Legal Issues

Supreme Court of Texas, May 23, 1984

Factual Background and Issues Presented
The instant case arises from a contract dispute involving the construction of a restaurant.  The restaurant was to be constructed for 116,000, delays ensued, and Steak House (Owner) terminated Vances (Contractor) contract.  Owner thereafter withheld 20,000 of the original contract price, denied Contractor further access to the construction site, and employed others to make repairs and finish construction.  For purposes of the issues presented on appeal, though there were other parties at the trial level, it is enough to note that Contractor did not completely perform the contract, that he did substantially perform the contract, and that he perfected his appeal to the Supreme Court of Texas whereas the Owner did not perfect its appeal.  Contractor argued that he was entitled to damages because he substantially performed the contract and that the Atkinson rule placing the burden of proof on the contractor should be overturned so as to make the owner responsible for proving the costs of repairs for defects that might be used to offset or otherwise eliminate a potential damage award.

Two main issues were presented in this case.  The first issue presented was whether a contractor who brings a suit on a substantial performance theory, in which the owner also argues that there remain defects capable of being remedied, bears the burden of prove for establishing substantial performance, the contract price for the construction, and the costs for fixing remediable defects.  The Supreme Court of Texas held, affirming the Atkinson rule despite Contractors challenges, that Contractor did bear the burden of proof.  The second issue presented was whether the evidence presented at trial was sufficient to create material issues of fact such that the trial courts grant of a directed verdict against Vance.  The Supreme Court held that the directed verdict was improper because there were issues of fact that should have been submitted to the jury.

Rules
The Supreme Court of Texas stated that contractors can recover damages when there is substantial performance.  These damages are calculated by subtracting the costs of fixing remediable defects from the contract price.  At the same time, however, an owner is also entitled to damages and these damages are measured as either the costs associated with the completion of the construction contract or the costs attributable to fixing remediable defects.  This damage measure is adjusted when only part of the contract price has been paid by creating a credit against the unpaid portion of the contract.  The main argument centered not on the proper measure of damages rather, the fundamental question was whether the Supreme Court of Texas would reaffirm the Atkinson rule which placed the burden of proof with respect to the aforementioned elements of the substantial performance cause of action and damages on the contractor.  The Atkinson rule stands for the proposition that, as substantial performance is an equitable doctrine, the burden of proof must be placed on the contractor because it would be inequitable to allow a contractor a full recovery when the contract has not been fully performed.

With respect to the directed verdict, the Supreme Court of Texas stated that issues of fact must be given to the jury, that damage measures in substantial performance cases are extraordinarily fact-specific, and that a directed verdict may only be granted when there are no material facts capable of being disputed.

Analysis
The Supreme Court of Texas began its analysis by discussing why the Atkinson rule was consistent with sound public policy.  As an equitable doctrine, substantial performance was created in order to allow contractors to recover damages for construction that has been substantially performed.  The public policy benefit is that damages should be equitable attributed to actual costs and work done.  Vance, citing both other jurisdictions and legal experts, asked for the Atkinson rule to be overruled and to place the burden of proof for the costs associated with fixing the remediable defects on the owner.  The Supreme Court of Texas refused because they felt that such a ruling might lead to strange results in which a substantially performing contractor could thereby recover the full contract price if an owner failed to meet the requisite burden of proof.  Additionally, because the substantial performance doctrine had evolved to benefit a contractor in an equitable fashion rather than to punish an owner, the court reaffirmed Atkinson and placed the burden of proof on the contractor.  With respect to the directed verdict, the court reviewed and discussed various evidence regarding repairs from the trial transcript and held that there were issues of fact that should have been submitted to the jury.

Conclusion
In conclusion, the Supreme Court of Texas reaffirmed the Atkinson rule and placed the burden of proof on contractors when contractors seek damages pursuant to a substantial performance cause of action.  The court acknowledged that other jurisdictions have approached the issue differently, but felt that this approach was most consistent with equitable principles.

Plagiarism and copyright laws in the United States are very concrete in their convictions.  Both terms describe a form of theft and misrepresentation of oneself.   Plagiarism is more prevalent in academic settings, but copyright violations can be seen in every facet of everyday life.  There are consequences to be faced for disregarding the law as it pertains to either offense.  This paper will carefully examine both offenses for similarities and differences.

In a recent television news program, one of the United States senators was reported as having plagiarized several of his writings.  While the media seemed to take great interest in the story insofar as poking fun at the senator, the offense committed was anything but humorous.  Another news program depicted the issues of copyright infringement with regard to musical downloads over the internet at no cost to the consumer.  The musicians who produced the music were enraged since they were not only losing a profitable gain.  The issues surrounding plagiarism and copyright law in the United States is very clear and concise with regard to what is permissible and what is criminal.
   
Plagiarism is a form of theft and misrepresentation.  Plagiarism occurs when someone copies the work of another and attempts to pass it off as a personal creation.  The act of plagiarism can occur in writing by improperly giving credit to a source for the information being reported, or it can be something as simple as a misrepresentation of statistical figures (Hricko  Howell, 2006).  Colleges and universities across the United States have developed specialized programs to combat the instance of plagiarism.  Some academic institutions use websites that allow assignments to be uploaded and screened for plagiarism.  If plagiarism is discovered to have occurred, each institution addresses the violation as to its policy and procedures.
   
Copyright infringement is a more serious offense as it is on a federal level of statute violations.  A copyright violation can occur by simply photocopying an item that is copyrighted without the expressed permission of the owner (Stim, 2009).  One has to wonder if the copying of a state issued driver permit would constitute a copyright violation.  Copyright infringement can result in civil and criminal charges depending on the severity of the offense.
   
The University of Maryland (UM) is quite clear with consideration to its academic dishonesty policy.  Academic dishonesty, according to the UM, is the failure of one to maintain academic integrity (University of Maryland University College, 2006).  The offense can transpire on or off academic grounds and be made by a student, member of staff, or faculty.  The best way to avoid plagiarism is to cite all work and information collected during the research phase of development.  Several acts are prime examples of academic dishonesty.  Mistakes can happen.  Accidental oversights in referencing have been known to take place, but it is ultimately the individuals responsibility to check their work for errors. The University of Maryland suggests that plagiarism can be viewed as an act of cheating, lying, bribery, helping another student on an exam, doing someone elses work for them, having prior knowledge to exam questions, and using a proxy for examination purposes.
   
When an act of academic dishonesty, plagiarism, is suspected to have materialized, a tribunal of sorts is put into action (Kitchin  Fuller, 2005).  The suspected offender is notified of the charge.  Within seven days, the offender must respond to the allegation, or their silence will be taken as an admission of guilt.  The Central Records division at the UM is also notified within ten days of the suspected offense.  The suspected offender is notified in writing of the investigation being conducted by the Central Records office within ten days.  Any sanction notifications are also included in the correspondence.  The offender is afforded the opportunity to request a formal hearing within twenty days of notification, whereby a decision on the matter will ultimately be rendered within an additional twenty days.  If the suspected offender does not respond to the notice from Central Records, then the silence will be taken as an admission of guilt to the alleged offense.  If the suspected offender is in disagreement with the decision rendered by the academic institution, then they are allotted the opportunity to appeal within a thirty day period.  The appeal process involves a review of the evidence on file, processing current institutional policy, and then rendering a decision within forty days.  The entire process is lengthy and drawn out, but it can all be prevented if the necessary precautions are taken to avoid an allegation of plagiarism (Posner, 2007).
   
