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EEOC Charge - Position Statement Instructions: Based on the fact pattern, draft a position statement in response to a filed EEOC charge that was properly filed by an employee against a company for which you arStatement) Fact Pattern: You are the HR Manager for the law firm, WeLitigate, LLC. (hereinafter referred to as "Firm") in Ft. Lauderdale Florida. The Firm is an Equal Opportunity employer and makes all decisions without regard to sex, national origin, race, religion, color, age, or disability status. One day, you receive a copy of an EEOC Charge from one of the employees, Maxine R. (hereinafter referred to as "Employee"). The EEOC Charge states that the basis for the complaint is discrimination based on National Origin. The employee states that she was passed up for a promotion opportunity by her department's manager due to her National Origin. In the EEOC Charge, the employee identified an associate attorney and department manager making comments about her Jamaican descent. Another fellow employee was promoted instead. You are tasked with drafting a position statement in response to the employee's EEOC Charge defending the manager's decision to not provide the employee a promotion. The following facts will provide assistance in drafting your position statement: Employee was hired on October 1, 2020 and is an hourly employee. Employee was hired as a file clerk in the litigation department of the Firm. A file clerk's duties entail maintaining paper or electronic records, including correspondence, receipts, contracts, and invoices, to ensure that information is easy to locate when it's needed. They organize and file documents, retrieve data, and upload electronic files. Employee has a bachelor's degree in English from Florida International University. However, she has no previous legal experience or legal education. On May 1, 2021, there was an open position for paralegal in the Litigation Department. The position of paralegal entails performing substantive and procedural legal work as authorized by law. This work in the absence of the paralegal, would be performed by an attorney. Paralegals have knowledge of the law gained through education, or education and work experience, which qualifies them to perform legal work alongside of, and/or under the guidance of the attorney. This paralegal position would be a promotion and is a salary position. The fellow employee who received the promotion recently graduated from the University of Miami's Paralegal Program. He has been at the Firm for 3 years as a file clerk in a different department. The University of Miami's Paralegal program entails focusing on preparing the student with foundational legal knowledge, court procedures, how to conduct legal research and drafting legal documents. While the fellow employee who received the promotion has been known to be an excellent worker, he has also been known to make sexist comments to fellow file clerks, including the employee. The fellow employee who received the promotion and the litigation department manager are very close friends outside of work. They are both of Puerto Rican descent. In the past, there have been instances of file clerks being promoted to paralegal in which some have been of Puerto Rican descent. On April 5, 2021, the employee and an attorney who works at the firm were engaged in a conversation about a client's file. The attorney told the employee that the client was of Jamaican descent and was not clear of U.S. Laws. In an off-hand remark, the attorney further stated that his interactions with clients with Jamaican descent has not always been positive. In response, the employee stated that she was of Jamaican descent and did not appreciate his comment. The attorney does not have hiring or firing authority. No further actions were taken in regard to this conversation and the employee did not report this to HR. For her 6-month employment review, on or about March 2021, the employee received average reviews for her work. She has had consistent tardiness and has been known to have internal conflict with her fellow file clerks, including those within her department. When asked about the employee's reputation, the following has been said by various coworkers: "She is very difficult to work with since she acts like she knows everything." "She is really nice! I love working with her since she makes me laugh all the time." "She is good at filing, but she is always late for work." "While she is good at what she does, she seems to have a hard time getting along with people." "She is great at filing, but she doesn't really understand the legal lingo or the law." "Unfortunately, she is not well versed in the substance of the law and gets confused very easily." The employee received stellar reviews from a client regarding locating her file. However, the client did explain that the employee was unable to provide her information on her actual case since she was not well versed in the law. The employee heard from a fellow employee that the department manager made an off-hand remark about her tardiness, and it being attributed to her being Jamaican. However, the department manager denied making this comment.