No workplace is perfect. And the one I read about last night was far from it. The plaintiff, who is black, alleged that one of her coworkers called her “loud and black” and “ghetto” behind her back. She further claimed that another coworker repeatedly used the N-word in the office…
Yesterday, I wrote about a man who claimed that his employer retaliated against him by forcing him to resign after he objected to attending workplace training on anti-racism and gender identity. It was a good story. We employment lawyers have plenty of them. But, perhaps, it wasn’t great. But what…
Sometimes, when deciding whether to blog about a recent federal court decision, I skip the “Factual Background” section and go right to the “Discussion.” That’s where I usually find the most concise, “meat-and-bones” explanation of what the case is about. I did that last night when I read this Minnesota…
During Thanksgiving week, I blogged about a Seventh Circuit decision and what makes a plaintiff alleging discrimination “similarly situated” to another employee outside of the plaintiff’s protected class whom the employer allegedly treated more favorably. The Seventh Circuit concluded that a white man who was fired for effectively stealing from…
Yesterday’s parting shot advised employers — not legal advice, mind you — that well-documented termination decisions are much better than “take my word on it, we should just fire him.” Let’s test that theory today. Honest to a fault. The plaintiff in this case worked for a credit union. The…
In yesterday’s blog post (and on LinkedIn), I asked you to adjudicate a white man’s discrimination claim. Specifically, you had to decide whether a white utility water meter reader who was fired for inaccurately reporting homeowners’ water meters was “similarly situated” to a black coworker who was not fired even…
A white man who worked as a utility water meter reader sued his employer for racial discrimination after he was fired for inaccurately reporting homeowners’ water meters. In support of his claims, the plaintiff compared himself to a black coworker who was not fired even though he started work late,…
In my many years of practicing employment law, I’ve seen hostile work environment accusations leveled against owners, supervisors, co-workers, subordinates, customers, vendors, and many others. But accusing a young child of racial discrimination is a new one for me. In this case, the plaintiff alleged that she was subjected to…
You guys remember ‘Central Park Karen,’ right? I wrote about her last year. ‘Central Park Karen’ (not her real name) is a white woman who worked as a portfolio manager for an investment company in New York. That is until a video went viral on social media. That video depicted…
Jerk employees are responsible for creating most of the hostile work environment claims I get hired to defend. But companies must act quickly to prevent workplace discrimination, regardless of the source. A new lawsuit that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission just filed serves as a good reminder for employers.…