The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals— which covers Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee— recently reaffirmed that failure to train an employee can be an actionable form of discrimination.
Click on the “yesterday’s Advisor” link in the first paragraph to read about the facts in this case.
Courts’ decisions
The trial court dismissed all of Charles Reed’s claims. His retaliation claim failed because none of the HR officials to whom he complained had any role in deciding which jobs were eliminated. His “failure to promote” claim failed because he admittedly wasn’t qualified for a technician 4 job, meeting only 75 percent of the requirements.
His hostile environment claim failed because there were few incidents of harassment and no previous complaints about misconduct. Finally, the trial court ruled that an alleged failure to train an employee doesn’t constitute the kind of “harm” that allows him to sue. Reed appealed.
Ultimately, the 6th Circuit upheld the dismissal of the lawsuit. However, the appeals court made several rulings and statements that are instructive to employers. Specifically, even though Reed hadn’t properly appealed the ruling in which the trial court dismissed his “failure to train” claim, the 6th Circuit addressed it.
Unlike the trial court, the 6th Circuit ruled that “failure to equally train” is actionable. Technician 4 jobs pay more than technician 3 jobs. Thus, Procter & Gamble’s alleged failure to equally train Reed indirectly deprived him of potential compensation. If he hadn’t made the procedural error on appeal, the 6th Circuit would have required a trial on the issue. Reed v. Procter & Gamble Mfg. Co., 13-5797, 2014 WL 553000 (6th Cir., 2014).
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Training takeaways
In this case, being helpful to some, but not all, employees produced a lawsuit. What a supervisor thought of as merely a good deed (soliciting some employees to work toward promotion) resulted in the punishment of litigation, and—but for a procedural mistake—perhaps a trial and liability.
Virtually all workplaces can produce claims of favoritism when an employee is perceived as receiving better treatment from supervisors. This case shows the importance of equal treatment in all aspects of the work environment and all conditions of employment. Innocent favoritism can be misinterpreted as discrimination, and claims of discrimination can begin well before any actual employment decision is made. Here, the alleged “failure to train” stretched back over 5 years!
Brandon Gearhart is an editor of Kentucky Employment Law Letter. You can reach him at bgearhart@fbtlaw.com.
This case is a wake-up call to training professionals and HR departments everywhere—especially small HR departments, who may already feel overwhelmed with all their responsibilities. If you are feeling concerned about the court’s ruling and looking for assistance in avoiding such lawsuits in your organization, consider BLR’s Managing an HR Department of One. This resource is unique in addressing the special pressures small HR departments face.
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