Racial Slurs Hostile Work Environment

Racial Slurs Hostile Work Environment

“A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”  Luke 6:45

Do racial slurs in the workplace constitute hostile work environment?

Two different courts answered this question in different contexts in these last 2 weeks.

California Supreme Court Hold One Single Racial Slur Sufficient for Hostile Work Environment

In her lawsuit, Twanda Bailey alleged she was once called the “n-word” by a co-worker at the San Francisco District Attorney’s office.  She reported it, and thereafter suffered retaliation from HR.  The trial court granted summary judgment for the employer, dismissing her claims, and the Court of Appeal affirmed.

The California Supreme Court disagreed, and reversed the decision yesterday.  Read decision here: Bailey v San Francisco District Attorneys Office.

The Court held that one time is enough.  One time use of a racial slur may give rise to a hostile work environment claim.  Per the Court:

For the reasons stated above, we conclude that an isolated act of harassment is actionable if it is sufficiently severe under the totality of the circumstances, and that a coworker’s use of an unambiguous racial epithet, such as the N-word, may be found to suffice.

District Court Dismisses Lawsuit Filed by City Employee for Harassment Based on Racial Slur

Meanwhile, in another part of the United States, a federal magistrate Judge dismissed a lawsuit with slightly different facts.

In Batiste v City of Rayne, the employee alleged that he overheard two co-workers joking about one of them going to the other’s house to collect on a sports bet, to which the other responded,

“You will be one dead [racial epithet],”

The employee allegedly confronted the offending co-worker, who apologized.

The District court dismissed the plaintiff’s lawsuit.  Here, the plaintiff was not the target – he merely overheard two individuals, at least one of whom was African American, joking among themselves.

The Judge held these allegations did not rise to the level of harassment that Title VII protects against because a “reasonable person would not find the situation abusive or harassing,”.

The case can be read here: 2024-17-7–10-11-40-WDLA-BATISTE-V-RAYNE-MAG RECS

The ruling here: 2024-17-7–10-11-41-WDLA-BATISTE-V-RAYNE-ORDER-0713-24