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Harassment Appeals Employment Litigation

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Get with the Pronoun: Eleventh Circuit Rules Pervasive Misgendering Is Harassment

If an employer or coworker persistently uses a transgender worker’s wrong name or identified pronoun, can that constitute a hostile work environment in violation of Title VII? In Copeland v. Georgia Department of Corrections,...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Claims of Hostile Work Environment Happened Over Too Long a Period, Court Rules

Last week, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected claims from a university professor that she had been subjected to a series of retaliatory acts in the two- and one-half year period following her filing an Equal...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fourth Circuit Recognizes 'Equal Opportunity Harasser' Defense

We often hear claims from employees who threaten to sue their employer for creating a “hostile work environment.” When we dig into the complaints, often the employee is alleging that their manager is mean or unfair to them,...more

Miles & Stockbridge P.C.

Fourth Circuit Holds ‘Series of Hateful Workplace Encounters’ Based on Race Can Create Hostile Working Environment Under Title VII

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has expanded its view of what a hostile work environment looks like and lowered the bar in terms of what a plaintiff must show to sufficiently allege a race-based hostile work...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fourth Circuit Says Racial Slur From Owner's Six-Year-Old Son is Evidence of Offensive Working Environment

​​​​​​​Over the past decade, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia) has substantially lowered the bar for demonstrating racial harassment in cases where a racial...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Happy Thanksgiving and the Many Things for Which We Are Thankful – 2021 Edition

Many of us are understandably anxious to put another tumultuous year of the pandemic behind us. But before we sit down at the table to fill our plates and bellies to overflowing to celebrate the holiday, we can all find some...more

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

California Supreme Court Holds Failure to Promote Claims Accrue With Employee’s ‘Knowledge’ of Denied Promotion

If an employee is passed over for a promotion due to alleged harassment, does the failure to promote happen when the employer decides to promote someone else or when the successful candidate actually takes on the role? ...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fourth Circuit Allows New Type of Same-Sex Harassment Claim Based on Stereotyping

In its Oncale decision, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that same-sex sexual harassment violates Title VII’s sex discrimination prohibition. In that case, the court said that plaintiffs can demonstrate same-sex harassment...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Federal Appeals Court Says Employer Must Have Reasonable Opportunity to Investigate Harassment Complaint

Under Title VII, an employer may be liable for sexual harassment by one co-worker of another if it knew or should have known of the conduct and took no action. According to a recent decision from the Eighth Circuit Court of...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fourth Circuit Says Managers' Indifferent Response to Harassment Complaint Does Not Subject Employer to Punitive Damages

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 allows awards of both compensatory and punitive damages capped at a total amount depending on the size of the employer. In a new decision from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Eight Circuit Maintains High Bar for Hostile Work Environment Claims

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Seyfarth Synopsis: The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a manager’s behavior toward an employee was “reprehensible and improper,” but did not rise to the level of a hostile work environment under Title VII, and...more

Cozen O'Connor

HR Investigations Pay Dividends: A Healthier Workplace and Protection in Court

Cozen O'Connor on

Many HR professionals spend a significant amount of time investigating employee complaints and, depending on the outcome of these investigations, implementing corrective measures to halt and prevent bad behavior in the...more

Genova Burns LLC

One and Done: NJ Appellate Court Rules that a Continuing Violation Under the NJLAD can Apply to a Hostile Work Environment Claim...

Genova Burns LLC on

The New Jersey Appellate Division in Adel Mansour v. Brooklake Club Corporation, Inc., d/b/a Brooklake Country Club, A-2472-17T1 (App. Div. July 10, 2019) recently considered a hostile work environment claim by an Egyptian...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Facebook Comments About Employee Did Not Create Hostile Working Environment

One of the major trends in recent years in employment discrimination law has been the lowering of the standard required for a plaintiff to demonstrate a hostile and offensive working environment based on race or sex. Federal...more

Butler Snow LLP

Take This Job And Shove It – Alabama Supreme Court Elaborates On “Voluntarily” Leaving Employment

Butler Snow LLP on

If you quit your job because of a hostile work environment, is it still “voluntary”? According to the Alabama Supreme Court’s July 12, 2019 opinion in Arnold v. Hyundai Manuf. Ala., LLC, it is. In Arnold, Hyundai hired Arnold...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Once Is Enough: Eleventh Circuit Allows Racial Harassment Claim Against Health Care Provider to Proceed—and Takeaways For...

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Seyfarth Synopsis: In a recent decision, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that the use of the N-Word in the workplace one time is sufficient to trigger a hostile work environment....more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Supervisor Overhearing Racist Remarks Makes Employer Potentially Liable for Harassment

Over the past decade federal courts have demonstrated a decreasing willingness to tolerate the use of racist language in the workplace. In repeated circumstances, courts have found even a single use of a racial slur...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Same-Sex Harassment of Male Employee in Mixed-Gender Workplace Violated Title VII

In its 1998 Oncale decision, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that same-sex sexual harassment can violate Title VII’s gender discrimination prohibitions. However, the court noted that in order to demonstrate violation of the...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Plaintiff's Own Testimony Enough to Send Harassment Claim to Trial

When an employer moves for summary dismissal of a plaintiff’s employment discrimination or harassment claim, it must show that there is no genuine issue of material fact in dispute, thereby allowing the judge to make a...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Even Rhetorical Use of the "N-Word" Sufficient to Allow Racial Harassment Claim to Go to Jury

Over the past several years, we have reported an increasing number of federal appeals court decisions that have characterized even single instances of certain racial slurs as sufficient to constitute hostile environment...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Failure to Investigate and Fat-Shaming Permit Employment Claims to Proceed

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Seyfarth Synopsis: Under California law, obesity can qualify as a disability if it has a physiological cause and limits a major life activity. Proving such a claim has been difficult. The First District Court of Appeal’s...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Workers’ Compensation Ruling Given Preclusive Effect In Discrimination Lawsuit

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Seyfarth Synopsis: In Ly v. County of Fresno, the Court of Appeal held that correctional officers’ claims for race, ethnicity, and national origin discrimination were barred because the claims had been previously denied in...more

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