A view of the judge's chair in court room. Picture taken February 3, 2012. REUTERS/Chip East
(Reuters) - A divided U.S. appeals court on Friday ruled that employers can violate the federal law banning workplace bias by transferring workers or denying transfer requests for discriminatory reasons, even if it does not lower their pay or cause other harm.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in a 7-4 decision said any differential treatment based on sex, race or other protected traits amounts to discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, regardless of the ultimate impact it has on employees' working conditions.
The court revived a lawsuit by Mary Chambers, a former investigator for the District of Columbia Attorney General's office who claims her numerous requests for lateral transfers to different divisions were denied while similar requests from male colleagues were granted.
The decision overrules the D.C. Circuit's 1999 ruling in Brown v. Brody, which said workers who sue for discrimination after they are transferred, or their transfer request is denied, must show an “objectively tangible harm.”
At least four other federal appeals courts subsequently followed Brown, and Friday's ruling creates a circuit split. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up...
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