Copyright laws have a special set of provision in reference to what the copyright owner can and cannot do with their copyrighted materials.  A copyright owner can reproduce their product.  The individual may prepare the work for sale or reproduction at their discretion.  The copyright owner can distribute their product at will and at their decided cost.  Their work can be produced publically.  This means that it can be acted out in a theatre, musical, or other choreographed event (Stim, 2009).  The copyright owner also has the right to publically display their item of special interest.  Copyright laws do not protect every individual work.  According to Tysver, unprotected works are, unfixed works, titles, short phrases, ideas, and useful articles (2008).  The United States Copyright Office indicates that after March 1st, 1989, a copyright is not required to protect products, but it does recommend doing so in the event that copyright infringement occurs.
Grievances and procedures against one accused of copyright violations are relatively tranquil.  When an individual feels that their copyright protections have been desecrated, an attorney is the most viable choice to handle the matter.   These matters generally come about on a higher scale.  Authors, musicians, entertainers, and pharmaceutical companies have been known to pursue civil action for copyright infringements.  Someone may have reproduced copies of popular movies or discs and profiting from the sales without expressed permission.  Pharmaceutical companies may sue another pharmaceutical company for the formulation of a copyright protected medication on the market for consumers.  Copyright laws are designed to protect the work and creations of the original designer, or mastermind (Stim, 2009).  If the infringement demonstrates deliberate and direct knowledge of copyright violations, then the suspected offender may succumb to criminal charges as well.
   
A person who has violated either the plagiarism statutes or a copyright law may realize the severity of their offense too little too late.  The allegation alone creates an unspoken stigma against ones character.  The ability to trust the individual becomes a matter for debate.  They are scrutinized as cheaters, liars, and thieves.  Someone accused of academic plagiarism may find them suspended or expelled from the academic institution.  They may find it almost impossible to be granted entry into another academic setting in lieu of the offense.  If criminal action is pursued, their lives could be forever changed.  The lives of their families could end up devastated, and their freedom could come with a price.  Financial ruin is another aspect to be considered since civil procedures commonly allow for restitution to the one who was victimized (Tysver, 2008).  From a psychological standpoint, an offender may find that depression, anxiety, or even suicidal thoughts may emerge.
   
Plagiarism allows for civil procedures in a court of law.  Copyright infringement permits both criminal and civil proceedings to occur.  If plagiarism occurs under a copyright law, then the individual could be charged with a misdemeanor offense.  The fine could range between one hundred dollars and fifty-thousand dollars.  Another disadvantage is that the individual could be forced to serve up to one year in jail (Tysver, 2008).  Findings of guilt for academic plagiarism may also constitute penalties if the student received any government grants or aid for attendance.  The individual may be dismissed from participation in the federal grant or student loan program and be mandated to repay all monies loaned immediately.
   
Academic plagiarism and copyright violations are acts of dishonesty, thievery, and misrepresentation.  To knowingly take the work of someone else and use it for personal gain or gratification is repulsive.  Each person has the ability to use restraint and personal intellect to avoid such happenings.  To violate either of these statutes is a gross violation of the hard work and conscious efforts made by a hard-working individual.  The penalties for both offenses should be elevated.  Criminal penalties should be imposed in every state for academic plagiarism given the technological age in which students now live.  Fines imposed through civil proceedings are nice scratches on the surface, but the reality of the offense is not truly embedded.  Individuals should begin holding themselves personally accountable for every action and thought that they produce.  Ignorance is no defense in any court of law.  With all the new technologies, inventions, and programs that make it easier and faster to complete tasks, it would only seem necessary that innovations be incorporated to prevent acts like plagiarism and copyright infringement.  It only takes a moment to double check a piece of work, but it could take a lifetime to recover from being labeled a thief, a liar, and a cheat.

In the United States, the judicial system is enforced in two levels namely the federal courts and the state courts. These two levels are further subdivided into trial courts, courts of appeal and superior or highest courts. The main difference between the two levels was the types of cases that they need to resolve or hear.
The president of the United States appoints the federal judges. Each of the federal judges would retain the position until they die or retire. The federal courts focused their concern on cases that concerns constitutional laws and federal issues. States have federal trial courts known as District courts. In Washington, the jurisdiction of District Courts is very limited to civil and criminal cases that involves the United States government, people with different citizenship (both state and national citizenship), and issues involving the U.S. Constitution.

Washington has two District Courts, the Eastern District Court and the Western District Court. The decision made by the judge of a District Court requires other federal judges to follow the decision in that district. This denotes that the decisions made by the Eastern District Court of Washington do not necessitate the federal judges of the Western District to adhere to that decision.

If the party is not contented with the decision made by the District Court, the party could send the appeal to the United States Court of Appeals. This is another federal court more commonly referred to as Circuit Courts. The decisions made in Circuit Courts are binding to all other states under that circuit. This means that the cases made in the Eastern District Court and the Western District Courts could both appeal to the same Court of Appeals. Washington belongs to the Ninth Circuit. Thus, the other states under the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals like Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Hawaii, Alaska, Arizona, Guam and Nevada would follow the same decision. The Court of Appeals of the Ninth District is composed of 39 judges.

The US Supreme Court is considered as the highest court in the United States.  There are eight associate justices and one chief justice. Nonetheless, the cases it handles are limited to those that involve foreign or different governments andor citizens (states or country). The Supreme Courts decision is followed by all the other federal courts.

The Federal Courts also has specialized courts, which are made by the Congress. In Washington, there are three specialized courts namely US Tax Courts, Federal Circuit Court and US Bankruptcy Court. Tax Court is concerned with federal taxes. Federal Circuit Court focuses in foreign trade. Bankruptcy Court handles those that concern the Bankruptcy Code.

In the state level, the lowest would be the District, Municipal and Police Courts. The District Courts are concerned with criminal and civil cases. The District Courts could only sentence a year in jail andor a fine of 5,000.00 at most.  The District Courts usually have small claims department that settles minor civil case or those that are not more than 4,000.00. The Municipal and Police Courts are concerned with violations of municipal and city ordinances.

If the case was not settled in the lower courts, it could be filed to the Superior Courts. Moreover, cases that exceeds 50,000.00 are also brought to superior courts. In each county, there is one superior court, which is tantamount to 29 judicial districts in Washington. The Superior Court also has a division known as Juvenile Court. It handles case of those who commit an offense when still under 18 years old. It is a common custom among Superior Courts to follow precedent decisions made in that court.

An appeal could be made if the party is not satisfied with the Superior Courts decision. All cases could be appealed except for those that concerns death penalty. The States Court of Appeals has three appellate divisions. The decision in one appellate does not bind the decision on other appellate.  However, the decision is binding to the courts under the Court of Appeals.

Death penalty cases are brought to the highest states court. The Washington Supreme Court is considered as the highest court in Washington. Its most important function is to assure that the state has a consistent law. Not all appeals are accepted by the Supreme Court. The appeals must be of grave importance to be accepted. These might include cases that caused conflicts in the lower courts.

Cases that do not involve the US government, the US Constitution and controversies between parties of different citizenship, are decided in State Courts. For example, when the case involves the Voting Rights Act or when it involves foreign citizens, it should be heard on Federal Courts. Cases that concerns real estate falls under the jurisdiction of State Courts.

