In-Depth Scenario
This morning you received a notice from the local office of your state employment security office that a complaint has been filed against HSS. It appears that before you started as the human resources manager for HSS, several people were interviewed for a mid-level software developer position. The position was not advertised publicly, but several people applied for the position. The person hired for the position is a friend of one of the organization's founders. He is a 38-year-old male. Other applicants for the position included the wife of one of the supervisors of software development and a 54-year-old woman who is a friend of one of the female founders.
The woman who is a friend of one of the founders and was not hired is upset, and she filed the complaint because she feels that she is better qualified than the person who was hired. She has a bachelor's degree and 11 years of experience developing software. The man who was hired has an associate's degree and five years of experience developing software.
After receiving the notice, you have made some informal inquiries as to what the reasons were for hiring the successful applicant. The founder who handled HR issues before you were hired confides in you that he did not want to hire anyone in their fifties because he wanted someone who could "grow" with the company. The female founder who is the friend of the person who filed a complaint is outraged that her friend was not hired. You talked to one of the software development supervisors who was involved in hiring for the position, and he told you that he wanted to hire the person who was hired because the person who was hired had experience that was more directly related to the type of software that needed to have developed.
The founders are aware of the complaint and want you to educate them on the situation. They want you to inform them as to what laws or regulations may apply. They also are concerned with whether this complaint could jeopardize HSS's ability to get government contracts in the future. Finally, the two women founders have asked you to come up with suggestions as to how the hiring practices at HSS should be modified.
Draft a report in which you cover these points. How will your suggestions fit into possible future strategic plans for HSS? Be sensitive to conflicts among the founders on the board and provide good sources to support your suggestions. How well you support your report can have a significant effect on the future of HSS.