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Appeals Hostile Environment

Payne & Fears

July 2024 Case Summaries

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Summary: Courts must consider allegations of a racially hostile workplace “from the perspective of a reasonable person belonging to the racial or ethnic group of the plaintiff.” Under this framework, “a single racial epithet...more

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

Littler

Littler Lightbulb: February Appellate Roundup

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This Littler Lightbulb highlights some of the more significant employment law developments at the U.S. Supreme Court and federal courts of appeal in the last month....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

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Racial Epithets Spoken in Spanish Created Hostile Work Environment

Most employers are aware that a supervisor’s or co-worker’s use of the N-word or similar racial epithets in the workplace can serve as the basis for a claim of racial harassment. What happens, however, when the slurs are...more

Genova Burns LLC

NJ Supreme Court Issues A Grim Prognosis For Employers Facing Hostile Work Environment Claims

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After losing in both the trial and appellate courts, Armando Rios, Jr., an ex-Pharmaceutical Executive, managed to sway the minds of the Justices on the State’s highest court to revive his hostile work environment claim. Rios...more

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

Louisiana Court Rules Jones Act Claim for Mental Injury Can Proceed in Light of Noose in Maritime Workplace

Recently, the Louisiana Court of Appeal, First Circuit, in Thompson v. Cenac Towing Co., L.L.C., analyzed a trial court’s grant of summary judgment in a company’s favor after a noose-like rope was found hanging in a maritime...more

Genova Burns LLC

NJ Appellate Narrows the Road in Auto Dealership’s Sexual Harassment Case

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On May 18, 2021, in McBride v. Atlantic Chrysler Jeep, the New Jersey Appellate Division revived a Sales Consultant’s hostile work environment case against a car dealership after the Law Division previously dismissed it in...more

Genova Burns LLC

Cause & Effect: NJ Appellate Division Rules Correlation Does Not Imply Causation in Disability Discrimination Suit

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On March 4, 2021, the New Jersey Appellate Division in Kalim v. Urban Outfitters, Inc. affirmed the trial court’s dismissal of a former employee’s wrongful termination, hostile work environment, and retaliation claims under...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

Dentons

Discrimination Concerns in Skipping Notice Period

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Last week, we looked at some of the concerns businesses face when they consider whether to let an employee work the duration of their notice period or if it’s better to cut ties quickly. Read about the issues that notice...more

Fisher Phillips

Will The Ministerial Exception Bar A Hostile Work Environment Claim?

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Religious schools expressed relief when the United States Supreme Court expanded the application of the ministerial exception in July 2020 in the combined cases of Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrisey-Berru and St. James...more

Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC

Labor & Employment Law: Vermont and Federal Legislative Update

Downs Rachlin Martin labor and employment attorneys Amy Resnick and Andrea Wright highlight key Vermont and Federal legislative updates from 2020 that impact HR professionals. They walk through: Vermont minimum wage...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fourth Circuit Says Title VII Does Not Require Termination of Co-Worker for Racist Joke

In recent years, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia) has substantially lowered the legal bar for plaintiffs to demonstrate a hostile work environment based on...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

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Ask, Or You Shall Not Receive: 5th Circuit Nixes Accommodation Claim for Employee’s Failure to Ask for an Accommodation

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Seyfarth Synopsis: Recently, when affirming summary judgment to the employer in a disability discrimination case, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued two welcome reminders. First, to pursue a disability accommodation,...more

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

Eleventh Circuit Holds Alleged ‘Unsavory and Unpleasant’ Behavior Not Legally ‘Pervasive’ for Purposes of Title VII Harassment...

In Allen v. Ambu-Stat, LLC, No. 18-10640 (January 16, 2020), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a Georgia district court’s dismissal of a former employee’s sexual harassment claim and delivered a...more

Lewitt Hackman

Unlawful, or Just Mean? California Appellate Court Decides Discrimination Case

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People with disabilities have legal protections under both federal and state law. California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibits an employer from taking adverse actions against a person because of a person’s...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

End of the Road: Eighth Circuit Upholds $3.3 Million Fee Award Against The EEOC For Frivolous Claims

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Seyfarth Synopsis: After over a decade of litigation between the EEOC and trucking company CRST Van Expedited, the Eighth Circuit recently affirmed a federal district court’s order requiring the EEOC to pay $3.3 million in...more

Cozen O'Connor

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

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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

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fourth Circuit Finds Two Race Discrimination Claims Failed to Allege Sufficiently Hostile Work Conditions

In recent years, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes North Carolina and South Carolina) has lowered the bar for plaintiffs to take racial harassment claims to a jury trial when the alleged conduct involved use...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Seventh Circuit Says One Use of "N-Word" Insufficient for Racial Harassment Claim

In recent years, a number of federal appellant courts, including the Fourth Circuit, have issued opinions finding that a single use of a racial slur can be enough to constitute a hostile and offensive working environment...more

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