Employment Discrimination Case Essay

The US Constitution protects citizens against discrimination at the workplace, it might be racial or other form of discrimination. Discrimination is the way people are treated differently based on unauthorized classification (Varone, 2012). Employment discrimination based on race, sex, religion, and so on is illegal, and it can be the cause of lawsuit by the victims. It has been always difficult to prove that a person is victim of discrimination because the incriminated acts are most of the time subtle (Varone, 2012). In 1992, in Atlanta, Texas, a black fire chief who was terminated, claimed that he was victim of racial discrimination (Open Jurist, 1996). The facts in the case, the issues, the rulings of the justices, the justification, my opinion on the court’s decisions, and any emergency situation in which this decision can be cited are the subjects of this essay.

The Facts

Jackson, a black person, who was appointed fire chief in 1989 in Atlanta, Texas, was fired due to alleged misbehavior and amorality (Open Jurist, 1996).

After a hearing, he was not reinstated. He filed a lawsuit against the city manager and many councilmen for racial discrimination in regard to his employment in a federal district court citing Title VII and USC Sec 1983 of the United States (US) Constitution (Open Jurist, 1996). The defendants asked the court to dismiss the case or to make a summary judgment because there was not a substantive claim against them and they were entitled qualified immunity (Open Jurist, 1996). According to Chin (2013), settled factual issues do not need to be tried in courts, and thus summary judgements are required. The judges denied the motions stating that there were claims and issues of facts that needed to be tried (Open Jurist, 1996). The defendants appealed the district court’s decision before the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal (Open Jurist,

1996).
The Issues
The court of appeals was expected to rule on two issues. First, the defendants stated that the district court erred by not dismissing the Title VII. Second, alike the first issue, they also said that they were entitled a qualified immunity, so the district court erred again by not ruling a summary judgement concerning Sec. 1983 (Open Jurist, 1996). The appeal court’s justices were brought to decide on these issues.
The Rulings
In the appellate court, the judges argued that concerning the Title VII, the district court’s decision was not a final decision, and thus the court of appeal had no competence to review it. So, it was remanded to the district court for further proceedings (Open Jurist, 1996). However, the district court was asked by the court of appeals to dismiss the Sec 1983 claims (Open Jurist, 1996).
The Justification
The court of appeals lacked authority in an interlocutory stage with cases like this one, which concerned the Title VII to make legal ruling, so it remanded the case to the district court for continuing the process (Open Jurist, 1996). Concerning the Sec 1983, the existence of claims of discrimination in regard to Title VII covered any claim related to Sec 1983. To avoid duplication, the district court was asked to dismiss the case because it erred in its ruling (Open Jurist, 1996). The Court of appeals cited similar cases that other courts solved, and rulings made by the Supreme Court to justify their rulings in general.
My Opinion
The rulings of the court of appeals are just and are based on law. It is clear that an intermediate decision based on facts, which is not a final decision cannot make a case of appeal. However, a court of appeals is entitled to make substantive rulings if the decisions were made with errors on legal basis. In general, these concepts are great, and I support them.
Emergency Situation
A local emergency management agency’s (LEMA) manager who is from a minority origin is appointed by the mayor due to his talent and skills. It is difficult for him to get along with subordinates, promote team work, and get key stakeholders involved in any emergency management process. As everybody knows, emergency and disaster processes require the involvement of key professionals and people to get successfully through the phases (Lindell, Prater & Perry, 2007). This manager who lacks human qualities is fired and after hearing, files claims against the city manager on racial discrimination basis in regard to Title VII and Sec 1983 of the US Constitution. The city manager will cite this case for his actions.
The US Constitution provides protection for citizens against discrimination in regard to employment. Some citizens animated by bad faith claim falsely this law when they are reprimanded due to their own bad behaviors. This was the case in this paper.