The U.S. Supreme Court has weighed in on a case that underscores the importance
of providing comprehensive antibias and harassment training for managers and
supervisors.
The case involved two African American employees of Tyson Foods, who sued
for race bias after being rejected for promotions. After a jury ruled in their
favor and awarded the men millions in damages, the trial court ordered a new
trial on the grounds that there wasn’t enough evidence to support the jury’s
award, and a federal appeals court agreed.
But the U.S. Supreme has now ruled unanimously that the appeals court
failed to give full consideration to some important evidence. This included
evidence that the manager making the promotion decisions had referred to the two
men as “boy.” The appeals court had agreed with Tyson that the term “boy,”
standing alone, isn’t evidence of discrimination. But the high court said that
the term isn’t always benign–whether it indicates bias may depend on many
factors, such as the speaker’s tone of voice, local custom, and context.
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The high court also found that the appeals court applied the wrong legal
standard for determining whether Tyson’s proffered reasons for refusing the
promotions were actually a subterfuge for discrimination.
We’ll have full details on this new development in an upcoming issue of
the California Employer Advisor.
Additional Resources:
Sample Policy
Against Unlawful Harassment, Discrimination, and Retaliation