It is quite possible in this case that the individuals affected by this action were all in a protected class. It is more than likely that those who benefited from the action were not in that same protected class. Thank you all for your responses.
My company has a bonus pool that is earned based on performance, which is rated by an employee's direct manager. Each employee's bonus and merit pay increase is based on his/her rating. To keep it simple, let's say that there are three possible ratings: Needs Improvement (the employee needs to...