Fred Maiorino Case

This case shows how the importance of manager’s leadership by the example of Reed’s managing style. Fred Maiorino was unmotivated and frustrated by his boss Reed and was wrongfully terminated by him and was discriminated against by his age. This case is a good example of why choosing leaders within an organization is important. Main Factors

Leadership Skills
Leadership is the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives (Yukl, 2012). However, in the assigned case, Reed’s poor leadership skills surfaced and it is the main issue in this case. Reed did not have good leadership skills that were suited for his job. Being a leader is not easy. The ability to develop effective leaders continues to concern the majority of modern organizations looking to create high-performance working practices (Zheltoukhova, 2014). Evidence suggests that leadership skills of line managers contribute to higher engagement levels and, ultimately, productivity of employees (MacLeod & Clarke, 2009). The systematic approach to understanding leadership has led multiple theories of leadership styles and behaviors (Hernandez et al., 2011). Therefore, it is important for companies to provide appropriate leadership development training to potential employees and managers. Aspects of a manager’s role, such as soft influence, delegating and engaging the team, are prioritized under “good” management competency (Zheltoukhova, 2014). A good manager or a good leader is not only has a great leadership skills but they are more likely to recognizes the employees’ needs and encourage them to achieve the organizations goal as a team. Age Discrimination

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has held that a Massachusetts statute that requires certain state workers over 70 to pass an annual physical violates the 1990 Age Discrimination in Employment Act (Goldberg, 1993) and in 2006, age discrimination legislation derives from the Framework Directive by its Article 3(1) (WYNN-EVANS, 2009). This was implemented into domestic legislation by the Employment Equality Regulations (the Age Regulations) (WYNN-EVANS, 2009). In the assigned case, Reed terminated Fred over a 24-year old, who was inexperienced, because of Fred’s age. This is clearly showing that Reed is violating the Age Regulations. In the United States, a company cannot force a resignation, fire, or not hire because individual is over a certain age. If Fred is old enough and wanted to make a change in the environment of the organization, Reed could have promoted Fred as an advisor, working closely with young fresh employees. There are many things Fred could do as he has experience as a sales person such as; counseling, training new employees, and senior advisor to the company. Promotion would have been a much better opportunity for both the company and Fred. Wrongful Termination

Wrongful termination may allow for the rise of lawsuits for the company. Historically in the United States of America, employers have had the upper hand in the employment relationship, being able to terminate employees for a good reason, a bad reason, or no reason at all (Tomlinson, E., & Bockanic, W., 2009). But first, Fred needs to look carefully at his hiring contract and see if the lawsuit is appropriate. Because after 60 years of increased employment rights, juries tend to award large damages if their sense of fairness is offended, which attracts plaintiff attorneys (Flynn 1996, p. 127). This gives companies with convincing reasons to ensure that their termination decisions are not being made in an inappropriate manner (Tomlinson, E., & Bockanic, W., 2009). In addition, Reed will try to avoid legal liabilities over Fred’s lawsuit. Although, Fred filed a lawsuit over age discrimination and wrongful termination he also needs to provide clear evidence that his termination was unfair. Otherwise, it is going to be a long journey for both parties by wasting much time and money. For these reasons, a company needs to be careful with termination of employees. Recommendations

Companies should create performance evaluations that are conducted on a regular basis with careful and accurate evaluations based on the essential requirements of the position as specified in the job description (Doyle and Kleiner 2001). Also, a poor performance evaluation may be a vital platform in initiating the progressive disciplinary actions mentioned above (Doyle and Kleiner 2001). Another recommendation is, instead of terminating Fred, the company could have given him a new position such as a company counselor or a marketing senior advisor for young employees. In that way, young employees can learn and develop their skills. This is not only good for Fred but also good for a company by inspiring young employees.

References
Doyle, T., & Kleiner, B. (2001). The most likely lawsuits—And how to protect yourself. Nonprofit World, 19, 15–16, January/February Flynn, G. (1996). Why at-will employment is dying. Personnel Journal, 123–128, May. Goldberg, S. B. (1993). Age discrimination. ABA Journal, 79, 100. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/194359918?accountid=458 Hernandez, M., Eberly, M.B., Avolio, B.J., & Johnson, M.D. (2011). The loci and mechanisms of leadership: exploring a more comprehensive view of leadership theory, The Leadership Quarterly, Vol. 22 pp.1165-1185. MacLeod, D., Clarke, N. (2009). Engaging for success: enhancing performance through employee engagement, Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, London, available at: www.bis.gov.uk/files/file52215.pdf (accessed 6 September 2013). Tomlinson, E., & Bockanic, W. (2009). Avoiding Liability for Wrongful Termination: “Ready, Aim,…Fire!”. Employee Responsibilities & Rights Journal, 21(2), 77-87. doi:10.1007/s10672-008-9068-0 WYNN-EVANS, C. (2009). Age Discrimination and Redundancy. Industrial Law Journal, 38(1), 113-121. doi:10.1093/indlaw/dwn031 Yukl, G. (2012), Leadership in Organizations, 8th ed., Pearson Education, Harlow. Zheltoukhova, K. (2014). Leadership in organizational practice: closing the knowing-doing gap, Strategic HR Review, Vol. 13 Iss: 2, pp.69 – 74