On october 1, 2012 james arnold was hired as a mechanic by a large national automobile leasing firm in austin, texas. james, the only mechanic employed by the firm in austin, was to do routine preventive maintenance in its cars. when he first began his job, he was scheduled to punch in on the time clock at 7am. on october 30, 2012 james supervisor, russ brown, called him to his office and said "James I've noticed that you've been late for work seven times during October. What can I do to help you get here on time?" James replied, "It would be awfully nice if I could start work at 8am, instead of 7am"
Russ then stated "James, I'm very pleased with you overall work performance, so it's OK with me if your workday begins at 8am"
During the month of November 2012, James was late eight times. At the end of November, Russ and James had a conversation similar to the one that they had had t the end of October. As a result, Jame's starting time was changed to 9am. On January 11, 2013, Russ Brown posted he following notice on the bulletin board: "Any employee late for work more than two times in any pay period is subject to termination." On January 21, 2013, Russ called James into his office and gave him a letter that read, "During this pay period, you have been late for work more than two times. If this behavior continues, you are subject to termination." James signed the letter ti acknowledge that he had received it.
James was late eight times during February 2013, and between March 1 and March 11 he was late five times. On march 11 2013, Russ notified him that he had been terminated for his tardiness.
On March 12, 2013, James came to Russ with this union representative and demanded that he get his job back. James charged that bother employee un the company, a woman, had been late as man times as or more times than he had been. James also charged that Russ had been punching the time clock for this woman because he had been having an affair with her. The union representative hen stated that three other people in the company had agreed to testify to these charges under oath. The union representative the said, "Russ, rules are for everyone. You can't let one person break a rule and penalize someone else for breaking the same rule. Therefore, James should have his job back?
1. Should James be reinstated in his job
2. Was an effective disciplinary procedure followed?
3. What would you do about the charges against Russ if you were his boss?