A school district police officer posted a prayer on Facebook criticizing his supervisors. He was fired. His lawsuit raised constitutional claims, a retaliation claim, and a religious discrimination claim. The Fifth Circuit affirmed dismissal on all of them, and the reasons why are a useful lesson for any employer.
The termination decision-maker didn’t know about the complaint. That gap cost the employee everything.
The $11.5 million verdict against SHRM survived. Now the court’s explanation of why offers a sharper lesson than the verdict itself.
An employee returned from his third round of FMLA leave and found a performance improvement plan waiting for him. That looks terrible. But a jury will never hear about it.
A police department ran a volunteer program that looked and felt a lot like a job, complete with uniforms, badges, ranks, performance reviews, and a paramilitary chain of command. Three young women in the program alleged sex discrimination and retaliation, got dismissed, waited over two years to file charges, and then sued under Title VII. The court shut it all down. Continue reading
An employee complained to HR about discrimination. About two and a half months later, the employer skipped progressive discipline, gave no warning, and fired her the same day over emails. Most people would expect that case to go to a jury. It didn’t. Continue reading
One racial slur. One termination. Zero liability. The Third Circuit’s newest hostile work environment decision is a masterclass in what prompt employer action actually looks like.
She signed a severance release, collected her benefits, and then sued anyway. The Sixth Circuit just explained why that didn’t work – and why the employer’s paperwork made all the difference.
Two supervisors warned a new hire in his first weeks on the job: file an EEO complaint against us, and we’ll end your government career. Then they did. Continue reading
Some employment cases turn on close calls, messy comparators, or shaky documentation.
This one turned on something simpler: an employee who admitted to a string of workplace misconduct and still tried to turn the termination into a discrimination, retaliation, and hostile-work-environment case. Continue reading
The Employer Handbook Blog