Pretty obvious, but a decision issued this week serves as a good reminder to employers that all race discrimination is illegal, whether it’s against members of minority groups or whether it’s against Caucasians.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed summary judgment for a company that allegedly told a white worker that he was being terminated from a Mississippi River bridge construction project and not rehired because the company wasn’t meeting its minority targets for the project.

(The company denies that these statements were made, but the Seventh Circuit — correctly, I think — said that’s for the jury to decide.)

Perhaps more remarkable is the fact that the company got summary judgment at all, considering the alleged statements. Here’s a copy of the lower court decision, in case you’re curious.

Image Credit: From Wikimedia Commons.