A hospital and university didn’t just demote an employee over his criticism of a race-based practice. They went on social media to trash him, and that’s the bigger legal problem.
You’ve probably seen the headlines. Two flight attendants fired for posting about the Equality Act, a Ninth Circuit reversal, and the usual takes about religion vs. LGBTQ rights in the workplace. Here’s what those takes mostly missed.
She filed an EEOC charge. She just didn’t file the right one.
A racial slur used in 2007 was still admissible evidence at a 2024 trial. The employer’s failure to address it helped produce a $21 million verdict.
According to the EEOC, an employee complained about six months of sexual harassment. Her employer allegedly did nothing. So she went to court, got a protective order against the harasser, handed a copy to HR, and was fired the next day. The harasser kept his job.
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.
The Employer Handbook Blog