White man says he’ll shoot black manager, bury him in the desert

The scenario: After firing a white crew member for insubordination, a black supervisor began to feel the heat from the rest of his staffers, many of whom were friends with the white man who’d been dismissed.

One white crew member said, “I don’t have to listen to that n-gg-r; he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

Another white worker told the black boss that he didn’t like the color of his skin. And a white staffer said that he’d like to “shoot the son of a b-tch and bury him in the desert.”

Altogether, the black boss was referred to as “n-gg-r” by white staffers at least 24 times.

When the black manager reported the offensive comments to his bosses, an investigation was launched.

However, it was determined that the problem was not the racist attitudes of the white workers but rather the black man’s poor management style. The black manager was fired.

Legal challenge: The black manager sued for race discrimination.

The employer argued that he was let go because of his poor management skills. Plus, none of the offensive comments were made by supervisors, so the statements didn’t represent the beliefs of upper management.

The ruling: The company lost. A court upheld a jury award of $8.5 million to the black manager.

The judge agreed with the jury’s conclusion that the manager was discriminated against, citing the frequent use of racially offensive words. Even though the comments weren’t made by supervisors, the company failed to stop the discriminatory behavior.

The skinny: Adopt a forceful response to any allegations of race bias. With racial tensions currently running high in the U.S., workers who think they’re being discriminated against are more likely to sue – and get a favorable ear in a court of law.

Cite: Moland v. McWane, Inc., Court of Appeals of California, No. B285628, 3/2/20.

(From the July 17, 2020, issue of HR Manager’s Legal Alert for Supervisors. To download the rest of the issue right now, please click here.)