When employees allege discrimination, they must prove an employer's discriminatory motive and connect it to a particular adverse employment decision. An adverse action requires evidence of a significant change in employment status, benefits, or pay. Usually, the proof comes in the form of failure to hire, a firing, failure to promote, reassignment with significantly different responsibilities, or lost pay or benefits.

But, from a federal court decision I read last night, I've got a list of eight items that are not adverse enough on which to base a disparate treatment claim.

To support her claim for an adverse action, the plaintiff argued the following actions were sufficient:

1. Not being allowed to sit, drink, or have her phone like her white, male co-workers;
2. being refused a transfer out of the area where she was being harassed;
3. being denied coverage to use the bathroom;
4. being moved from the day shift to the afternoon shift where her abusers would surround her;
5. being given worse jobs than employees with less seniority;
6. being sent to medical for drug testing after she was lied about by the defendant's managers;
7. being harassed daily; and finally
8. having her financial well-being jeopardized by being denied overtime, not being paid unemployment when she was laid off, and being removed from work subject to mental health clearance.

A Michigan federal court disagreed, concluding that none were significant but "merely workplace disputes, which would not be considered an adverse...

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