Can the Employer be Liable for Discrimination if the Person Who Terminated the Employee Harbored no Discriminatory Motive?
One of the more interesting cases that the US Supreme Court will hear this year (BCI Coca-Cola Bottling Co v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) surrounds a human resources manager who terminated an employee based almost exclusively on information from the employee's supervisor. According the the EEOC, the supervisor allegedly had a history of treating black employees more adversely when compared to others and had a history of making racially disparaging remarks in the workplace. The human resources manager, who harbored no discriminatory motive, relied on the word of the supervisor when terminating the employee. In addition, the HR manager did not know that the employee was black.
However the Court rules on this issue there are certainly lessons to be learned here for HR professionals:
- Know your workplace.
- Always review every termination. Know who the employee is and be sure you know your supervisors. Don't just rely on paperwork and someone else's word - verify! All too often I end up conducting an investigation or reviewing a separation after the fact because the HR professional failed to independently verify the allegations surrounding the termination.
- Even if the employer is ultimately not liable here - just think of what the legal fees must be to defend this all the way to the Supreme Court - Ouch!