Lexology
Ogletree Deakins
USA April 2 2010
Court Rejects Harassment Claim, Noting Worker's Inaction
A federal appellate court recently held that an employee who claimed he was subjected to 14 months of racially-motivated comments cannot succeed on his Title VII racial harassment claim. According to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, the case must be dismissed because the alleged behavior was not "severe and pervasive" and the employee failed to adequately pursue his complaint with his supervisors. Ford v. Minteq Shapes and Services, Inc., No. 09-2140, Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (November 24, 2009).
Factual Background
Dennis Ford was employed by Min-teq Shapes and Services, Inc. (MSS) at its Portage, Indiana facility. Ford, who had worked at MSS as a forklift operator for 13 years, was the only African-American employee on site.
Ford claimed that over a 14-month period a co-worker, Joseph Wampler, often referred to him as "black African-American" or "black man." The behavior stopped when his supervisor, Steve Smith, and co-worker Miguel Altieri overheard Wampler's comments and reprimanded him.
Ford claimed that he reported Wampler's comments and several other concerns to Laura Beemsterboer, the Manager of Human Resources. Specifically, Ford alleged: that his supervisor, Ronald Humphreys, once told him that he didn't have to worry about his job because MSS "wanted to appear integrated"; that another supervisor, Lee Nuzzo, once called him a "gorilla"; and that MSS barred Ford but not oth-ers from bringing their grandchildren to the company's Christmas parties.
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