Question

John and Beth were hired by Ace Construction to work on a construction site in Manhattan building a parking garage. At the time, Ace Construction had more than 350 employees. Both John and Beth signed written contracts with Ace Construction. Each contract explicitly provided that "employment is terminable at will by either party."

John, who was born outside the U.S., was fired. He was told by the owners of the company that he was being let go because the company wanted to be as patriotic as possible, including in their hiring decisions, and therefore only wanted to employ people born in the U.S.

Beth was used to working on construction sites. She had a lot of experience and was very skilled at her job. After she had worked on the job for two months, she learned that the men on her team made $15 per hour more than she did. Her job description and job responsibilities were the same as the men on her team. She complained to her supervisor that the wage differential was based on gender discrimination.

a. Is Ace Construction's termination of John legal? Explain.

b. Does Beth have a claim under the Equal Pay Act of 1963? Explain. (25 points)

Answer 1

1. Termination of John may not be legal under the right circumstances.

2. Men and women cannot be paid different salaries for similar work so Beth does have a claim.

Step-by-step explanation:

1. In the first case John may be terminated legally if he is not well documented to work in the United States. If he has all the documents that make it legal to work and live in the United States, he may apply to work. If he is qualified and accepted for work he may do so but he cannot be fired based in his immigration status but he may be fired for other reasons. He may also not be hired at the discretion of the boss.

2. In the second case, Beth does have a claim under the Equal Pay Act of 1963. This allows men and women to be paid equal pay rates for working similar jobs with similar qualifications. With that said, even if Beth is qualified and the boss hires her to do another job that is below one that is less qualified than her, she must receive the pay for the position that she is performing not the one that she is "qualified for".