Problem:

Case Study:

Sally Taylor is the HRM manager at Walton Jones Ltd, a large department store situated in a major Australian city. One Monday morning early in January, William O'Malley, a trainee manager in the computer and electronics department, walked into Ms Taylor's office, sat down and broke the news that he was terminally ill. But that was not all he said. He rambled on about a friend who had died of AIDS. Both of them knew what he was trying to say, but neither knew how to express it. Finally, William stopped and asked: 'You know what it is, don't you?' 'Yes, I do,' replied Sally. 'It's a terrible thing in our society.' William went on to tell her that he could expect to live two more years at best. Later that morning, Sally reflected on the meeting with William and felt ashamed of her insensitive comment. She confided in a close co-worker her feelings. 'What a stupid, impersonal thing to say,' she chided herself. 'The man is dying.' William was on sick leave for six weeks following the meeting in January with Sally Taylor; a doctor's note described his illness as shingles. The staff in William's department was an understanding group, and carried the extra work. In February,

William phoned Ms Taylor with good news. He was feeling better and the store could expect to see him back at work the following Monday.

When William walked into the store his co-workers were overwhelmed by the stark change in his appearance. 'My God, he looks terrible,' Sally thought when she met him later in the day. At 43, William was a handsome man. Yet he had lost 15 kilos since Sally had last seen him. Dark rings circled his eyes, and his cheeks were sunken. His tall frame seemed unsteady as he leaned on a walking stick he was now carrying. The illness had also caused unsightly skin eruptions on his legs.

William was confident, until returning to work, that he could keep his condition private. He had offered himself as a 'guinea pig' to a group of specialist doctors searching for an AIDS cure at the regional hospital. The treatment demanded William leave the store once a week. 'Why are you always going to the hospital?' his co-workers began asking. Rumors began to circulate in the store about William's illness, focusing on his sexuality and the possibility he had AIDS. Co-workers began behaving differently to him. Staff in his department avoided William and attempted to ostracize him. Employees in the store also refused to use the water fountain, cups in the canteen, or the toilet. As another department manager stated. 'The linking of William's illness to AIDS triggered irrational things in people and Walton Jones' employees simply panicked. People are totally misinformed about AIDS.' The reaction from William's co-workers began to affect morale and cause disruption. In April, three long-serving employees in the computer and electronics department requested a transfer. The sales in the department fell sharply in the first quarter. Shortly after the release of the quarterly sales figures, Sally Taylor received an e-mail from her boss, Carlos Mendez, the store's general manager, requesting an urgent meeting to discuss Mr William O'Malley.

Task

As a consultant, you are required to prepare an analytical report for Walton Jones discussing the current situation and advising on a future course of action. The report should embody responses to the following questions:

(a) What impact is the situation likely to have on the human resources department, and the employees in the organization?

(b) If you were in Sally Taylor's position, how would you have handled the situation?

(c) Drawing on the concepts and legislation regarding Occupational Health and Safety, and your own research, what policy or procedural changes could be instituted at the organization to prevent such disruption in the future?

Your report should address the legal, ethical and HR issues implied by the case.  It should be a confidential report for the HR manager and be presented as a suitably professional document.

Additional Information:

This question is from Human Resource Management and it is a case study in which an employee discloses to human resource manager that he has AIDS. After being on sick leave for about six weeks, the employee returns to office. Soon, the news of his AIDS spreads to the overall office and most people avoid him as well as ostracize him. There is a wide-spread ignorance among other employees who treat him differently because of disease.

Total Word Limit: 3681 Words