A phone call from one supervisor was enough to end a federal Title VII lawsuit
A federal appeals court has handed employers a clear win on reference checks and a roadmap for defending hiring decisions against race discrimination claims.
On May 22, 2026, the Seventh Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the Will County Sheriff's Merit Commission, the Will County Sheriff's Office, and Will County, Illinois, in a Title VII case brought by Darell Burton, a Black applicant cut from the deputy sheriff hiring process after a negative reference from his employer.
Burton applied to become a Will County deputy sheriff in 2010 while working as an assistant signalman for the Canadian National Railway. The certification process is long and rigorous, running through a short-form application, written exam, physical agility test, long-form application, psychological evaluation, polygraph, formal background investigation, and a final interview with the commissioners.
He cleared the early stages. Then came the background investigation. The railroad never returned the mailed reference form, so a sergeant in the Sheriff's Office called Burton's supervisor, Mike Youngman, to get the reference by phone. According to the court's account, Youngman's marks were strongly negative. He said Burton was not dependable, did not work well with others, would not be rehired, and would not be recommended for a job in law enforcement. Youngman also said Burton was off on a questionable work-related injury he...
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