Race Discrimination
Proving Discrimination: Back to Basics
If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed or receive my updates by Twitter, IM, or email. Thanks for visiting!
I’m writing a series of monthly columns for Kennedy Information’s newish online publication, Recruiting Trends.
The first installment, logically enough, was “Can Recruiters Be Liable for Employment Discrimination?” (if you don’t know [...]
Firemen’s Dog Food Prank Could Cost City Millions
A black LA firefighter filed a racial discrimination suit after his coworkers “secretly laced his spaghetti with dog food.”
He said in court documents that the dog food incident “was part of a pattern of incidents” at the fire station “that were done to dehumanize black men.”
But “firefighters called it a prank and city [...]
Coca-Cola “cat’s paw” subordinate bias case dismissed on settlement week before Sup. Ct. arguments
I’ve written before about the fascinating subordinate bias case that was scheduled for Supreme Court arguments this coming week:
Supreme Court to hear Coca-Cola “cat’s paw” case
Cat’s paws, rubber stamps, and proof of race discrimination
The “Question Presented” as stated in the Supreme Court docket was:
Under what circumstances is an employer liable under
federal anti-discrimination laws based on [...]
$55 million settlement in FedEx race discrimination class action
In my view, this FedEx class action settlement is yet another sign that after years of near-dormancy, employment discrimination claims not based on disability, harassment, or termination of employment (e.g., those based on hiring and promotions) have become the biggest area of corporate employment law risk.
The ascendancy of these employment discrimination claims is led by [...]
Supreme Court to hear Coca-Cola “cat’s paw” case
An AP story on Monday reported that the Supreme Court will hear the Coca-Cola “cat’s paw”case I discussed back in July in a post entitled: “Cat’s Paws, Rubber Stamps, and Proof of Race Discrimination.”
The case is BCI Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Los Angeles v. EEOC, and here’s the decision of the 10th Circuit Court of [...]
EEOC Files Suit Over Racial Slurs; George Learns a New One (To Not Use)
The EEOC has filed a lawsuit alleging that a a supervisor at a medical clinic in California used the word “reggin” (”nigger” spelled backwards) and other coded derogatory words when referring to a black file clerk.
The suit is for a racially hostile work environment (a/k/a racial harassment) and retaliation.
”Even though the n-word is backward, [...]
Cat’s Paws, Rubber Stamps, and Proof of Race Discrimination
A June EEOC press release alerted me to a very important decision of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in a race discrimination case involving a Coca-Cola bottling company.
The issue is proving discrimination where the evidence shows that a subordinate who provided information or other input central to the challenged employment decision was biased, but [...]
Posh Hotel Settles English-Only Lawsuit
In a recent lawsuit, a posh hotel (it doesn’t say which one) has agreed to settle a lawsuit in which 13 Hispanic workers were forced out from their jobs for speaking Spanish while at work. The agreement includes some interesting features, such as
EEOC Investigates Potential Nationwide Test Discrimination At FedEx
In a recent press release, EEOC announced some interesting turns in an investigation of FedEx’s promotion policies. One interesting turn involves the refusal by FedEx to comply with a subpoena to provide files and therefore EEOC has asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona to order FedEx Corporation to explain the failure [...]
Discrimination Proof 101 — Indirect Evidence Prima Facie Case
Often I read a new decision by a federal court of appeals and the outcome seems to be such an obvious application of well-established principles of employment law that I wonder why the case was even appealed.
In significant part, this impression is created by the court, as it takes a large factual record and writes [...]
New Class Action Lawsuit Aimed Against Restaurant Chain
A new class action lawsuit alleges that McCormick & Schmick’s restaurants have a nationwide corporate policy and practice of preferring white employees over African-American employees for “front-of-the-house” positions.
The lawsuit also charges that:
EEOC Starts Focusing On Recruitment and Hiring Discrimination
In our recent posting regarding EEOC’s new compliance manual on race and color discrimination, I didn’t mention that recruitment discrimination seems to get quite a bit of attention. This seems to indicate a renewed emphasis at EEOC.
Curious to see if that was a correct conclusion, I recently reviewed the transcript of the EEOC’s [...]
Wal-Mart Wins — Racially Offensive Comments Insufficient to Make Terminated Employee’s Case
Were we just talking about Wal-Mart? This much-criticized company is such a frequent employment case defendant that I could probably teach a course in employment law using only Wal-Mart cases! (Of course, I’m not suggesting that the Giant of Bentonville actually violates employment laws, just that it has to defend a wide [...]
Wal-Mart Releases Diversity Information: But Is There Enough Information There?
One employment discrimination lawsuit that we have followed quite carefully in this blawg is Dukes v. Wal-Mart, with entries ranging from an analysis of the judge’s decision to grant class certification to a posting regarding an apparent attempt at settling the Dukes v. Wal-Mart sex discrimination class action case out of court.
Now, we note [...]
Two Employment Cases Decided by Supreme Court
Last week, the Supreme Court decided two employment discrimination cases.
One was a surprise — less as to the result than as to the fact it was decided at all and the procedure by which it was decided.
The other employment discrimination case was an unsurprising result to me, involving a technical issue not likely [...]
