Atlanta Employment Attorneys Blog
In an Atlanta race discrimination lawsuit, the initial burden of proving wrongful conduct – such as a termination allegedly based on race or color – rests on the plaintiff.
If the plaintiff makes an acceptable showing of discrimination, the defendant is then given an opportunity to argue that the plaintiff’s termination (or other adverse employment action) was based on a legitimate reason rather than on the employee’s race, color, gender, age, etc.
When an employer offers what appears to be a legitimate reason for its conduct towards the employee, the burden then shifts back to the employee to show that the employer’s purported reason for its action was merely pretextual.
Facts of the Case
In a recent case, the plaintiff was a Hispanic male journeyman pipefitter who filed suit against the defendant employer, asserting claims for race and color discrimination and retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. ยงยง 2000e et seq., while working as an orbital welder in Augusta, Georgia. More particularly, the plaintiff described two particular incidents that allegedly occurred during his work with the defendant. In the first situation, an African-American co-worker reportedly removed a “purge cap” from the plaintiff’s weld, causing the plaintiff to damage something that he was working on; when the plaintiff confronted his co-worker, the co-worker allegedly “accosted him with racial slurs” while the defendant’s foreman did nothing to intervene. In the second incident, another African American co-worker allegedly directed racial slurs at the plaintiff due to a disagreement concerning work site cleanup and then bumped the plaintiff’s ladder with a vacuum cleaner; again, the supervisor did not intervene. The plaintiff was transferred to a different part of the project and, later, terminated from his employment.
The defendant filed a motion for summary judgment, seeking dismissal of the plaintiff’s complaint against it.
Decision of the Court
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, Augusta Division, granted summary judgment to the defendant on all of the plaintiff’s claims except his national origin discrimination and retaliation claims. Those claims the court then dismissed due to the plaintiff’s failure to exhaust his administrative remedies. The court concluded its opinion by entering judgment in favor of the defendant on all of the plaintiff’s claims and terminating all other pending motions.
In so holding, the court noted that, once an employee has stated a prima facie case for discrimination, the burden then shifts to the employer to articulate a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for an employee’s termination (or other adverse employment action). If the employer does this, the burden then goes back to the employee to show that the employer’s proffered reason(s) was pretextual.
Here, the defendant alleged that the plaintiff was terminated from his employment due to “intentional sabotage” and defiance at work. In the court’s opinion, the plaintiff failed to meet his burden of showing that the defendant’s proffered reasons for his termination were pretextual. According to the court, an employee must “meet [the employer’s] reason head on and rebut it.” It is not enough to simply quarrel with the wisdom of the employer’s reason for the firing. The court went to explain that the question of pretext “center’s on the employer’s beliefs, not the employee’s beliefs… not on reality as it exists outside the decision maker’s head.”
Consult an Atlanta Discrimination Attorney
If you need to talk to an experienced Atlanta race discrimination lawyer, please contact Attorney John L. Mays at Parks, Chesin & Walbert by calling 404-873-8048. Someone is always available to take your call, so please do not delay in getting the legal advice that you need about your case.