Once again, the Supreme Court in two separate 5-4 decisions struck a blow against workers and employee rights. In Vance v. Ball State University (Case No. 11-556), the Supreme Court restricted the definition of supervisor to only those with the power to take a “tangible employment action,” and, in University of Texas Southwest Medical Center v. Nassar (Case No. 12-484), the Court required employees to show that retaliation was the “but-for” cause of the employer’s actions: The National Employment Lawyers Association issued the following appropriate press release today:
“Today a slim majority of the U.S. Supreme Court demonstrated yet again a deep misunderstanding of the realities of the workplace by rejecting decades of interpretative guidance by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and raising the bar for employees who seek to be free from illegal employment discrimination and retaliation.
As Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said from the bench: ‘Both decisions dilute the strength of Title VII [of the Civil Rights Act of 1964] in ways Congress could not have intended....the ball again lies in Congress’ court to correct this Court’s wayward interpretations of Title VII.’
NELA calls upon Congress to pass legislation that reaffirms the original purposes of Title VII—to eradicate workplace discrimination and retaliation in all its forms, and to break down barriers erected by the courts that prevent workers from meaningfully redressing violations of their rights.”An initial good critique of these two employee unfriendly cases states:
Monday was a great day for sexual harassers and for bosses who retaliate against workers claiming discrimination. The rest of us did not fare so well in the Supreme Court. While most Court watchers will likely focus on the narrower-than-expected decision in the Fisher affirmative action case, the most lasting impact of today’s decisions likely will be the twin blows struck against women and minorities in the workplace. Taking advantage of employees just became a whole lot easier.
The first case, which we previously labeled the “scariest pending Supreme Court case that you’ve probably never heard of” made it significantly easier for many people’s bosses to racially or sexually harass them and get away with it. Though the law provides fairly robust protection to workers harassed by their supervisor, the Court’s 5-4 decision in Vance v. Ball State University defined the term “supervisor” very narrowly. Under today’s decision, your boss is only your “supervisor” if they have the power to make a “significant change in [your] employment status, such as hiring, firing, failing to promote, reassignment with significantly different responsibilities, or a decision causing a significant change in benefits.” …
The problem with this definition of the word “supervisor” is that it cuts out many individuals who exercise significant power to direct fellow employees — potentially including the power to intimidate those employees against reporting their actions to their employer — just so long as those individuals don’t actually have the power to fire or demote anyone. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dissenting opinion lists several examples of now-no-longer-supervisors under Vance. One of them is a senior truck driver who coerced a female subordinate into unwanted sex with him. At oral argument, Justice Elena Kagan gave the example of a secretary whose boss “subjects that secretary to living hell, complete hostile work environment on the basis of sex.” Under today’s decision, the secretary’s boss is not her “supervisor” if the power to fire her rests with the “Head of Secretarial Services.” Don Draper can proposition his secretary with near impunity, so long as Joan Harris is the only one empowered to fire her. …
In a second case, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar, the same five conservative justices gave employers a freer hand to retaliate against victims of discrimination who report that they have suffered discrimination. Nassar, which involves a physician of Middle Eastern descent who claims that his recent employer withdrew a job offer after he complained about an allegedly racist supervisor who said that “Middle Easterners are lazy,” nixes what are known as “mixed motive” retaliations claims under a key anti-discrimination law. Under the mixed motive framework, an employer cannot automatically escape liability for retaliation if racism, sexism or a similar improper motive was only one of several factors driving a decision to retaliate against an employee.
Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority opinion rests heavily on a similar case, Gross v. FBL Financial Services, where the five conservatives killed mixed motive lawsuits in age discrimination cases. As we explained when that decision was handed down, mixed motive suits are important because they force an employer to reveal what they were actually thinking at the time that they fired or demoted an employee. Without this framework, employees are faced with the nearly-impossible task of proving that the sole thing on their boss’ mind was discrimination at the time that they decided to take action against a worker.These two cases will require employees pursuing harassment and retaliation claims to carefully draft their complaints and to develop all the necessary proof during discovery in order to proceed to trial. Rest assured, Lebau & Neuworth attorneys are on top of the most recent developments and will continue to vigorously for their clients.
