Suppose your company hires a black man only to fire him less than a year later. If the man claims that his race motivated the termination decisions, would arguing that the same person made both employment decisions create a viable defense? Continue reading
Employers don’t have crystal balls.
Last week, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals reaffirmed the well-settled rule that when one coworker accuses another of creating a hostile work environment, that claim will fail ten times out of ten unless the employer knew or should have known about the harassment but failed to take prompt and adequate remedial action. It’s otherwise known as respondeat superior liability.
An employer’s statements about a successful job candidate’s “minority status, the American Dream, and the value of diversity” were not enough to show that it discriminated against an unsuccessful white candidate, ruled a New Jersey federal court recently. Continue reading
A recent Eleventh Circuit decision serves as a sobering reminder to employers why a plausible claim — a mere inference of bias – is all it takes for a plaintiff to pursue discrimination claims. Continue reading
I’ll go ahead and file this one under: “Ya think?”
But perhaps I’m getting out over my skis. So, let’s see what you think. Continue reading
Yesterday’s post discussed how direct evidence “proves impermissible discriminatory bias without additional inference or presumption,” i.e., the proverbial smoking gun. But smoking gun evidence in discrimination cases is rare. Employers aren’t out there telling employees that their race will cost them their jobs.
Well, most employers, that is. Continue reading
Yesterday, we discussed unconscious bias training in the workplace. Today, we’ll talk about an employer that may need some if the allegations in a recently filed complaint against it are true. Continue reading
A federal appellate court recently breathed new life into the discrimination claims of a tanker driver alleging that his race motivated his employer to terminate his employment for it deemed reckless driving. His evidence? His employer had treated him differently than other tanker drivers who engaged in conduct that was similar enough to his.
So, let’s explore how other employees may be similarly situated to one another in the context of a discrimination claim. Continue reading
A single incident, like a supervisor calling a black employee the “n” word, may be enough to create a hostile work environment. But what if the victim doesn’t witness it? Continue reading
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