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Union Pacific Discrimination Case Study

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Respondent Union Pacific Railroad Company ("Union Pacific"), submits this position statement in response to the discrimination charge filed by, Terry Scharfe ("Complainant"). The Complainant claims that Union Pacific discriminated against in retaliation for a prior complaint of harassment and on the basis of disability when he was discharged from his position as a Special Agent with the Union Pacific Police Department.
UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY
Union Pacific, headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. It has more than 44,000 employees, more than 8,000 locomotives, and runs on 31,900 route-miles in 23 states west of Chicago and New Orleans.
The railroad's diversified business mix includes …show more content…

On March 11, 2015, Scharfe accessed a YouTube clip on his iPad and played it loudly at work. In the clip, a comedian named “Roz G” joked about differences between “Black people” and “White people” (including male-genitalia comparisons) and the virtues of prostitution, among other obscenities. She used the words “n- - - er“ to describe a black man and “p-- -y,” repeatedly, to describe female parts. Scharfe was trained on multiple occasions about the Union Pacific Zero Tolerance policy.
When Thomas Mengel, UP’s Director of Police Operations, learned of the incident, he immediately contacted Pete Jeyaram, UP’s Director of EEO Compliance . Together, Mengel and Jeyaram agreed the proper course was to dispatch George Slaats, UP’s Regional Police Director (based in Roseville, California—about 400 miles away) to Los Angeles for group training on UP’s EEO directives and one-on-one counseling with Scharfe concerning the YouTube incident. Scharfe received no formal discipline in connection with this …show more content…

The undersigned EEO Manager investigated the charges and interviewed Sherrod and Scharfe, who did not deny Sherrod’s allegations. Discipline was discussed with the Chief of Police Morrison. Scharfe was removed from active service pending a final discipline decision. The next day, Scharfe contacted UP’s Employee Assistance Program saying, “I have had three major incidents recently and now I believe I am going to be terminated”. Days later, Scharfe also claimed, for the first time, that he had developed PTSD from the accidental-discharge incident.
On or around April 20, Morrison and Mengel—in consultation with a UP attorney—decided to formally terminate Scharfe’s employment as a result of the cumulative events detailed above. Scharfe’s PTSD claim was neither discussed nor factored into the employment decision in any way. Scharfe’s dismissal was formally communicated to him via letter on April 27,

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