Skip to main content

Hostile Work Environment and Retaliation Claims Revived Based Upon Discriminatory Conduct in the Workplace


Huri v. Office of the Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County - Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals


Facts:  In 2000, Fozyia Huri ("Huri") began working at the Circuit Court of Cook County ("Cook County").  During her time there, she work a hijab.  Huri alleged that Sylvia McCullum (executive director for all Cook County court system child care attendants) was unfriendly from the time they met and never bothered to introduce herself for two weeks.  Over the course of eight years, McCullum repeatedly told Huri one of her colleagues was a "good Christian" and a "good church going Christian", that the chief judge was a "good Christian" and that McCullum herself was a "good Christian".  (Modest, huh?).  In 2009, McCullum apparently told a co-worker to work with a "good Christian" rather than Huri who was "evil".  McCullum also held prayer circle gatherings at work.  As well, McCullum allegedly falsely criticized Huri, made false misconduct allegations against her,  subjected her to different rules than co-workers, screamed at her, and subjected her to greater scrutiny than co-workers.  

After Huri complained of this conduct, McCullum apparently made additional false criticisms and allegations of misconduct.  Huri was subject to other misconduct including being excluded from social events, prohibited from accessing her office early (although others were given 24 hour access), and other related misconduct.

Huri filed suit against Cook County and alleged a hostile work environment based upon her religion and national origin and retaliation for her complaints about the discrimination.  The District Court disposed of the case via a motion to dismiss on the grounds that Huri failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted and her supervisors were entitled to qualified immunity.  Huri appealed.

Holding:  The Court of Appeals looked at the instances alleged by Huri and held that there was sufficient evidence to establish a hostile work environment claim.  Based upon many of Huri's interactions with McCullum, the Court found that given Huri's dress, it was reasonable to assume Cook County knew she was a Muslim and an Arab.  When the Court looked at the big picture, the screaming, prayer circles, being excluded from social events, criticism of non-Christians, and other related offensive treatment towards Huri, the Court held there was sufficient evidence to allow Huri's claim to proceed.

Judgment:  The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the District Court on the grounds that based upon the facts presented, Huri had established a valid hostile work environment and retaliation claim based upon the conduct of others towards her while she worked at Cook County.

The Takeaway:  If I have ever heard of a hostile work environment and retaliation claim that should go to trial, this is it.  Look no further than the conduct of McCullum towards Huri:  constant yelling, referring to others as "good Christians" (and inferring Huri was immoral because she was Muslim), being excluded from social groups, retaliated against because of complaints about treatment while at work, etc.  This is certainly a case that the Court of Appeals got right; it is hard to believe that with facts this outrageous that the case got thrown out at the District Court level...

Majority Opinion Judge:  Chief Judge Reagan

Date:  October 21, 2015

Opinion:  media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/rssExec.pl?Submit=Display&Path=Y2015/D10-21/C:12-2217:J:Reagan:aut:T:fnOp:N:1643576:S:0

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NLRB: Discussion Among Employees About Tip Pooling is Protected Concerted Activity

  This Advice Memorandum from the National Labor Relations Board’s Associate General Counsel, Jayme Sophir, addressed whether employees which discussed and complained about tip pooling at work constituted protected concerted activity. In relevant part, an employer in New York operated a chain of steakhouses.  While tip pooling was in place at these steakhouses, some of the employees objected to it on the grounds that it was not transparent and improperly divided tips among the workers.  Employees were told not to complain or talk to each other about the tip pool and were told that doing so would endanger their jobs.  Despite the employer later attempting to provide some clarity as to how the tips were being divided, rancor still existed among some employees.  At one point, the employees were told by a general manager that some employees that had been talking about the tip pool were “cleared out” and the employer would continue to do so. In the Advice Memorandum,...
Post a Comment
Read more

San Diego Rolls Back Vaccine Mandate For City Workers

Last Tuesday, the San Diego City Council voted to do away with the vaccine mandate for city employees. The city’s vaccine mandate that was in place required city workers to get the coronavirus vaccine or risk termination.  Perhaps to this surprise of no one, the city’s policy came under fire with 14 employees being terminated and over 100 other employees resigning.  With the coronavirus subsiding, including in Southern California, the San Diego City Council took action. Now, bear in mind, the repeal of the vaccine mandate does not take place immediately. With that being said, the mandate will be repealed March 8th.  I suppose the question now is, what other cities or regions follow San Diego’s lead? For additional information:   https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/story/2023-01-24/san-diego-repeals-controversial-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-citing-drop-in-cases-hospitalizations
Post a Comment
Read more

NLRB: Former Employee Cannot Be Barred From Work Premises After Filing Wage Suit

MEI-GSR Holdings, LLC - NLRB Facts :  MEI-GSR Holdings, LLC d/b/a Grand Sierra Resort & Casino ("GSR") operated a facility that included a hotel, casino, restaurant, clubs, bars, and a pool which were all open to the general public.  Tiffany Sargent ("Sargent") was briefly employed by GSR as a "beverage supervisor" in December of 2012.  After her employment ended, Sargent continued to socialize at one of the clubs.  GSR had a long standing practice of allowing former employees to patronize its facility and did not prohibit Sargent from doing so.  In June of 2013, Sargent and another employee filed a class and collective action against GSR for alleged unpaid wages, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and Nevada law.  In July of 2014, GSR denied Sargent access to an event at one of the clubs.  GSR followed up with a letter and stated that with the on-going litigation (from the wage suit), it decided to bar Sargent from the premises. ...
1 comment
Read more