Kentucky Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Recently, in January of 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit decided a case regarding hostile work environment and race discrimination. An African American woman named Christine Ladd sued her former employer for the race based harassment and retaliatory discharge against her former employer Grand Trunk Western Railroad. (See Ladd v. Grand Trunk Western Railroad Incorporated, 442 F.3d 495 (6th Cir. 2009)).

Ms. Ladd began her employment in April of 2000 with Grand Trunk. She was twice promoted. She was the only African American woman there. She claimed a co-worker in the fall of 2004 sexually harassed her. And then in March of 2005, she claimed retaliatory discharge after she file an injury report and was subsequently fired. In her deposition, she only sited to one person, a co-worker, not superior, who made a specific race or sex based offensive remark. While at work, Ms. Ladd did hear remarks about someone being a lesbian or gay or dyke, but these comments were not directed at her. Further, Ms. Ladd testified that she did not complain about any of the remarks to anyone nor did she complain of any of the other remarks about “this being a man’s job, etc.” to any other supervisor. Though, she did complain once to a supervisor when she thought a co-worker called her a “black bitch.” This matter was immediately investigated by her supervisors and was resolved. A Louisville employment lawyer could help explain the intricacies of such a matter.

Then in March of 2005, Ms. Ladd hurt her back while at work because she claims the man who called her a black bitch, moved the truck while she was on it, causing her back pain. She reported it right away. The matter was investigated and it sent to a formal hearing to see if Ms. Ladd was lying ie. filing a false injury report, or if the man who moved the car was lying. After several witnesses testified, it was determined that Ms. Ladd was not credible and so she lost. After she lost, Ms. Ladd filed a sex discrimination charge with the EEOC based on the events that had taken place. The EEOC granted Ms. Ladd her right to sue letter and so she brought her hostile work environment claims.

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In April of 2009, a U.S. Court of Appeals in the Sixth Circuit, decided an appeal from a lower Tennessee court. The issues on appeal were that the Plaintiff claimed that two evidentiary rulings were made by the district court: 1) the exclusion of an exhibit offered by Plaintiff as hearsay due to the lack of an appropriate witness to lay the proper foundation for the document, and 2) the granting of a motion in limine in which the district court prohibited the admission of certain evidence from a prior action between the same parties. (See Cobbins v. Tennessee Department of Transportation, 566 F.3d 582 (6th Ct. of App. 2009). A race discrimination lawyer can assist you with this case.

Mr. Cobbins is an African-American male who worked for the defendant as a maintenance worker since February of 1994. In March of 2004, Mr. Cobbins applied for any open position. In May of 2004, the Highway Maintenance County Supervisor position became available. And after a few people dropped out, it came down to Mr. Cobbins and Mr. Staggs for the position. Mr. Staggs is white and had a higher civil service score than Mr. Cobbins. In Tennessee, the Department of Human Resources is responsible for reviewing applications to verify that the applicants meet the minimum qualifications for the posted job. Then it creates a list of ‘Certificate of Eligibles’ which is then submitted. The H.R. also comes up with the civil service score based on the applicants education, training, and work experience.

Mr. Cobbins had less education, less training and less work experience. Also, in his file there were several oral and written warnings from his prior supervisors, Mr. Yocum. Mr. Yocum is white and Mr. Cobbins had filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against him prior to this case. He had a race discrimination lawyer to assist him.

The attached is a video showing a classic example of racial discrimination that had made the news a short while ago. See it and then continue on with the case at hand.

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