There sometimes occur events that allow for our personal lives to instantly overlap with our professional life.  As a paralegal, it is a constant mental note of the importance of keeping business separate from personal matters.  Working within the legal spectrum has afforded me many useful contacts and colleagues.  Unfortunately, the level of moral decency was more compromised than I could have ever imagined.
   
In June of 2009, my husband, Kevin, sustained a severe shoulder dislocation and separation injury while at work.  His employer claimed that he could not find the proper paperwork to fill-out an accident report.  Kevin informed the employer that he was leaving to seek medical attention for his injury to which the employer agreed.  Over the course of the next month and a half, Kevins shoulder continued to get worse rather than improving.  The attending physician referred him to an orthopedic specialist for advance treatment.  The employer at this point had still not filled out the accident report.  I conferred with one an attorney from my employment for reference to other avenues that could be pursued in order to make the employer comply with the law.  In August 2009, the orthopedic surgeon determined that Kevin could no longer work without surgery to replace his entire shoulder joint.  He added that there would be a long period of physical therapy involved and said there was no guarantee that he would ever regain full use of his arm.  This was devastating news to my husband as he is only twenty-eight years old.
   
I made an appointment for my husband to meet with my attorney friend to address the matters of the employer not filing an accident with the appropriate sources, failure to provide medical reimbursement, and compensable pay for temporary total disability under the workers compensation laws of our state.  The attorney demonstrated complete professionalism, and assured us that he was fully capable of handling the matter effectively and swiftly.  He filed the paperwork in reference to the workers compensation complaints with the Office of Judges for a hearing.  All releases were signed so the attorney could begin collecting documentation to substantiate the claim.  The case was set for a hearing in October 2009, which was expedited.  Two days prior to the hearing, the attorney phoned to inform Kevin that he was resigning from the case as he felt it would not be a winnable situation.  He further stated that the time it would take to win the case was not financially worth his efforts, and then he apologized and hung up.  I was enraged as this was completely unethical by any legal or moral standard.
   
While I have legal training, my area of expertise does not include areas of workers compensation.  We debated dropping the claim altogether, pursuing the claim without an attorney, and contacting our private insurance company.  At this juncture, my husbands salary had been interrupted, and he was not receiving any paychecks.  My employment was only part-time and we were beginning to see the urgency to do something, especially since we have four children under the age of nine.
   
I decided to take on this issue by myself.  While it may constitute a moral dilemma in the eyes of some in the legal community, I put all my educational experience into the public library and the internet (Elias  Levinkind, 2007).  I contacted our private insurance company and discussed the matter since there was some discrepancy about them being billed for an injury that is the financial responsibility of another.  Our insurance company agreed to pay for the surgery, medications, and treatment of my husband with the understanding that once the workers compensation case was finalized, we would work conjunctively with them to retrieve compensable funding from the employers insurance company (Thomason, Schmidle,  Burton, 2001).  We proceeded to the court hearing the following morning.  I did my best to have my husband prepared.  In this state, a spouse is not allowed to represent another spouse in matters of this nature.  The first claim was denied, but I appealed it immediately.  The case went before the panel of judges in November on appeal.  The panel of judges had ninety days to render a decision on the matter.  During this period, time was allotted to introduce any new evidence to support the original claim.  Kevin had undergone surgery to replace his shoulder, so I forwarded all medical records pertaining to the matter.  The orthopedic surgeon even included prognosis reports, recommendations, and summary notes indicating future obstacles, treatments, and problems.
   
In February 2010, we received notice via certified mail that the Office of Judges had rendered in Kevins favor.  We won the appeal.  The office of judges cited that the originally denied claim was done so in grave error.  The order further stated that the employer and his insurance company were compensable for any and all damages related to the injury (2001).  This order was backdated to June 2009 when Kevin was hurt on the job.
   
The moral dilemma here involves the unethical value put on a client by the colleague that I was affiliated with.  In some ways, it was a bad idea to seek legal counsel from a friend due to the probability of conflicts of interest.  I felt equally in a moral dilemma in trying to figure out all the legal ins and outs of the workers compensation laws without actually being an attorney.  The thin line between business relationships and personal relationships is very gray.  The fact that the case was not financially valuable enough to the attorney left us feeling unworthy of justice.

Environmental protection has become a major concern for both governments and individuals over the years. Pressure has been mounted on several fronts, aiming at ensuring that industries comply with the various regulations related to this issue. Alumina Inc., a manufacturer of aluminum, is one of those corporations that have found themselves under the scrutiny of both Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and private individuals, regarding its compliance with environmental regulations. This corporation is located near Lake Dira, which is in Erehwon state. This state has specific regulations regarding the discharge of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). About five years ago, Alumina Inc. had been accused of violating these regulations. Alumina Inc. reportedly rectified this something that was confirmed by the audit report by the EPA. Although no complaints have been filed against Alumina for over five years, Kelly Bates held that her daughter suffered from Leukemia as a result of PAH discharged by Alumina into the lake, whose water she consumed. This study seeks to create a plan identifying the various torts and risks by Alumina Inc. It further seeks to propose preventive and corrective measures that would eliminate those risks.

Common Torts and Regulatory Risks
Every company has a duty, both legal and ethical, of ensuring that its acts and operations do not result in harm of persons residing within its environs (Jennings, 2008). As aforementioned, Alumina Inc. had once been found to have violated the regulations of the EPA. This failure to comply by Alumina Inc. is constitutive of a tort. It acted in negligence of its duty to ensure the protection of the local environment as well as residents. The effects of this negligence were deeply felt within the corporation circles when it was required to conduct clean-up exercises. Although the case put forth by Kelly Bates comes five years after the first accusation, it formed the basis for her accusations. The company is legally required, through the established EPA laws and regulations, to comply at all times. Although the company was found to have been compliant with the requirements of the EPA, this case painted it in bad picture, something that was likely to affect it for a number of years. In order to protect the company from liabilities arising from such accusations, it is important that the management conduct regular evaluations of the companys compliance and file reports on the same. It would be in the companys best interest, if such reports were publicized in the local media. This would not only assure the residents and the EPA of the companys compliance, but also provide the company with a ground of defense in case similar accusations arose in the future.

The Freedom of Information Act provides that individuals could request information or records from any federal agency, except records considered protected disclosure. This Act poses a regulatory threat to Alumina Inc. because there is some information whose public release would case great harm to the companys competitive strategy. This is because such a move would mean that the company has more to hide, which would possibly arouse suspicion, creating irreparable damage to the company. Luckily, there are clauses providing for exemptions of such a request where it would possibly compromise a companys trade secrets. The company should make proper use of its public relations department in order to establish a proper relationship with residents. Moreover, this department would come in handy in as far as damage control is concerned. This can be done through the release of public statements assuring the public of the companys commitment to environmental protection.

The accusation by Bates is also a major risk which can easily ruin the companys business opportunities. This is because few companies would like to be publicly associated with a company that does not comply with environmental protection regulations, especially now that this has become a global issue. It would have been helpful for the company to keep the public informed regarding its compliance as well as improvements in terms of regulations over the five years following its accusation.

