usa. and i need to no what a rising action is and a falling action is. please use examples of a common read story. or if you have read in the heat of the night please use an example of that thank you!
10 points best answer

Well the rising action in the story is when something happens that just makes a HUGE impact on the story. For example in a story about the generations of female slaves, a young black teenage slave could be raped by a white man and have a white baby. Obviously this will stir things up in the story, considering now there’s a white line in a chain of black people because the story is about generations of slaves.

The falling action in a story is kind of like the almost-end of a story, like if it was about Harriet Tubman, and the rising actions was her first saving herself, and then hundreds of other slaves, never being killed or caught, then the falling action would be after she had made her last trip to the south when she creates the black community for ex-slaves in the free land and then ages with her friends. The end of the story would understandably probably be her death/funeral.

I haven’t read Heat Of the Night, so I can’t help you there.