This Littler Lightbulb highlights some of the more significant employment and labor law developments in the federal courts of appeal in the last month.
Eighth Circuit Affirms Jury Verdict for Employer on Failure to Prevent Racial Harassment Claim
After losing a race discrimination case at trial, the EEOC appealed to the Eighth Circuit on the grounds that the jury instructions did not adequately cover its theory that the employer could have prevented workplace racial harassment. In EEOC v. Sun Chem. Corp., __ F.4th __ (8th Cir. Aug. 4, 2026), the Eighth Circuit held that it did not need to decide the adequacy of the jury’s instruction on the EEOC’s theory, because no evidence existed to support such a theory.
The court reasoned that for an employer to be liable on a failure-to-prevent harassment claim based on a co-worker’s conduct, the employer must (1) have actual or constructive knowledge of “ongoing” harassment and (2) decline to take action reasonably calculated to stop the harassment. In this case, the employer knew of only one racial comment by the alleged harasser, which would not have “placed the company on notice that he was a ‘known serial harasser.’” In addition, the employer took appropriate remedial action by sending the employee a written “disciplinary action” asking him to “take a step back and begin to think about what [he was] about to say and the consequences that may follow.” The Eighth Circuit noted that, although the employer’s action could have...
The court found the relator did not allege specific reimbursement requests or facts linking challenged promotional statements to government payments. A Maryland federal district court dismissed a ...