It is recommended that an independent committee be established, with a specific role of evaluating the discharge of PAH in Lake Dira are kept at acceptable levels. This would provide for an efficient way of dealing with violations of the various Acts, especially the Clean Water Act. Concerned parties would also have a clear picture of what is expected of the various actors in the area, and their role in environmental protection. This committee should set up a response team and provide it with all the necessary equipment to tackle the threats of excessive discharge in the lake.

Conclusion
In order to prevent similar situations in the future, the management of Alumina Inc. should have constantly kept vigil respecting the threats and regulatory risks surrounding the operations of the company. While providing relevant information to the public, the management should be careful not to compromise its own competitive strategies. Constant monitoring and evaluation of the compliance has been established as an important tool for protecting the company from further negative publicity.

Various preventive and corrective measures have been proposed. These included among others, the establishment of an independent committee, whose responsibility would be to ensure the protection of the environment. This committee would function besides the Environmental Protection Agency. It would also ensure various that Lake Dira is safe for use by both human and animal species.

I. INTRODUCTION

In an online news article, Elien (2009) reported that 14 percent of Canadians feel they have been discriminated against in the workplace during the past year. This is based on a survey conducted by Ipsos Reid, which included 50,000 interviews with workers from all over the globe during July and August, including 4,100 Canadian employees. This is the largest employee survey ever conducted until now and findings showed that the level of discrimination reported in Canadian workplaces is similar to that in the U.S. and Europe, but better than South American and Asian workplaces and that foreign employees (24 percent) and members of visible minority groups (21 percent) in Canada felt a higher percentage of discrimination.  This news article shows that despite the existence of equal employment opportunities laws and programs, employment discrimination, in its many forms, have continued to plague Canadian businesses and that even at present, workplace discrimination endures in varying degrees.

On the other hand, another news article reported about gender workplace discrimination in Australia. The University of Melbourne conducted a survey on 165 women expecting their first child and working in different sectors and findings showed that these respondents felt varying kinds of discrimination, from overt remarks to not being promoted. Because of feelings of discrimination, these women felt more distressed and irritable. This article also indicates discrimination against gender and maternity condition and how it impacts the wellbeing of, not only women, but their children, as well. Apparently, for Canada and Australia, workplace discrimination continues to persist and damage workplace morale, and consequently, performance and organizational loyalty.

This research paper determines policy responses to employment discrimination in Canada and Australia, the impacts of these policy responses, and key characteristics of effective policy frameworks. It also compares the policy responses and their impacts on employment discrimination. This paper also wants to find out if policy practices may be a source of systemic discrimination and, as a result, they perpetuate its existence. The paper starts with the review of literature that identifies patterns of employment discrimination that emanates from structural foundation, empirical values, and organizational culture, and impacts of employment discrimination. It is followed by the methodology that details the data collection methods. The next section is the findings, which compares policy responses and impacts between Canada and Australia. The last two sections are the key characteristics of effective policy frameworks and conclusion.

II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A. Patterns of employment discrimination
This section defines the concepts of structural foundation, empirical values, and organizational culture and provides examples of workplace discrimination based on these definitions.  It is considered that defining these concepts involve contradicting beliefs, because of the different viewpoints from which these concepts can be derived from.

1. Structural Foundation
Structural foundation can refer to shared experiences, based on categorical beliefs and attributes. Baldassarri and Bearman (2007) argued that people have conflicting categorical and attributes, which leads to differences in attitudes and behavior. This means that it is possible for organisations to say that they respect pluralism at work, and yet they display contradicting actions. Another journal article stressed that in order to incorporate pluralism in society, structural foundations must be based on acceptance of racial differences and similarities. This article defines structural foundations as institutional to the society and tends to have a more positive view of structural foundations. This paper uses structural foundation as referring to both the conflicting and positive conceptualization of structural foundations, because of the hope placed on policy making and civic action to address employment discrimination.

In Canada, human rights statutes and equal opportunities laws, which began with the 1986 Employment Equity Act, seek to eliminate workplace discrimination.  Surveys and research studies, however, demonstrate the gap between employment equity policies and actual discrimination. The 1988 survey of Blakelyand Harvey at Ontario, with 50 per cent of the sample (29 of 58 organizations) coming from Metropolitan Toronto, showed a low level of commitment among employers to EE policy, especially where it pertained to minorities other than women. It gave the example 33.3 per cent of respondents reported having written policies on the recruitment and hiring of women, only 21.6 per cent had similar policies for visible minorities. Reitz (1988) insisted that case studies and surveys are not enough to determine the true level and nature of workplace discrimination, because of differences in understanding verbal statements. He argued for behavioural studies that can reveal discriminatory behaviours.  For instance, he said that in Toronto, discrimination field trials could measure discrimination behavior and some were conducted by the Social Planning Council of Metropolitan Toronto (SPC) in cooperation with the Urban Alliance on Race Relations.
Results showed that discrimination does exist in Canada. Another article reinforces the existence of racial discrimination. In 1992, the National Capital Alliance on Race Relations (NCARR) filed a case against Health and Welfare Canada, before amendments were made in the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA) and the Employment Equity Act (EEA). This case showed the existence of systemic racial discrimination in Health and Welfare Canada, through public input of evidences. Thus, anti-discrimination laws did not sufficiently dismantle systemic racial discrimination prevailing in organisations like Health and Welfare Canada.

Other examples showed the weaknesses of Canadian policies on protecting citizens with disability from employment discrimination. Atkins (2006) reviewed judicial, tribunal and arbitration decisions in Canada regarding disability rights. He compared Canadian law and judicial, tribunal and arbitration decisions with American counterparts and concluded that the former is more universal in approach in defining disability, and yet disabled Canadians must bargain accessibility on their own, which produces widely unattainable social and physical Canadian opportunities. This article pointed out that access to housing, transportation, education and retail and public spaces remains a fundamental problem for disabled Canadians. This article stresses that structural foundations of the law on Canadian disability are also weak in providing equal opportunities for the disabled. The laws that are present cannot provide adequate protections for people with disability from discrimination at various dimensions in their lives.

Australia also shows cases of discrimination arising from structural foundations, even when anti-discrimination laws existed also since 1986, the same year that Canada passed its 1986 Employment Equity Act. An article analyzed the hindrances to active engagement of older Australian workers. One of the primary barriers to actively being engaged at work is the double standard on women to perform both work and caring duties. Caring for the family is one of the most common reasons that women leave paid work. The preponderance of individual workplace contracts (Australian Workplace Awards or AWAs) also reinforces ageism and work intensification practices, because workers have to individually bargain for their pay and work conditions with their employers, instead of bargaining jointly through the union. AWAs tend to disadvantage older workers as they individually compete with younger workers. This article demonstrates that structural foundations in the workplace can contradict the intentions of AWAs to empower workers individually. AWAs have been greatly criticized to have increased discrimination at work, because the shift to individual bargaining has not been a source of strength for Australian workers, who came from a historically collective industrial relations sector.

Another form of discrimination at work can be argued as emanating from issues of racial discrimination that has been tackled by Windle (2008). He has been concerned by the racialization of African youth in a series of media coverage. He cited the Melbourne tabloid Herald-Sun, which stresses racial conflicts in several violent incidents involving attacks on African teenagers and riot problems from the same racial group. The tabloid said

We are in the grip of a violence epidemic, fuelled by four persistent factors alcohol, groups of young males, illegal weapons and, increasingly, cultural differences involving immigrant youths (A stab in the darkness, 2007)

This statement shows how the media covers the African youth in a negative viewpoint, which resulted to racialising narrative events. Racial discrimination can be one of the reasons of high unemployment rates among African youth. Hence, these studies depicted that discrimination remains widespread in Canada and Australia, and that it intersected issues of race, gender, class, age, and even other dimensions of life.

