Starbucks Dyslexia Case: Unfair Treatment of Employee

Introduction

The Dyslexia case at Starbucks started when an employee of the company, Meseret Kumulchew was accused of fraud on the claims that she had falsified documents after mistakenly entering incorrect data when recording fridge temperatures in a duty roaster. As an outcome, she was handed lesser roles, the crucial parts of her supervisory role were taken away from her. The only way she would regain back the supervisory tasks was through another rigorous training. In an interview, Meseret voiced her concern that her mistake was treated like a fraud case despite being a simple error, and since she was disabled. This situation distorted her mind to the extent of wanting to end her life. After a few months, she took the company to an employment tribunal for disability discrimination as the majority of her colleagues and senior staff knew that she had Dyslexia- a situation that makes hinders someone from reading, writing, and telling her story correctly. The employment tribunal did find that she was victimized by her employer and that Starbucks did not have proper mechanisms to advance equality issues amongst the employees.

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Explain the type of discrimination and/or harassment that took place in your case study scenario. What were the key indicators that this behavior was a violation of workplace policy?

This report will highlight a form of discrimination known as disability discrimination. It all happened at Starbucks, where a dyslexic coffee shop supervisor was accused of fraud after entering the wrong data into work documents (Weaver, 2016). It should be noted that discrimination against persons with disabilities is one of the worst social disgraces that society has not been able to overcome. Women, youths, and people with disabilities are generally the most marginalized in all societies and that extends to the workplaces, and face unique challenges in terms of rallying for equal human rights (Marumoagae, 2012). In the above case, being dyslexic meant that she was prone to making mistakes when filling out documents, since she struggles with reading, writing, also comprehending the time (Weaver, 2016). She had also informed her employer of the condition. Hence, Starbucks should have made rational adjustments such as shifting her roles from data filling to other tasks that are in her supervisory stature. In the UK, the Equality Act of 2010 safeguards workers against disability discrimination at work (Weaver, 2016).

Summarize How to Conduct a Proper Investigation of these Claims

The investigations of disability discrimination will occur when the following happens; if an employer is aware of a worker's disability problem but puts them at a great disadvantage compared with people who are not. For instance, in this case, Ms. Kumulchew should not have been assigned data filling tasks by her employer, as she had informed them of her dyslexia problem. Further, if an employer does not make rational changes then an employer should raise it on an informal basis or formally through the company's grievance procedure (Slater Gordon Lawyers, 2016). If an employer still refuses to make pragmatic changes then the worker should consult with a trade union or an employment lawyer on the course of the next action. Finally, an absolute failure to make necessary adjustments could give rise to a disability discrimination case, where workers can claim for compensation based on unfair treatment (Slater Gordon Lawyers, 2016). However, a lawsuit in this category is scant. It is mostly used as the last option. Making reasonable adjustments should benefit both the employer and the workers by enabling the disadvantaged employee to do their job (Slater Gordon Lawyers, 2016).

Determine which U.S. Employment Laws were Violated in your Case Study Scenario. How were the Laws Violated? What change(s) Would You Make to Minimize Future Occurrences of these Violations?

Regardless of the case study occurring in the UK, a similar circumstance of disability discrimination still takes place in the U.S. five critical federal laws safeguard individuals with disabilities from discrimination in workplaces, and their job application process: The American with Disabilities Act (ADC), the Rehabilitation Act, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, the Vietnam Era Veterans' Re-adjustment Assistance Act, and the Civil Service Act (U.S. Department of Labor, 2020). The ADA bars discrimination against people with disabilities and assures them of equal chances in employment, transportation, and telecommunications. Specifically, title 1 on employment prohibits all private, public, and government agencies from discriminating against people with disabilities (U.S. Department of Labor, 2020). In this particular case study, the ADA would have dealt with the case severely since the employer was aware of the dyslexic condition that Ms. Kumulchew had but did not make rational adjustments to protect the employer and treated her like a fraud for a mistake that would have been avoided (U.S. Department of Labor, 2020).

In the future, employers should avail proofreading software at the request of any worker who has dyslexia disability in the workplace. If an employer insists on assigning technical tests to employees, they should be willing to invest in spelling and grammar checking software, word processing software, set a dyslexic-friendly font, and install text-to-speech software to ensure there is the minimal occurrence of typing errors (Burton, 2017).

References

Burton, L. (2017). How to avoid Dyslexia discrimination in the workplace. https://www.highspeedtraining.co.uk/hub/avoid-dyslexia-discrimination/

Marumoagae, M. C. (2012). Disability discrimination and the right of disabled persons to access the labour market. Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal/Potchefstroomse Elektroniese Regsblad, 15(1). file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/75707-Article%20Text-172398-1-10-20120417.pdf

Slater Gordon Lawyers. (2016). Starbucks employee wins the Dyslexia disability discrimination case. https://www.slatergordon.co.uk/media-centre/industry-news/2016/02/starbucks-loses-dyslexia-disability-discrimination-case-32227/

U.S. Department of Labor. (2020). Office of disability employment policy. https://www.dol.gov/odep/pubs/fact/laws.htm

Weaver, M. (2016). Dyslexic employee wins discrimination case against Starbucks Company. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/feb/09/dyslexic-employee-wins-discrimination-case-starbucks