Articles Posted in Race

How could racial slurs and offensive graffiti not be a hostile work environment? I’ll try to explain.

January 28, 2025 | by Eric B. Meyer

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Last night, I came across a court decision that raised some eyebrows. The case involved a black employee who alleged that his white supervisor used racial slurs, including the n-word, and that the same slur was found written on a bathroom wall. He reported harassment and felt that his concerns were ignored. So, the employee claimed a hostile work environment.

You’d think the employee might win, right? But the court sided with the employer. Continue reading

DEI Shake-Up: What President Trump’s Executive Order Means for Your Business

January 23, 2025 | by Eric B. Meyer

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ICYMI, President Trump has issued an Executive Order titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.” This order aims to eliminate illegal discrimination and preferences based on race and sex in federal policies and practices, with significant implications for private businesses. Here’s what human resources professionals, employment lawyers, and business owners need to know about it: Continue reading

When the Cat’s Paw Scratches: How a University Got Schooled on Employment Law

January 15, 2025 | by Eric B. Meyer

Recently, a federal magistrate judge found sufficient evidence to support the ‘cat’s paw’ theory, a concept that should be on every HR professional’s radar. Continue reading

This is how I’d explain a hostile work environment to a ten-year-old.

January 7, 2025 | by Eric B. Meyer

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Imagine you’re at school, and there’s a teacher who always picks on you, blames you for things you didn’t do, and makes you feel terrible in front of your classmates. You might think, “This is so unfair! I want to tell someone and make it stop!” Well, grown-ups at work can feel the same way when their boss or coworkers mistreat them. But, like in school, not every mean thing a teacher or classmate does is against the rules. Sometimes, it must be really bad for the grown-ups to get help from the law. Continue reading

When Discrimination Claims Go Under the Knife: A Surgeon’s Legal Misadventure

January 3, 2025 | by Eric B. Meyer

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently dissected a bariatric surgeon’s discrimination claims. The surgeon alleged that his former employer discriminated against him based on his race and color when it favored another surgeon who allegedly harassed the plaintiff. However, the plaintiff misdiagnosed the situation.

Let’s explore why his arguments flatlined.

Can companies exit bias lawsuits by arguing that the same person hired and fired the plaintiff?

December 3, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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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

A coworker’s racist, sexist, and homophobic comments weren’t enough to create a hostile work environment. Here’s why.

November 13, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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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.

Court to white plaintiff: diversity does not equal discrimination

November 5, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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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

Wait until you see how EASY it is to plead a claim of discrimination in federal court

October 24, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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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

It turns out that an employee planning her “exit strategy” with her attorney wasn’t constructively discharged from her job.

September 5, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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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

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