2. Empirical Values
Empirical values can be defined in relation to empirical law. Empirical law can be defined as a positive general condition that occurrences of singular conditions of a certain category cause occurrences of singular conditions of another category. Information can have empirical values through the establishment of the empirico-causal relationship based on empirical law. Georgakopoulos (2005) stressed the importance of empirical research in determining empirical values. He indicated the importance of qualitative and quantitative research in proving conditions relevant to matters of the law. Several case studies and researches done on employment discrimination show the prevalent practices of discrimination in Canada. An empirical study of labour migration in Canada shows that the state favours high-skilled labour based on empirical studies of immigration and state management. This results to state-based discrimination, although the article argued that this discrimination is crucial to to overcome new fiscal and structural crises related to economic, social and demographic transitions.

Another empirical study showed that based on the research by the Canadian Council on Social Development (2000) that used both 1996 census data and panel data on post-secondary graduates from the National Graduate Survey, Canadian-born visible minorities are still less probable than foreign-born and Canadian-born whites to be in the top twenty per cent of the income distribution and it concluded that There is then a clear pattern of apparent disadvantage in the labour market for visible minority workers that is reflected both in patterns of employment and in earnings. Employment disadvantages, however, can also be rooted on fundamental systemic racial discrimination. Helly (2004) empirically analysed the rise in violence against Muslims after the September 11, 2001 attacks on American soil. Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC) statistics indicated a 1,600 percent increase in hate crimes against Muslim individuals or places between September 2001 and September 2002. These actions can indicate racial prejudice from fear and paranoia, which translates to workplace discrimination. Helly (2004) noted a study, wherein there were three categories of people who had difficulties finding jobs Blacks, people of Arabic origins and visible Muslims. These articles show that empirical values point out the pervasive discrimination in the workplace.

Australia also shows empirical values that depict workplace discrimination. One study explored three years of data to examine the incidence and patterns of gender discrimination at work. The study examined 9015 cases reported to Queensland Working Womens Service (QWWS) between 1st July 2001 and 30th June 2004, and it studied the frequency of reporting in each category of supposed discrimination (age, race, disability, sex, pregnancy, family responsibilities) and harassment (sexual or workplace harassment, also known as bullying). This study revealed that women experience common discrimination issues that revolve around their life cycle stages. Results showed

Younger women in the 18 to 25 year age bracket were significantly more likely to report sexual harassment and pregnancy discrimination, and significantly less likely to report workplace harassment. In contrast, older women over 45 were more likely to report age, race and disability discrimination and workplace bullying. Women in the 25 to 44 age group, consistent with the prime childbearing and rearing years, were over-represented in cases related to family responsibilities discrimination.

Young women can suffer more from sexualized and genderized discrimination, while older women commonly experience workplace bullying and the glass ceiling to employment opportunities. These figures demonstrated the overwhelming diversity that Australian female employees experience because of their gender and gender-related responsibilities.  Kidd and Shannon (1996) also computed gender wage gap in Canada and Australia and findings showed that women earn lower than men in counterpart jobs.

3. Organizational Culture
Organizational culture can be defined as how reality is perceived (what is important), beliefs (how things are done around here), and norms of acceptable behavior (how we deal with issues) existing unquestioned and unchallenged  This definition provides a more static understanding of organizational culture. Another definition of organizational culture asserts the inherent conflicts within and around it, and it defines organizational culture as primarily composed of a particular configuration of rules, enactment and resistance. This is one of the approaches to defining organizational culture that some feminist studies of gender discrimination pursue. Organizational culture provides a detailed understanding of workplace discrimination occurring for various issues, including gender. Wilson (2001) stated

Organizational culture is generally written about as if it were gender neutral . . . However the gendered nature of organizational culture is demonstrated daily by a multitude of differences and differentiations predicated on gender, for instance, job segregation, pay, promotion and status.

Organizational culture is not gender neutral, because it can also depict various gender conflicts, which can affect HR practices and attitudes.

Busby (2006) studied organizational culture and its impact on gender discrimination in Canada. Findings showed that gendered pay gaps persisted, despite the existence of multiple international and federal laws. There are organizations whose culture imbibed discriminatory practices against women, as several case studies showed.Some of these discriminatory actions intensified after the 911 attacks. These cases show discrimination that happens when employers or HR heads refuse to consider the resumes of people from Arab origin or of the Islamic faith under the pretext that, if hired, they will not take part in the life of the company, and that their habits are too distant from those considered Quebecois ones. Such discriminatory attitudes exemplify a kind of acculturation, which can be essentially discriminatory because it does not integrate cultures, but results to the domination of one culture over weaker cultures, in hegemonic terms.

Australian cases also showed discrimination arising from organizational culture. One journal article explored diverse manifestations of workplace racial discrimination. In Anti-discrimination Laws, Islamophobia, and Ethnicization, Bloul (2008) explored the inconsistencies between anti-discrimination laws and religious discrimination at work. Some examples mentioned are cases in New South Wales, such as the case of an IT worker who was threatened with discharge for praying, in his own time, at work and other cases of discrimination against Islamic practices at work. The courts have dismissed these cases as not supported by anti-discrimination laws. They stated The main objections have been that Islam covers different cultures, ethnicities, races, nationalities and so could not be defined as an ethno-religion. Bloul (2008) challenged the interpretation of racial and ethnic issues under Australian anti-discrimination laws. She asks Does it take into account the specific character of Muslim identity in Western countries where Muslims are brought to adopt a minority collective identity as Muslims These examples from Canada and Australia specify how organizational culture can also be prejudiced against diversity, instead of truly embracing pluralistic values and beliefs.

B.  Impacts of employment discrimination
The impacts of employment discrimination are financial, psychological, and political in nature. Financial impacts are some of the most direct repercussions of employment discrimination. Gender pay inequity is one of the financial consequences of workplace discrimination and section 11 of the Canadian Human Rights Act aim to address the low pay that women earn from their jobs. Section 11 had two structural components it accepted job evaluation as the mechanism for measuring the value of jobs and it was complaint based.  Section11, however, did not provide specific details on how to measure the value of jobs or how to compare them. The vagueness of the law made it possible to reinforce gender pay inequity.

In 1990, Bell and the Communication Energy and Paperworkers Union (CEPU) consented to creating the joint Pay Equity Committee, which broadened the following year to integrate the Canadian Telephone Employees Association (CTEA), which has members of 14,500 clerks, whom were women, in general. The study in 1992 showed that predominantly female-dominated jobs were remunerated at a much lower level than predominantly male jobs and which resulted to the case Canadian Telephone Employees Association v. Bell Canada (1997).  This cased lagged for more than a decade, with the Liberal government unable to speedily protect workers. Bell also complained that the unions were already accountable because they already agreed to the discriminatory wages and that the joint committee could not prove a section 11 complaint, because it did not use the right methodology to assess equal pay for work of equal value. This case showed the conflict between economic efficiency and pay equity and that the government could not even use the same laws to protect women from gender pay inequity.

