A Black man’s evidence his workplace, a Florida truck selling business, was rife with hostility against him and “all minorities” could support a harassment verdict in his favor, a divided Eleventh Circuit ruled Friday.
Hostile environment claims typically are based on proof of harassment directed at the race or other protected characteristic of the worker suing, but offensive comments regarding people of other minorities can help prove race-based harassment, the majority said. The novel ruling traced the evolution of the hostile work environment theory over the years in US Supreme Court and other case law, with the majority unpersuaded by ...