News Notes: Court Expands Coverage of Federal Anti-Bias Law

Soo Cheol Kang, a U.S. citizen of Korean national origin, sued his employer, U. Lim America Inc. for national origin discrimination and harassment under Title VII, the federal anti-bias law. The company argued that it wasn’t covered by Title VII because it only had six employees, rather than the statutory minimum of 15 employees. But the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has now ruled that U. Lim America was indeed covered by Title VII because it owned and operated U. Lim de Mexico in Tijuana, which employed between 50 and 150 workers. The court said the employees of the two companies should be counted together, even though all of the Tijuana employees were citizens of Mexico, because U. Lim America and U. Lim de Mexico were an integrated enterprise-in particular, the companies had common management, U. Lim America had complete control over labor relations at U. Lim de Mexico, and both companies were owned and controlled by the same person.