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A "Heil Hitler" Comment in the Workplace? Hold Off Before Filing Your Title VII Claim First


Satterwhite v. City of Houston - Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals


Facts:  Courtney Satterwhite ("Satterwhite") worked for the City of Houston ("City").  She reported a coworker, Harry Singh ("Singh"), for making a "Heil Hitler" comment during a meeting she attended in 2010.  (Singh claimed the said "you know, we're not in Hitler court.").  The Deputy Director of Human Resources verbally reprimanded Singh.  Singh later learned that Satterwhite had reported the comment. 

After Singh became Satterwhite's supervisor in June, he reprimanded Satterwhite on various occassions:  Satterwhite apparently was not at his desk for prolonged periods of time without informing others of his whereabouts and Satterwhite apparently changed the policy regarding how the office handled incoming government mail without properly communicating information about the change.  After the first incident, Satterwhite became upset and yelled at Singh.  In September, Satterwhite sent Singh an e-mail and stated he thought Singh reprimanded him as retaliation for reporting the "Heil Hitler" comment.  Afterward, Singh recommended that Satterwhite be demoted as a result of the verbal and formal reprimands.  

Once Satterwhite was demoted, he filed a complaint with the EEOC and brought suit alleging unlawful retaliation.  The district court granted summery judgment to the City and Satterwhite appealed.

Holding:  The Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court's granting of summary judgment in favor of the City on the grounds that Satterwhite could not reasonably believe that a single comment created a hostile work environment claim under Title VII.  As the Court noted, a hostile work environment is determined "by looking at all the circumstances" including the frequency and severity of the conduct.  Based upon the case law, in this instance, the isolated incident was held to not be actionable conduct under Title VII. 

As for Satterwhite's Texas Commission on Human Rights Act ("TCHRA") claim, the Court also held that no valid cause of action existed.  The TCHRA provides for the execution of the policies of Title VII.  The Court held that since the TCHRA is analyzed under the same standard as Title VII claims, Satterwhite could not prevail on this cause of action since no valid Title VII claim was found to exist.

In regard to the retaliation claim by Satterwhite, the Court found insufficient insufficient evidence to allow this claim to proceed as the employer had a legitimate business reason for reprimanding and demoting him.  In order to proceed on a retaliation claim, there must be a "protected activity."  Since a protected activity requires a reasonable belief that something created a hostile work environment, the Court held the lack of a reasonable belief in this case prevented the retaliation claim from moving forward.

Judgment:  The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court's ruling and held that Satterwhite did not engage in protected activity and therefore did not have a valid Title VII or TCHRA claim against the City.

The Takeaway:  I think it would be a mistake to just assume right off the bat that saying "Heil Hitler" is okay in the workplace without risking a lawsuit.  In this instance, the Court's ruling turned on the fact that the comment was a single, isolated incident.  Had there been more frequent "Heil Hitler" type of comments in the workplace and had Satterwhite been able to show it interfered with his work (ie showing a reasonable belief that the conduct created a hostile work environment), there would have been a stronger Title VII claim. 

Employers should take this ruling as a bit of a warning:  isolated incidents might not be actionable conduct under Title VII, but that still does not prevent these types of claims from proceeding.  Educating managers and supervisors on appropriate (and inappropriate conduct) can go a long way in avoiding situations like this that can give rise to Title VII claims.

Majority Opinion Judge:  Per Curiam

Date:  March 3, 2015

Opinion:  http://www.scribd.com/doc/257700779/Satterwhite-v-City-of-Houston

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