Running head: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO MARSHAWN DEMUR?

Religious Discrimination and Racial Harassment

Whatever Happened to Marshawn DeMur?

Vittoria Russo

Wilmington University
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Religious Discrimination and Racial Harassment:

“Religious discrimination and racial harassment: What ever happened to MarShawn

DeMur?” is a case study that depicts a fictional scenario illustrating an example of an all too

common human resource related workplace discrimination issue. This case present two issues

namely disparate treatment and religious and racial discrimination in the workplace. The

situation described in this case involves an employee who has encountered unpleasant

treatment, harassment and discrimination from his co-workers due to his religious beliefs.

Additionally, the employee believes that he has been denied promotion because of his religious

beliefs which is a violation of the company’s policy. The pending decision problem in this case

is how best to resolve the case of an employee who has brought a complaint about religious

discrimination against the company. Treton Communications has a clear anti-discrimination,

diversity and harassment policy, and Maalick believes that the decision to hire an outsider

instead of him may have been influenced by religious considerations.

Maalick, formerly MarShawn DeMur prior to his religious confirmation, faced

numerous problems during his employment at Treton Communication, Inc. After DeMur

decided to join the Church of International Spirituality, which was a small African American

congregation of Internationalists in Chenworth, Kansas, the environment of his workplace

became quite toxic. Maalick began to receive derogatory comments and innuendos regarding his

religion from his manager, Clive Jenkins and other coworkers. The authenticity of his religion

was continuously questioned and referred to as “so-called religion” (Combs, p.5, 2009).

After returning from an approved week-long vacation for religious reasons, Maalick

found that his office was littered with discriminatory paraphernalia inferring that his religion

was derived from sorcery and voodoo. Maalick approached his manager, Clive Jenkins about
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO MARSHAWN DEMUR? 3

the blatant disrespect and harassment from his coworkers. Before, Jenkins assured Maalick he’d

handle the situation, Mr. Jenkins commented, “Well DeMur—or shall I say Maalick—I must

say you have some admirers. As an American with African roots, you should have expected

some lighthearted ribbing about your conversion to that strange religion of yours. Even you

must admit that they do some weird things” (Combs, p.6, 2009).

It was obvious that Mr. Jenkins did not handle the situation as he previously stated. The

harassment by his co-workers continued and was endless. There were references of black

magic, palm reading requests, and written signs insinuating that MarShawn DeMur was a

missing person. They also left written chants called “Prayers for Black Folk,” and a book called

Mystical Practices from the Negro Experience on his desk.

Despite all the negative harassment, Mallick decided to apply for new system manager

only to be denied for the promotion by Jenkins. Jenkins conveniently gave the position to an

outside candidate, who did not have the experience Maalick did, but this candidate was a

member of Jenkins widely accepted church (Combs, p.5-7, 2009).

The blatant discrimination and harassment Maalick endured because of his coworker’s

actions is a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights. The company’s EEO/Anti-

Discrimination/Diversity/Harassment Policy illustrated in Comb’s (2009) case study strictly

prohibits discrimination and harassment:

“…unwelcome verbal or physical conduct based on race, color, religion, sex (including

same-gender harassment and gender identity harassment), national origin, age, disability or

retaliation. Harassment becomes unlawful when: Enduring the offensive conduct becomes a

condition of continued employment, or; 2) The conduct is severe or pervasive enough to create

a work environment that a reasonable person would consider intimidating, hostile or abusive”

(Combs, p. 8-9, 2009).

As manager, Jenkins failed in his duty to adhere to Treton’s policies. He obviously

ignored the importance of employee confidentiality, while also condoning the inappropriate

behaviors and actions of Maalick’s co-workers. Jenkins also failed to immediately report the

issues to the facility director when Maalick initially brought it to his attention.

The workplace became a hostile environment due to the constant mocking, relentless

comments, and actions of Maalick’s co-workers and manager. As a company, Treton

Communications, Inc. must recognize the various elements of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act

of 1964. Title VII states it is “illegal to discriminate against someone on the basis of race, color,

religion, national origin, or sex” ("Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964", n.d.). The law

also makes it illegal to retaliate against a person because the person complained about

discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination

investigation or lawsuit.

When Maalick first approached Marta Ford, the HR director about questions he was

receiving from his co-workers about his religion, Ford suggested that he just ignore his

coworker’s inquiries. Maalick took her advice, but the harassment continued. Ford was not

aware of the escalating issues occurring between Maalick and his co-workers until Maalick

brought the paper left on his desk titled “Prayers for Black Folk,” and a book called Mystical

Practices from the Negro Experience that he also found on his desk.

Ford called emergency meetings with department heads and sent out e-mails reiterating

the company policies and instructing that all department heads hold meetings with their

employees to inform and warn them of the consequences, should the harassment continue.

According to Treton’s policies,

“Treton ….strives to develop policy and implement programs that demonstrate its strong

company culture of employee development and empowerment, procedural and

operational integrity, and ethical decision-making. To sustain its culture and values,

Treton has policies, procedures and guidelines that articulate its expectations of

employee and employer behaviors. Promoting and facilitating workforce diversity is a

guiding principle for Treton. The organization has written policies and directives

regarding workforce diversity, equal employment opportunity/nondiscrimination and

workplace harassment” (Combs, 2009, p. 1).

The ongoing harassment could have been prevented if Ford chose to take the persecution

seriously and handle the employees when Maalick first expressed his concerns about his co-

workers questioning his religious beliefs. Although Ford informed Judith Dixon, Treton’s Vice

President for EEO and Diversity, of the harassment, the incidents were not immediately and

properly attended to so it would not reach this point.

An organization’s culture is defined by its principles, values, reputation and its ability to

ensure its employees are treated fairly, with dignity and respect. The workplace should be a

safe space for everyone, and it is the duty of management to address any issues an employee

may be having regarding any type of discrimination or harassment. Unfortunately, due the lack

of enforcement of their anti-discrimination policies, Treton made their workplace a hostile and

toxic environment. Maalick was forced to endure endless harassment and management did

nothing to address it. Treton’s Human Resources department would benefit from

“implementing stronger policies to prevent discrimination at all levels of the organization and

promptly investigating any allegations of discrimination” (Benjamin, n.d.).

References

Benjamin, T. How to Deal With HR Issues of Discrimination. Retrieved 5 December 2019,

from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/deal-hr-issues-discrimination-22172.html

Combs, G. (2009). Religious Discrimination and Racial Harassment: What Ever Happened to

MarShawn DeMur?. Retrieved 5 December 2019, from

https://www.shrm.org/certification/for-organizations/academic-alignment/faculty-

resources/Documents/09-0093_Religious_Racial_SW.pdf

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Retrieved 5 December 2019, from

https://www.eeoc.gov//laws/statutes/titlevii.cfm