Discrimination also has psychological effects on the disadvantaged parties. These negative attitudes against those who are categorically called the others result to stigmatizations that delimit workplace opportunities. The introduction to this research also noted how pregnant women felt more stressed and irritable because of feeling employment discrimination. Other psychological impacts are feelings of insecurity and organizational disloyalty, because of the lack of perceived fairness in the workplace.

Political consequences refer to access to power. Because of discrimination, marginalized groups are less likely to access power in decision-making and are more likely to be discriminated in various aspects of their work. Anti-discrimination laws aim to equalize political power in organizations by empowering the disadvantaged sectors, although reality shows the common trade off between economic efficiency and anti-discrimination laws, and that in real life, there are still many cases of prejudice and discrimination at work.

METHODOLOGY
Data and information are retrieved from cases, legislation and studies on systemic discrimination in the workplace. Online books and articles are also used, where appropriate, to show latest and specific examples of employment discrimination. The cases, legislation and studies are obtained from the library and electronic databases, such as JSTOR, Emerald, ProQuest, LexisNexis and EBSCO.

IV.  FINDINGS

This section compares policy responses and impacts between Australian and Canadian anti-discrimination laws.

A. Comparison
1. Policy responses of systemic discrimination issues
Since the 1960s, Canada already has human rights statutes that prevent employment discrimination. These human rights statutes provide human rights guidelines, while the Canadian Constitution and employment equity laws are provided at the federal level. Every jurisdiction in Canada (ten provinces) also has separate anti-discrimination laws statutes that ban and endeavour to eliminate employment discrimination on frequent prohibited grounds such as race, nationalethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, etc. The provisions of these statutes compel employers to embark on voluntary employment equity programmes for members of underprivileged groups that, according to Agocs (2002), include women of any race or ethnicity, visible or racial minorities (self-identified as black, Asian or South Asian), aboriginal peoples (Indians or members of First Nations, Metis and Inuit) and persons with disabilities.

Why should there be a need for anti-discrimination laws One of the main justifications is that Canada and Australia, as well as other developed countries are becoming increasingly diverse, and diversity issues in employment could no longer be overlooked, without creating chaos and promoting violence in society. In 1996, visible minorities made up 11.2 per cent of the Canadian population and are a growing percentage of the population in Canadas foremost cities. Women constitute more than 46 per cent of the labour force in Canada and are projected to be fifty per cent of the work force in the coming years. Furthermore, Canadas population and workforce continue to be more diverse From 1991 to 1996, 78 per cent of new entrants into Canada were from Asia, CentralSouth America the Caribbean and Africa, providing a multicultural mosaic. The report also added In the period 1971 to 1980, immigrants from these regions comprised 57 per cent of all new entrants into Canada. Because of this diverse population, Canadian federal and local governments passed diverse laws that support anti-discrimination at work.

Employment equity is supported by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, under the Constitution Act of 1982 and the Federal Employment Equity Act enacted in 1986 and revised expansively in 1995. The Canadian Charters provisions are to be executed to all federal, provincial and municipal government agencies across Canada. Furthermore, the federal government has made the Contractors Programme, which is applied to all large and medium-sized provincially regulated employers who provide goods and services to federal government units. The Employment Equity Act and the Contractors Programme provide anti-discrimination policies for the four disadvantaged groups. The Federal Contractors Programme also includes more employers than the Employment Equity Act because it applies to all businesses with transactions with the government.
 
It will also be useful to explore further that Canada has constitutional pre-commitments to gender affirmative action, including that under the European Convention on Human Rights. Section 15 of the Canadian Charter, Canadas principal constitutional document handles gender equality and affirmative action, as well as individual rights and freedoms. It states Every individual is equal before the law and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age, or mental or physical disability. Section 15 (2) states
Subsection (1) does not preclude any law, program or activity that has its object the amelioration of conditions of disadvantaged individuals or groups, including those that are disadvantaged because of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.

The Supreme Court of Canada has not yet made any decision that has been based on section 15(2), which ostensibly permits and encourages gender affirmative action programs. There have been some recent case that involved section 15 (1) and one non-Charter case, which promote a substantive notion of equality and illuminate ideas for future inquiries regarding gender affirmative action.

An article reviewed Canadian disability policy in relation to the workplace using model of mental illness. This article emphasized the diverse policy statements about employment. The authors stressed that the power to create disability policy, particularly for people with psychiatric disabilities, is not guided by people who do have authority regarding this disability. Instead, it is the jurisdiction which dictates anti-discrimination policies with people with psychiatric disabilities. Canadian Parliament and provincial legislatures have authority over employment and labour, as provided by the Constitution. The courts affirmed, however, that majority of the authority lies on the provincial jurisdictions, because they are derived from the property and civil rights section of the Constitution Act 1967. Entering into a contract has then become part of a civil right, and so all labour legislation, which imposes restrictions on employment contracts, must fall centrally within provincial jurisdiction. Due to the shared jurisdiction over employment, there are 14 different kinds of administrative structures managing industrial relations, employment conditions, occupational safety and health, and workers compensation. There is also no clear representation for people with psychiatric disabilities in any of these jurisdictions.

In Australia, federal legislative amendments were made in 1993-1994 to address gender equal pay. The legislative dedication to equal remuneration had not been included formerly in federal legislation as the Constitution successfully excluded the federal Parliament from establishing conditions of employment. These provisions were only included through the federal governments dependence on its external affairs powers and its status as signatory to a suite of international anti-discrimination conventions. Furthermore, the federal government created several forms of minimum entitlement provisions in the domains of minimum wages, termination of employment and parental leave, all which all relined on Australias signatory to several International Labour Organisation Conventions.

The international anti-discrimination policies included the following
1951 ILO Convention 100 Concerning Equal Remuneration for Men and Women Workers for Work of Equal Value, the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, the 1958 ILO Convention  111 Concerning Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation and Articles 3 and 7 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) and 1951 ILO Recommendation 90 Equal Remuneration Recommendation.

The detailed acknowledgement of ILO Convention 100 took place because the federal government used its external affairs powers to integrate the terms of the Convention in the legislation. These provisions supplied the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) the authority to provide equal remuneration orders, successfully increases in pay so that the test of equal remuneration was attained. These provisions gave the terms of equal remuneration for work of equal value pertaining to the rates of remuneration established without discrimination based on sex.

Because of the inability of the 1993 federal legislative amendments to produce effective jurisprudence, state industrial jurisdictions initiated several actions. Five states pursued anti-discrimination policy reforms- New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, Western Australia and Victoria. New South Wales was the first state to conduct an inquiry, where the impetus for the Inquiry arose not only from the plateau in gender pay equity ratios but also the significance of the state system of industrial awards for women in paid work in that state (McCallum, 1998). Industrial tribunals of New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania conducted inquiries on equal pay. The principles are different from the provisions in the federal Workplace Relations Act, because they implicitly reject the test of discrimination as the threshold for an equal remuneration claim. The principles employ a test of undervaluation as the basis of equal remuneration applications and there is no presumption that proper assessments have been conducted in previous assessments of the work at the subject of the application. There are also no requirements for comparison. These are the same problems of Canadian anti-discrimination policies for mental and psychiatric disability. The vagueness of terminologies and lack of specific guidelines provide space for employment discrimination to occur in Canada and Australia.

