Race Category Archives — Page 24 of 27 — The Employer Handbook Blog Published by Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Employment Lawyer

The National Football League’s proposed “N”-word penalty: too far, or not far enough?

March 4, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

In a few weeks, the National Football League owners are going to consider a proposed rule governing the use of the “N”-word during a football game. If the rule goes into effect, any team with a player who uses the “N”-word during a game, will be assessed a 15-yard penalty.

Players, young and old, disagree on the rule.

Here are Michael Wilbon and Jason Whitlock from ESPN’s Outside the Lines debating the merits of the proposed new rule.

Bad things happen when management laments to HR that black people are ugly

February 18, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Just a reminder that some managers still engage in really stupid behavior.

I was reading this case about an HR Manager of a dentistry practice.

Following an interview between a dentist in her practice and an African-American woman, the dentist allegedly commented to the HR Manager that the person would not be hired, as there were already too many blacks in Lewisville. The HR Manager then supposedly responded that “race is irrelevant.”

The guy fired for grab-ass at work may have been discriminated against

January 23, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

“My ears are burning…”

No, not you, Bill Clinton.

And not you either, Homer Simpson.

Social media? Anti-harassment? No workplace policy can prevent something this stupid…

January 22, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

On MLK Day, with a few of my co-workers and my four-year-old son, I performed community service. We went to a local center and spent a few hours making peanut butter sandwiches to feed the homeless.

Actually, we spent a half-hour or so making sandwiches. Most of us spent the remainder of the time continuing to make sandwiches, while my son ate peanut butter.

Win-win.

And we have an early contender for worst employment-law decision of 2014

January 16, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

That may be sugar coating it a bit.

A county employee, who applied for a lateral transfer, and ultimately received that transfer, was able to convince two judges on a federal appellate court that the transfer was discriminatory.

That’s right. An employee may have a discrimination claim for receiving the specific transfer he requested.

Maybe Facebook can’t tell you if a candidate is worth hiring, after all

January 10, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

According to a recent study soon to appear in the Journal of Management, not only is Facebook a horrible predictor of how younger recruits will perform for your business — there is absolutely zero correlation between Facebook activity and job performance — but those who rely upon Facebook to help judge potential younger recruits, are more likely to disqualify African-American and Hispanic candidates, in favor of Caucasian Facebook users.

Kashmir Hill details the study here in a recent article on Forbes.

So, if failing to meaningfully distinguish between younger job candidates, while increasing your odds of being sued for disparate-impact discrimination appeals to you, well then, have at it hoss!

Judge slashes jury award for black plaintiff called the “N”-word — by her black boss

January 7, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Back in September, 2013, I blogged here about a NY jury finding that a black plaintiff called the n-word — by her black boss — had been subjected to race discrimination.

Actually, her boss called her the n-word eight times!

“Well, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, that’s 103 fewer times than the ‘N’-word was used in Django Unchained,” is what the defense’s closing argument sounded like, I imagine.

The prison guard who left the work-release inmates unattended lost his discrimination claim

November 18, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Yeah, I know. Shocker, right?

A prison guard for the Arkansas Department of Corrections drove 27 work-release inmates in a van to a parking lot next to a fried chicken joint. Rather than hit the drive thru, the prison guard left the 27 criminals in the van and went inside to place his order.

For what it’s worth, the prison guard testified that there were no other customers ahead of him in line. Further, the prison guard thought that his chicken stop did not violate any employer policy or rule.

Waitress suspended for posting racist customer receipt on Facebook

September 11, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

It’s a story that first made news over the weekend and is quickly picking up steam, ironically, because of social media.

A customer at a Tennessee Red Lobster restaurant allegedly left a racist message on a receipt. An African American waitress subsequently posted the receipt to Facebook with the message:

“This is what I got as a tip last night…so happy to live in the proud southern states..God Bless America, land of the free and home of the low class racists of Tennessee”

Jury awards $280K to black female called N-word — by her black boss

September 5, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

A black employee who claimed that her boss, also black, called her the n-word eight times, had her day in court recently, as she put her race discrimination claims to a federal jury.

The defense argued that the use of the n-word here was culturally acceptable because both the “victim” and the “harasser” black. But, during closing argument, the plaintiff’s attorney told jurors, “When you use the word [the n-word] to an African-American, no matter how many alternative definitions that you may try to substitute with the [n-word], that is no different than calling a Hispanic by the worst possible word you can call a Hispanic, calling a homosexual male the worst possible word that you can call a homosexual male.”

The jury agreed with the plaintiff. Larry Neumeister at The Huffington Post reports here, that the jury awarded the plaintiff $30,000 in punitive damages and $250,000 in compensatory damages.