News & Analysis as of

Cat's Paw

Littler

Joint Employment and the Cat’s Paw: Oregon Court of Appeals Sets Precedent

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On April 17, 2024, the Oregon Court of Appeals recognized a government employee’s whistleblower claim under state law against a city that employed him under an intergovernmental agreement with another city. ...more

Foley Hoag LLP

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Clarifies “Cat’s Paw” and “Stray Remarks” Doctrines in Employment Discrimination Cases

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The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s (“SJC”) decision in Mark A. Adams v. Schneider Electric USA, Inc., SJC-13352 (2023) concerned the age discrimination claim of a plaintiff who was 54 years old when he was laid off by...more

Troutman Pepper

Seventh Circuit Dismisses Retaliation Claim Brought Under Cat’s Paw Theory of Liability

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Q: Can an employer be found liable for terminating an employee for misconduct after an investigation initiated by a biased supervisor?...more

Fisher Phillips

Just (Don’t) Do It: Oregon Supreme Court Warns Against Cat’s Paw Retaliation

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The Oregon Supreme Court just revived a whistleblower retaliation claim filed against sportswear giant Nike by adopting for the first time a novel legal concept known as the “cat’s paw” theory. The July 18 opinion opens new...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Multi-Tiered Review Process Can Avoid Cat's Paw Claims

In the 17th century fable The Monkey and the Cat by Jean de La Fontaine, a monkey convinces a cat to push roasting chestnuts from a fire, singing his paws in order to provide the monkey with a meal. Ever since, “cat’s paw”...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Multilayer Performance Review Can Help Avoid 'Cat's Paw' Claims

In order to prove disparate treatment discrimination under federal employment laws, plaintiffs must demonstrate that the decision-maker in an adverse action was at least partially motivated by discriminatory intent. Federal...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Seventh Circuit Blazes Truck Driver’s Failure to Hire Claims

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Synopsis: The Seventh Circuit affirmed a summary judgment decision in favor of the employer on the plaintiff’s race discrimination and civil conspiracy claims where the employer did not hire the plaintiff after the plaintiff...more

Littler

Sixth Circuit Extends "Cat’s Paw" Liability Theory to FMLA Retaliation Claims

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Properly identifying the decisionmaker in an employment discrimination case is important because it is the intent of the decisionmaker that determines whether an adverse employment action was motivated by a discriminatory or...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Sixth Circuit Says "Cat's Paw" Theory Applies to FMLA Retaliation Claim

Employers sometimes defend retaliation claims by responding that the person or persons making the adverse employment decision was not aware of the plaintiff’s prior complaint. In the employment discrimination context, the...more

Amundsen Davis LLC

The Cat’s Paw Theory Burns Another Employer

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The “Cat’s Paw Theory” in discrimination cases is based upon a fable in which a clever monkey tricks an unwitting cat to pull chestnuts from a fire, so that the monkey can make off with the chestnuts without burning himself....more

Mintz - Employment Viewpoints

Negligent Employers May Be Held Liable For a Non-Supervisory Employee’s Discriminatory Actions Under “Cat’s Paw” Theory Says...

The Second Circuit recently adopted the “Cat’s Paw” theory of liability in Title VII cases. This was hardly a surprise as other Circuit Courts had done the same after the United States Supreme Court endorsed Cat’s Paw in a...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Second Circuit “Purrs” On Cat’s Paw Liability Case

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Seyfarth Synopsis: Recently, the Second Circuit held that the “cat’s paw” theory of liability may be used to support recovery for claims of retaliation where an employer negligently relies on information provided by a...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Watch Out for the Cat’s Paw - Employers May Be Accountable for Low-Level Employee Actions

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In the world of employment law, there is something called the “Cat’s Paw” theory of liability. The name comes from a fable dating back to the 17th century in which a clever monkey persuades a naïve cat to pull roasting...more

Orrick - Employment Law and Litigation

Cat’s Paw Making New Tracks: Second Circuit Extends Cat’s Paw Principle to Retaliation Claims and to Low-Level Employees

The “cat’s paw” doctrine, a concept first coined by Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner in 1990 and adopted by the Supreme Court in 2011, applies when an employee is subjected to an adverse employment action by a decision...more

Pullman & Comley - Labor, Employment and...

Don’t Be A Cat’s-Paw

Most sexual harassment policies include a procedure to investigate complaints, often specifying that the investigation will be timely and thorough, and may include interviews with the employees involved, witnesses, and anyone...more

Baker Donelson

Employers Beware of the Cat's Paw

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The cat scratches again! Five years ago, the United States Supreme Court handed down Staub v. Proctor Hospital, wherein it held that an employer may be liable for a supervisor's discriminatory animus when the independent...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Second Circuit Adopts “Cat’s Paw” Theory of Imputing Nonsupervisory Employee’s Retaliatory Intent to Employer

In Vasquez v. Empress Ambulance Service, Inc., No. 15-3239-cv (August 29, 2016), the Second Circuit Court of Appeals set new precedent when it held that an employer may be held liable for the retaliatory intent of a...more

Epstein Becker & Green

Employment Law This Week®: Retaliation Guidance, Class Action Waivers, “Persuader Rule” Injunction, “Cat’s Paw” Doctrine

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We invite you to view Employment Law This Week® - a weekly rundown of the latest news in the field, brought to you by Epstein Becker Green. We look at the latest trends, important court decisions, and new developments that...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Ambulance Service Liable for Sexting Monkey?

An ambulance service may be liable for damages arising from sexting by a monkey it employed, the Second Circuit ruled on August 29. Actually, the monkey was a man, but the court sided with a female employee who sued the...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

The Cat Is Out of the Bag: Second Circuit Rules Cat’s Paw Theory Applies to Nonmanagerial Coworkers

Rarely has the maxim “hard cases make bad law” found greater application than in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals’ recent decision to expand the “cat’s paw” doctrine adopted by the Supreme Court of the United States in...more

Genova Burns LLC

The Monkey and the Cat: Second Circuit Adopts “Cat’s Paw” Theory of Liability for the Acts of a Non-Supervisory Employee in Title...

Genova Burns LLC on

On August 29, 2016, a unanimous panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit revived a retaliation lawsuit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 under the “cat’s paw” theory of liability. In...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

About that new “cat’s paw” decision . . .

Employers should beware of being too quick to believe an employee who accuses a co-worker of wrongdoing. If the accuser has an illegal motive (such as discrimination or retaliation), and if the employer is “negligent” in...more

Cole Schotz

Second Circuit Reverses Dismissal Of Retaliation Claim Citing Cat’s Paw Liability

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The Second Circuit recently invoked a 17th century fable in reviving an employee’s retaliation claim against her employer even where the employer had no retaliatory intent. In Vasquez v. Empress Ambulance Service, SDNY,...more

Proskauer - Law and the Workplace

Second Circuit Holds That Non-Supervisory Employee’s Retaliatory Intent May Be Imputed to an Employer Under Title VII

In Vasquez v. Empress Ambulance Service, Inc., the Second Circuit adopted the “cat’s paw” theory of liability under Title VII and held that the retaliatory intent of a low-level, non-supervisory employee may be imputed to an...more

Fisher Phillips

Cat’s Paw Theory Of Discrimination Adopted By 2nd Circuit - False Sexting Claims Prove Employer’s Downfall

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The federal appeals court in New York just adopted a broad standard for employer liability as a consequence of discriminatory acts by their employees. This standard opens the door to a significant increase in claims being...more

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