The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued a ruling concerning the discharge of Michael Harris from his position with the City of Schertz as the city marshal. In doing so, the Fifth Circuit gave a bit more clarity on the situations in which comments made by an employer or agent of an employer amount to discriminatory pretext. The court found that those comments must be specific rather than general or suggestive to defeat summary judgment. In this case, comments made in testimony by the city’s agents or employees were not specific enough to show pretext and defeat the city’s motion for summary judgment.
Harris’ duties as city marshal included supervising the Animal Services department, which Shanna O’Brien oversaw. At some point in 2016, O’Brien complained to Harris about the conduct of another employee, David Taylor. Initially, Harris decided to attempt to resolve the issue without involving the human resources (HR) department or the city attorney, and he collected statements from both parties. The city then initiated an investigation into the allegations and collected statements from other employees. Although no formal complaint was ever made against Harris, multiple employees told investigators that Harris was present (and participatory) when sexually and racially inappropriate language was used in the workplace. O’Brien was the only employee who lodged a formal complaint against Harris. O’Brien’s complaint was that Harris told her not to go to HR with any...
Finance treatment is the answer after all. Where did the bravado of football fans who claimed Son Heung-min was being ostracized go? Recently, claims spread on social media and online communities ...