2. Impacts of policies on employment discrimination
This section answers the question Does the plurality of laws because of diverse jurisdictions provide complementing impacts on preventing and punishing employment discrimination One article showed that Canada may have less racial conflict, but not necessarily less racial discrimination. Reitz (1988) warned that there is a difference between laws that prohibit racial discrimination, and actual workplace racial conflict that leads to employment discrimination.  In one study, field trials, including telephone applications by actors with different accents, and walk-in applications that were done by black and white actors with equivalent qualifications, showed similar results in the two countries. The British and Canadian studies showed that whites more often received positive responses to telephone applications than did non-whites. In Toronto, whites also obtained positive responses in 86.9 per cent of applications, whereas non-whites received positive responses in only 60.1 per cent of applications, a difference of 26.8 per cent. Walk-ins showed that racial discrimination persists, because by showing the colour of their skin and language accents, there is a greater tendency for them to not be considered for the position, even if non-whites have comparable qualification with white applicants.

People with disabilities and older people are also not widely better off after the enactment of anti-discrimination laws. Disabled Canadians must bargain accessibility on their own, resulting in a largely inaccessible social and physical Canadian environment. Having access to workplace opportunities is still a challenge for disabled Canadians.  The Roeher Institute, which examines the impact of public policy on people with disabilities, states that people with disabilities in Canada have twice the unemployment rate of those without disabilities. In addition, disabled adults survive on incomes of CDN10,000 (approx. US8,900) or less annually. The institute also stresses that the poor employment rate of Canadians with disabilities are produced by several factors lack of accessible housing, transportation, inadequate training and education programs and ongoing discrimination in the workplace. The same problems also occur for people with psychiatric disabilities, because they also have problems finding and maintaining work. People ages 65 and above are also experiencing ageism. In Dickason v. University of Alberta (1992), the appellant is a tenured full professor at the University of Alberta, but she was forced to retire at the age of 65. She filed a complaint with the Alberta Human Rights Commission arguing that her forced retirement breached s. 7 of the Individuals Rights Protection Act by discriminating using the basis of her age. Section 11.1 of the Act states, that discrimination on a proscribed ground will be permitted, if the employer can demonstrate that the discrimination was reasonable and justifiable in the circumstances. The board of inquiry decided in her favour and ordered that she be employed again. The Court of Queens Bench upheld that decision, but the Court of Appeal reversed the decision. This case shows how laws can be overridden by common institutional policies.

Racial discrimination also continues, especially for non-Christians in Canada. Model and Lin (2002) examined racial discrimination at work for African-born employees and results showed strong discrimination against Sikhs. Pendakur and Pendakur (1998) also found gender and racial pay inequity in their empirical study. Their report showed Aboriginal women face an earnings gap of 7 per cent in comparison with Canadian-born white women. These reports show racial discrimination at the workplace, which cannot be effectively mitigated by employment equity laws.

Constitutional pre-commitments of Canada to gender affirmative action also do not assure that the affirmative action can redress gender discrimination.  The Court in Law qualified its findings, which undermined the inquiry whether ameliorative legislation would always comport with section 15. Judge Iacobucci wrote for the majority and stressed that ameliorative legislation that exclude individuals from a historically disadvantaged group will not commonly be permitted under section 15. The Court also did not overlook the possibility that a statute that ameliorates the position of one group might infringe on the social rights of another group. The Court then creates opportunity to consider novel types and forms of discrimination, which may contradict gender affirmative policies.

Busby (2006), nevertheless, noted that there had been improvements in womens conditions because of gender affirmative action. In the federal public service, there has been statistical improvement in the representation of the selected groups, which are modest but sound for the past ten years. From the four designated groups, women have improved their conditions, closing the representation gap most quickly, by about 1 per cent per year. This took place during large layoffs in the Canadian labour market so that, even when the number of women in the public sector decreased by about 10 per cent during the 1990s, their comparative representation improved from 46.1 per cent in 1993 to 50.5 per cent in 1998. The case of Brooks, Allen and Dixon et al. v. Canada Safeway Ltd. (1989) also demonstrated that the law can protect pregnant women from discrimination of disability payments. Furthermore, gay and lesbian rights also improved in some provinces, such as Toronto and Ontario. Several cases showed gay and lesbian employees suffering from discrimination, such as Vriend v. Alberta (1998) and Ramirez v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) (2008). These cases depict that anti-discrimination laws can also be used to avert workplace discrimination.

Australian Constitution, unlike, Canadian Constitution, do not explicitly provide for sex equality free from government discrimination. Canadian Constitution provides gender equality statutes that have been interpreted to mean substantive equality based on equal human dignity and full membership in society.  Studies on the impacts of Australian laws on gender and age discrimination also depicted that they are unable to remove systemic sources of discrimination. Mcdonald and Dear (2008) pointed out that discrimination continue to affect women across their life cycle stages. Their findings showed that young and older women face different predominant forms of workplace discrimination that concern sexualisation and glass ceilings. Another study also pointed out conflicts between State, Territory, and Federal anti-discrimination laws that result to inconsistent interpretations of worker compensation for people who reach 65 years old.

Gender pay equity has improved, but remains inequitable. Smith and Lyons (2007) scrutinized the impact of Workplace Relations Amendment (Transition to Forward with Fairness) Bill 2008 (Cth) to gender pay equity. They noted that the amendment lead to further gender pay inequity because of the loss of industrial awards that collectively fought for equal pay. This suggests that minorities and women were not politically prepared to advance their equity rights in the workplace. In addition, they noted that even when laws promise the advancement of gender pay equity, only one case has arrived at final arbitration. This concerned an unsuccessful claim by the Australian Manufacturing Workers for equal remuneration orders at the electrical component manufacturer, HPM Industries. Smith (2009) also pointed out problems in advancing gender pay equity because of the promotion of individual awards versus industry awards.

In addition, there has been emerging issues of genetic discrimination. Taylor et al (2007) conducted a survey on perceptions and experiences of genetic discrimination. Findings showed that there are some people who experienced coercion to genetic testing for employment purposes. This shows that discrimination is even evolving to that which is not initially covered or even considered by anti-discrimination laws. Racial discrimination also persists, even with government attempts to reduce it.

B.  Key characteristics of effective policy frameworks
Based on the review of literature and the findings, there are several references that recommend for the key characteristics of effective policy frameworks.  They are key characteristics because they aim to deal with the systemic sources of discrimination. They will be summarized as the following

Effective policy frameworks develop comprehensive and inclusive policy documents. Comprehensive and inclusive policy documents have clear guidelines in measuring the effectiveness of numerous anti-discrimination laws. They also promote communities and workplaces that are widely and universally accessible and would not exclude people with disabilities from being able to bargain for customized access to physical and workplace environments. Communities and workplaces must work together to eliminate systemic discrimination, by analyzing sources of prejudice in their domains. After identifying these sources, they can create solutions to dismantle them. It is possible to change work conditions to have room for individual needs and support greater social and economic independence. It must be noted that even when businesses will complain about the financial burden of accommodation, similar objections happened when occupational health and safety laws were first provided hundred years ago but, businesses adapted and survived, while maintaining and improving equipment and safety features. Thus, organizations can also be pressured to provide inclusive facilities and policies at work that can promote anti-discrimination laws.
Effective policy frameworks are grounded on empirical values and qualitative discourse. This means that evaluation of policy effectiveness must be independent and empirical in approach. It is important to empirically determine policy effectiveness for target recipients, in order to amend policies accordingly. It is also critical to understand the qualitative depth of experiences of target groups. It is possible that some statistics show improvement of their conditions, but interviews and case studies (and the like) that dive into specific conditions can reveal more depth of their actual perceptions and experiences.

