How many readers knew it was illegal to discriminate against white people . . . or guys?

The reason I ask is that we had a decision this week from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, which hears appeals from federal courts in the states of Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and the Dakotas. A majority-African-American school board was found by a jury to have blatantly discriminated against the plaintiff, who was one of only two white administrative employees in the school district. (The plaintiff and the other white administrative employee, the superintendent, were demoted. The plaintiff claimed that her demotion was a "constructive discharge*," and the Eighth Circuit agreed.)

*A "constructive discharge" is the legal equivalent of out-and-out firing someone. Under federal law, if the employer deliberately makes working conditions so intolerable that a reasonable person in the employee's shoes would feel compelled to resign, then you have a constructive discharge.

One of the issues on appeal was whether the plaintiff was entitled to punitive damages. Generally, a plaintiff can't get punitive damages (intended more to teach the wrongdoer a lesson than to compensate the plaintiff) unless the employer showed "reckless indifference" to her rights. A finding of discrimination isn't by itself enough to establish "reckless indifference" for punitive damages purposes.

Please see full article below for more information.