2. Your answers must be typewritten, double spaced, and may not be longer than 12 pages, using only one side of an 8 1/2" by 11" page. Do not use a reduced or enlarged size typeface.
3. Twenty-four hours will be allotted for the examination. If an exam is turned in more than 24 hours after it has been signed out, substantial points will be deducted. No exam may be turned in any later than Friday, December 15, 1995, at 5:00 p.m.
4. DO NOT CITE A CASE WITHOUT FURTHER DISCUSSION! There is no presumption that use of a case name results from knowledge of its contents. Discuss and analyze any case law you plan to use in your answer.
5. You must turn in your examination with your answer.
6. You may not discuss this examination with anyone, either while you are taking it, or at any time during the examination week.
GOOD LUCK!
Each of the male sales representatives was compensated at an annual rate of $25,000, plus 5%
commission on new accounts. The female sales representative, whose name was Amy Tan, was
also offered a starting salary of $25,000, plus the 5% commission. However, Amy informed
ASM that she had another offer from a computer software company that would pay $27,500, and
that she planned to work for the company that paid her the highest salary. After a brief
conference, ASM decided to pay Amy $28,000, plus a 5% commission, because they had never
had a female sales representative before, and they thought it would be a good idea to have at least
one woman on the sales force.
After six months on the job, Amy was sent to Kyoto, Japan to assist in closing a large steel
contract with Mitsuonda, a Japanese automobile manufacturer. Greg Baker, a white male
colleague, was initially scheduled to make this trip, but the management of ASM decided that it
would be nice to have an Asian on the sales team. Unfortunately, this plan backfired. Mitsuonda
executives were not used to dealing with female professionals, and they treated Amy poorly. She
was repeatedly ordered to make tea, told to be quiet and "let the men handle the business" when
she asked questions in group meetings, and not invited to important dinners and social events.
Amy complained about this to her supervisor, Ed Winkler, who told her: "You can't change a
foreign culture. Just hang in there and we'll be home in two weeks."
Four days before their planned departure for the United States, Amy was invited to a large dinner
party with all the senior executives of Mitsuonda and her fellow sales representatives. After the
dinner, everyone was expected to go up to the microphone and perform a karaoke number.
When Amy went up to the microphone, several Mitsuonda executives followed her up on stage.
Complaining (in Japanese) that her skirt was too long, they raised her skirt (over her protests) to
mid-thigh level, which evoked uproarious laughter from the audience. They then brought her a
feather boa and invited her to perform a strip dance. At this point, Amy broke off her song and
left the stage in tears.
Amy refused to attend any further business functions with Mitsuonda, and spent the last several
days of the trip locked in her hotel room. Ed Winkler telephoned several times and told her she
did not have to return to the work site, but that he thought it had all been a joke and that she was
overreacting. After her return to the United States, Ed told the senior management at ASM that
Amy was "too sensitive" for big jobs, and she was taken off all the lucrative international
accounts, and given only low volume domestic sales accounts to handle. She was not told when
the Japanese account came on board, nor did she receive any share of the commission.
Two months later, a promotion opportunity opened up for an area sales manager in Mississippi.
All five of the recently hired sales representatives applied for the position. They were given a
"managerial skills" test, which consisted of 20 multiple choice questions and two essays, all
dealing with hypothetical client problems. All applicants were also interviewed by a panel of 3
sales managers from various areas of the country. The interview was scored subjectively, with
each manager being invited to rank the candidate on a scale of 1-10.
Amy scored 19/20 on the multiple choice test, which was the highest test score in the applicant
pool. However, after she completed her interview, Ed Winkler told the other sales managers
about the Kyoto incident, and said he couldn't imagine Amy as an area sales managers. As he
said, "those Asian women, they're real dolls and they make great wives, but you can't imagine
them running the show." All three managers then scored her interview as 5 or less.
Charles Allen, the only black male sales representative, scored 17/20 on the multiple choice test, and averaged an 8 on his interview scores. However, he did not receive the promotion. The committee decided that it would not be in the best interests of the company to place a black male in charge of the Mississippi accounts, and promoted Greg Baker instead, who had scored 15/20 on the test and had an average interview score of 7.
Amy and Charles Allen had an affair that fall, and Amy became pregnant. They met with their
supervisors, and told them that they had no plans to marry, but that Amy would work until she
gave birth, and that they did not expect child care to be a problem. The supervisors met and
decided to fire Amy. She received a letter indicating that she was being terminated for poor
work performance and "failure to abide by the family values that have made ASM one of
America's leading companies."
Discuss and resolve all issues.