The plaintiff, who spoke with a “heavy African accent,” said a manager’s comment that his voice is “very specific” was discriminatory.

• A supervisor’s whispered comments to a Merck biotechnician about the tone of his voice did not constitute actionable harassment, according to a Sept. 8 decision of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
• The plaintiff in Nyamu v. Merck & Co. filed a grievance against his supervisor. The complaint followed a meeting in which the supervisor — upon learning that he forgot to give the plaintiff a work schedule — allegedly whispered into the employee’s ear that he was unsure how he forgot the plaintiff “because I use your voice to know where you are standing … You have a voice that is very specific to me.”
• The plaintiff claimed that the whispered remarks constituted both race- and sex-based harassment because he speaks with a “heavy African accent” and the act of whispering could be construed as sexual. The court disagreed on both counts and granted summary judgment to Merck.

The plaintiff had attempted to link his complaint about the manager’s conduct to a decision by Merck to move him from one department to another. He claimed that his new department offered him comparatively less training than his old post and did not allow him to work overtime, whereas his previous department did.

According to the court, however, the transfer was due to company policy requiring biotechnicians to adhere to workplace standards...

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