Where two automobile sales managers claimed their new supervisor perpetuated a racially hostile work environment, but there was insufficient evidence that the harassment was of the employees’ race, the dealership and supervisor prevailed on the claims.

Background

Not long after getting a new boss at the Priority Automotive Honda dealership, Kenneth Robinson and Christopher Hall effectively resigned from their jobs. They then sued, claiming that the new boss and the company fostered a hostile work environment and demoted them because they are Black, along with various state torts. Robinson and Hall lost at summary judgment.

Hostile work environment

To constitute a hostile work environment: (1) the employee must experience unwelcome harassment; (2) the harassment must be because of the employee’s protected class; (3) the harassment must be so “severe or pervasive” that it alters the conditions of their employment and creates an abusive atmosphere and (4) the harassment must be imputable to their employer.

Much of the allegedly harassing conduct does not make it past step two: a reasonable person could not find — based on the record — that it occurred because plaintiffs are Black. Start with the purported drop-off in plaintiffs’ sales. Robinson and Hall claim that Beckley told sales associates not to bring the two of them deals, and did so because they are both Black. But plaintiffs have no personal knowledge or other evidence showing this. Plaintiffs’ sales woes could just...

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiWmh0dHBzOi8vdmFsYXd5ZXJzd2Vla2x5LmNv...