Posts Tagged ‘Females in construction industry’

In the recent case of Hall v. Chicago the Seven Circuit found that a female plumber, (sometimes referred to as “Hall” by the author of this blog and allegedly referred to as “that woman” by her supervisor), has a triable hostile work environment claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 based on incidents which viewed in isolation may seem relatively minor, but when viewed in their totality the court deemed sufficiently pervasive to make out a hostile work environment claim.

Hall or “that woman” was a female plumber for the City of Chicago and the only woman, aside from a secretary, in her division.  Hall claimed that that her male supervisor isolated her from coworkers, assigned her menial work, and subjected her to physically aggressive comments.  Specifically, she alleged that she was treated as the division pariah, undeserving of human interaction, that she was given menial tasks such as alphabetizing and sorting the same files and watching videotape footage that had already been reviewed.  The allegedly aggressive comments included her boss saying that he: “ought to slap that woman sitting out there,” “I could slap that woman and get a promotion” and “I ought to go postal on that woman.”

At the trial level, the court granted summary judgment in favor of the City of Chicago, but on appeal, the Seventh Circuit found that although Hall’s claims would not individually be considered severe or pervasive harassment under Title VII, a reasonable jury could view them together as creating a hostile work environment.  The appeals court also found that Hall established a triable factual dispute about whether her supervisor’s alleged harassment was based on her sex, but the court admitted this was a close call.

Interestingly, the court acknowledged that while Hall’s work may have been “unpleasant, boring, and unnecessary, that can be said of much work and there is no right to enjoyable work or to communicate with coworkers.  However, the court found that when forced to look at the totality of the circumstances, incidents which viewed in isolation as relatively minor, that consistently or systematically burden women throughout their employment are sufficiently pervasive to make out a hostile work environment claim.  The court found that in Hall’s case, her supervisor not only assigned her menial work, but he purportedly isolated her from co-workers, subjected her to verbal outburst, and physically bumped her on occasion.

As for Hall’s claim that the harassment was sex based, the court said it was a close call.  The court referenced the supervisor’s alleged comments and noted that rarely does one say that they are going to “slap a male” and to the extent that ambiguity remains, the supervisor attached “that woman” to the end of the sentence permitting a juror to conclude Hall’s gender was one factor leading to the outburst.  However, the court commented that not all sex-specific comments are evidenced of animus based on sex.  “Where a comment crosses the line from gender specific to evidencing gender animus is blurry and depends on factual context.”  Although the court viewed the supervisor’s use of “that woman” as indistinct from the use of “she,” and therefore not evidence of gender-based animus, the court felt that a jury could conclude that the comments evidenced gender animus.

The takeaway:  train supervisors to avoid phrases such as “that woman” which may have undertones of discrimination.

This article is authored by attorney Shannon O. Young and is intended for educational purposes and to give you general information and a general understanding of the law only, not to provide specific legal advice. Any particular questions should be directed to your legal counsel or, if you do not have one, please feel free to contact us.

 

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In the case of Butt v. Carpenters & Joiners of Am., the Third Circuit recently held that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania wrongly dismissed the claims of four black female carpenters who claimed that the Carpenters and Joiners of America discriminated and retaliated against them in making job referrals.

 

The four female carpenters asserted sex discrimination claims under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and race discrimination claims under the Civil Rights Act of 1866 against the union, its business manager, and its business agent.  The plaintiffs also asserted Title VII and Section 1981 retaliation claims and at least one of the plaintiffs asserted race and sex bias claims under the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act.

 

The Third Circuit found that the lower court failed to properly consider certain factual issues and therefore the dismissal was improper.  One of the key facts had to do with the union’s agent allegedly telling one of the plaintiffs that “his people” were still out of work when she inquired about work.  The plaintiff interpreted the phrase “his people” to mean white men.  The lower court interpreted this statement to mean that the union’s agent did not identify with black female carpenters.  However, the plaintiff’s interpretation of the comment was the only interpretation that the appellate court could find on the record.  Thus, the appellate court found that the comment was enough to create a factual issue for trial on the discrimination claims.

 

As for the retaliation claims, the lower court took too narrow of a view of retaliation by focusing on retaliatory actions that resulted in a clear change in employment status.  According to the appellate court, the lower could should have also considered acts meant to keep workers from making discrimination complaints.  Here, the plaintiffs claimed that their reduction in hours was in retaliation for their direct complaints to the union, their EEOC discrimination charge against the union and their testimony before a Philadelphia advisory commission.  After two of the plaintiffs testified before the commission, the union’s agent sent the media a letter stating that two women had been laid off in the past because of poor performance.  Although the record contained little information about the letter that was sent to the press, the appellate court held that such action arguably could have sufficed as retaliatory action under the law and therefore the letter raised an issue of fact for trial.

 

This article is authored by attorney Shannon O. Young and is intended for educational purposes and to give you general information and a general understanding of the law only, not to provide specific legal advice. Any particular questions should be directed to your legal counsel or, if you do not have one, please feel free to contact us.

 

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Posted in Labor & Employment | No Comments »