Signage is seen at the entrance of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 30, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
(Reuters) - A divided U.S. appeals court on Tuesday upheld a labor board's ruling that an aluminum products manufacturer wrongly fired a worker who wrote "whore board" on an overtime signup sheet, despite the potential for his conduct to trigger sexual harassment claims against the company.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in a 2-1 ruling said Constellium Rolled Products failed to prove its claim that the 2013 firing, which came while broader protests of the company's overtime policies were taking place, was motivated by a desire to comply with anti-bias laws rather than anti-union animus.
The court upheld a 2021 National Labor Relations Board ruling that said Constellium had tolerated graffiti and vulgar language in other contexts, undermining the company's claim that it was concerned about fostering a hostile work environment.
Constellium's lawyers at Morgan Lewis & Bockius did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Neither did the United Steelworkers of America union, which represents Constellium employees.
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