Effective policy frameworks seek for equality and reasonable accommodation. Equality can be conceptually achieved, even between disadvantaged and majority groups, if they engage in discourse about true equality, which is equitable equality. This means arriving at laws that allow the disadvantaged groups to catch up and level the playing field. Reasonable accommodations should also be provided for people with disabilities, which should not be seen as cost centers alone, but as sources of revenues, because people with disabilities can also improve productivity and performance at work, provided they are given reasonable accommodations.

V. CONCLUSION
The effective policy frameworks defined in this research paper are not the only appropriate policy model suggestions for all conditions. They are only based on the existing gaps and weaknesses of anti-discrimination laws in Canada and Australia. Effective policy frameworks will be even more effective if they are subjected to inquiries and evaluations from various stakeholders. These stakeholders must continuously evaluate and improve policies depending on their lack of or improving conditions, so that they can ensure the dialectical relationship between policymaking and eradication of discrimination at work. Furthermore, the dialectical process can ensure an active engagement for addressing emerging discrimination issues. Effectiveness today does not ensure effectiveness at all times, and so policies must also adapt to changing social, technological, economic, and political conditions.

The justice system may be described as a set of legal and social institutions, which enforce the laws of a society, directed at establishing morality in the relevant society.  The criminal justice system may be described as an aspect of this justice system. The goal of the criminal justice system is to ensure that criminals are deterred from committing crimes.  Criminal Justice operates through five major components which are 1- Local Law Enforcement, 2- Court trial, 3- Court Case, 4- Trial with Jury and 5- Decision and punishment.  The present day criminal justices system can also be categorized into three primary groups, namely the law enforcement agencies which investigate crimes and arrest suspects, the court system which charges these suspects, puts them on trial and sentence them and the correctional system which incapacitates those sentenced by the court, and try to rehabilitate them. The origins of justice may be traced to lawlessness or a state of anarchy, which prevailed early in the history of mankind when poverty, scarcity and lack of progress existed. Without a government or a binding society, the lawlessness state saw people robbing and assaulting each other for gains, and getting away scot-free.

People then gradually got together to ensure their common interests. This is implied by the social contract theory. When man cannot rely on his individual powers to secure a contented way of life on his own, they join together to form a commonwealth (Kemerling, 2006). They gradually agreed on measures to ensure their collective interests in all aspects of life and reversing the lawlessness was a main goal. They agreed not to harm or attack each other and collectively punish the ones who commit it upon anyone of them. The rationale behind this contract is that people would accept these on the assumption that all others would accept it too. Punishments were intended to offset or exceed the pleasure or gain sought from the crime, so as to discourage people from indulging in crimes. The justice system including the criminal justice system got off from here. I personally feel that any and every person has a right to timely justice irrespective of nationality, race or social status. In my criminal justice career, I intend to ensure this. Today it is widely perceived and to some extent supported by facts too, that conviction and imprisonment rates are closely associated with ethnicity and race. I personally feel that the criminal justice system of today require to be more effective in terms of rendering justice, without any personal bias and hate and there is also plenty of scope for this.

Like in all other fields, occasional lapses do occur in the rendering of justice. Although the morality of law holds that even if criminals are not brought to book, it should be ensured that no innocent man is ever punished. However given the enormity of the situation, this cannot be guaranteed. Many are still held as suspects and imprisoned for considerable periods of time without a trial. When evidences are not recorded properly or when enforcement officers are not inclined to investigate evidences supportive of the suspect, justice is tampered. Crime scene investigation in particular, when the first responder fails to identify crucial evidences, the investigation is not only stalled, but also takes off in the wrong direction. Although the practices by and large contribute to enforcement of societal justice, there are enormous opportunities for lapses in every aspect of criminal justice. Officers in the criminal justice system including enforcement officers, correctional officers, parole officers and judges are always under immense stress of the workload that every case cannot be given its due diligence. The justice process when not undertaken with care and caution can have immense implications for the individual. There are many cases where people have been set free from the death row due to lack of evidence or faulty trials.

Take for instance police brutality, which is one of the most debated forms of unfairness in the justice system which often goes unnoticed because police themselves are part of the machinery that checks these offences. Police brutality in the form of unwanted shootings, beatings and kicking may sometimes result in serous injuries or even death of the suspect. When such unfortunate situations happen, police are quick to come out with a denial of charges and put a suitable theory to account for the happenings. Any amount of training, counseling or monitoring cannot make them perform perfectly. However, they need to be under severe scrutiny to ensure that their actions are justifiable (Human Rights Watch, 2007).

The Institutional correctional systems, also known as the prison systems, intends to reform prison inmates through its facilities and programs. Prisons are classified by its security like maximum, medium or minimum depending on the type of inmates they handle. Maximum-security prisons have severe restrictions on the movement of inmates. These prisoners are under extreme levels of surveillance and control, with scarce recreational and educational chances.  Such treatment of prisoners breaches the basic human rights and dignity of the people. When people are held in such conditions for very long, they are very likely to suffer psychologically, from which they may never recover even if their sentences are completed.  

The 911 attacks were carried out using hijacked domestic flights. Although at that time, terrorist activities were prevailing to a large extent and mainly directed to U.S and British interests, no one had expected such a devastating act within the American soil. American properties outside its borders, particularly in countries where terrorists were very active, were acknowledged as susceptible and appropriate actions taken.

However, the domestic angle was not seen as a threat. Flights to and from the U.S were under high security, but threat of domestic flights didnt look likely. Although the National Command Authority had the power to order shooting of a commercial flight, the flight should originate from outside U.S for this (NCT, 1998).
The security scenario world over has transformed immensely post September 11, 2001. The changes introduced are absolutely necessary although it is troublesome for all parties involved. Apart from the troubles, the costs associated on implementing the new security measures are enormous for the governments. Subsequent to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the face of law enforcement has transformed.
Every aspect of tackling terrorism has been radically changed not only for the US but also for the rest of the world. One example of extreme change would be how Transportation Security Administration (TSA) changed their policy when it pertained to air travelers.  People where instructed to arrive two hours before take off. TSA randomly selected passengers for random searches.  TSA currently practice two major changes 1-Federalization of travelers screening operations, and requirement that airports screen all checked baggage for explosives. The incident also left a mark on the immigration track into the US.

There has been a divided opinion on the measures adopted, with many favoring the measures adopted and many calling it a breach of civil liberties. Advocates of civil rights say that the government is stretching too far and not respecting the fundamental rights of several sections like immigrants and foreign people. The US Patriot Act enacted with almost total support in the legislature provides for enhanced surveillance and detention with respect to non citizens (Chishti, 2010). Critics of the governments policies point out that the enforcement actions are directed towards Muslims and Arabs in the US. Profiling of the members of these communities are considered as ineffective and crude way of gathering information. Critics point out that the practice of profiling violates constitutional freedom and discriminates individuals based on religious and ethnic backgrounds.  Local official have pointed out to the high costs associated with the security. It has been estimated that the costs are as high as 70 million per week for the cities during high threat levels (NPR, 2004).