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.…
If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? I don’t intend this blog post to answer that question specifically. However, there is an employment law analogy that I will address today. Plaintiffs alleging they suffered a hostile work…
I had planned to blog about this Fifth Circuit decision for a while. The appellate court concluded that a plaintiff who had pleaded that his supervisor directly called him a “Lazy Monkey A__ N___” in front of his fellow employees stated an actionable claim of hostile work environment. But then…
As a lawyer, a mediator, a workplace investigator, and a blogger, I’ve seen my fair share of employees claiming that someone(s) subjected them to a “hostile work environment.” But here’s the thing. Unless the behavior about which the individual complains is based on that person’s protected class, the law won’t…
What I’ve got for you today is another hostile work environment decision. But, unlike yesterday’s general civility code violation, well short of the pervasive or severe behavior that could interfere with an employee’s working conditions, today’s is a doozy. We’re talking about four instances of racial harassment: an offensive note,…