Discrimination

Subscribe to Discrimination via RSS

The Fifth Circuit issued a decision in the case of Turner v. Kansas City Southern Railway Co., No. 09-30558, 2012 US App. LEXIS 6079 (5th Cir. 3/26/12).  See decision.  The opinion discusses the requirements for a circumstantial case of discrimination which relies on comparators.  Four Kansas City employees sued their employer for discrimination under…

The Department of Justice has filed suit against the City of Selma for violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Adam Sadler filed a charge with the EEOC claiming he had been demoted to firefighter after he complained about the Chief of the Fire Department.  The former lieutenant complained that the…

A Bexar County jury awarded a former employee of San Antonio Water Systems $1.6 million in state district court.  The former SAWS employee alleged she had been fired after she reprimanded the Vice-President for Communications because he asked a female employee to lunch.  See San Antonio Express News report.  Debra Nicholas had been special…

 It is tempting, when unjustly charged with something at work, to refuse the employer’s instructions.  We need to resist such temptations.  The boss remains the boss until replaced by a bigger boss or by a judge.  An employee at San Antonio Independent School District may learn this lesson the hard way.  Leticia Rivera worked for…

In 2006, Mel Gibson ranted and raved when a Los Angeles County deputy stopped the actor for drunk driving.  Mr. Gibson infamously accused the deputy, James Mee, of being Jewish.  Turns out, the actor was correct.  Deputy Mee is Jewish.  The actor sputtered other anti-Jewish diatribes.  "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in…

 Filing charges of EEOC complaints has reached an all-time high.  Though just a small increase over 2010, the filings reflect the state of the economy.  Filings generally rise when the economy worsens.  That is due, I believe, to employers taking advantage of the economic "cover" to get rid of employees and more terminations simply cause…

 The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a decision regarding the ministerial exception to Title VII.  Title VII of the Civil Rights act of 1964 prohibits discrimination.  But, for decades, courts have excepted religious institutions from Title VII.  Based on the First Amendment, all circuit courts have recognized that a religious institution may discriminate based on…

Use of the term "boy" to refer to adult African American men is usually thought to constitute some degree of racism.  Yet, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has struggled with a case in which that term was used.  The case is known as Ash v. Tyson Foods, Inc.  It has been to the 11th…