When Does Physical Violence Contribute To The Creation Of A Racially Hostile Work Environment?
Through their decades of experience representing race discrimination victims, our race discrimination lawyers in Citrus County, Florida have learned that a common employment law myth is that physical violence, standing alone, can create a racially hostile working environment. To establish a racially hostile work environment, however, employees must show that the acts of harassment, whether verbal or physical, occurred because of their race. In order for an act of physical violence to contribute to the creation of a racially hostile work environment, therefore, employees must show that the act of physical violence occurred because of their race. In other words, the act of physical violence must have been motivated by the victim’s race. Thus, unless there is other evidence of racially motivated harassment, physical violence, standing alone, does not contribute to the creation of a racially hostile work environment.
In almost all racial harassment cases, the creation of a racial hostile work environment is based on racially discriminatory comments towards the victim, such as racial slurs and racial jokes. When the racial harassment includes racially discriminatory comments and physical violence towards the victim, the act of physical violence contributes to the creation of a racial hostile work environment because the racially discriminatory comments are evidence that the act of physical violence was motivated by the victim’s race. In other words, the racially discriminatory remarks show that the act of physical violence was motivated by the victim’s race and, thus, was part of the victim’s racial hostile working environment.
In this article, our race discrimination lawyers in Citrus County, Florida explain how the decision in Alamo v. Bliss, 864 F.3d 541 (7th Cir. 2017) shows that physical violence is actionable when there is other evidence of racially motivated harassment towards the victim.
Racial Harassment Lawsuit
In that case, a man named Alamo brought a racial harassment case against his former employer, the City of Chicago, pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”). Title VII protects employees from race discrimination. Under well-established law, racial harassment is a form of race discrimination made unlawful by Title VII. To violate Title VII, racial harassment must be sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of the victim’s employment and create a hostile working environment. Alamo, who is Hispanic, alleges that he was subjected to racial harassment in violation of Title VII.
In 2006, Alamo began working for the Chicago Fire Department as a firefighter. Beginning in 2009, according to Alamo, other firefighters began verbally and physically harassing him because of his race. The alleged verbal harassment included racial epithets. The alleged acts of harassment also included stealing Alamo’s food or throwing his food away. Alamo contends that he complained about the alleged discriminatory harassment to his immediate supervisor on several occasions in 2010. Alamo asserts that his immediate supervisor did not remedy the behavior and, as a result, the behavior continued into 2011. In March 2011, for example, Alamo claims that a fellow firefighter made racist comments to him and then physically assaulted him. Alamo maintains that the complained to his immediate supervisor about this incident.
Alamo alleges that, in September 2011, he reported to work but was not feeling well due to allergies and informed his immediate supervisor that he would be in the television room and might be sleeping. About an hour later, according to Alamo, a Captain woke him up, yelled profanities at him, and stated, “I don’t like your kind, you better transfer and get out of the firehouse because I don’t want you here.” Alamo further alleges that the Captain then chest bumped him, used more profanity, and threatened more physical violence.
Alamo claims that, later that day, the Captain pushed him against a wall. Alamo called 911 for assistance and spoke to police officers when they arrived but did not press charges. Alamo maintains that he did not take the matter further because a received a call from the Fire Chief who “pleaded with Alamo” to wait for him to arrive before doing anything. When the Fire Chief arrived, he allegedly asked Alamo not to bring charges and to let him resolve the incident without involving the police. Alamo asserts that the Fire Chief also said that he would help Alamo with the harassment at the firehouse if Alamo did not press charges. Alamo claims that he agreed but asked the police to document the incident with the Captain.
The next day, Alamo experienced chest pains and dizziness. He called a friend to take him to the hospital where he explained to an emergency room doctor that he had been chest bumped and pushed at work the day before. The doctor diagnosed Alamo with a work-related chest contusion, work-related stress, and possibly post-traumatic stress disorder. The next day, Alamo informed the Chicago Fire Department that he was beginning medical leave. Alamo never returned to work after the expiration of his six-month medical leave.
Physical Violence Is Severe Harassment
The trial court dismissed Alamos’s hostile work environment harassment claim. The trial court concluded that Alamo’s allegations did not rise to the level of sufficient severity or pervasiveness required to state a hostile work environment harassment claim under Title VII. On appeal, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s decision and reinstated Alamo’s hostile work environment harassment claim.
The Seventh Circuit, unlike the reversed trial court, focused on the acts of physical violence in finding that Alamo’s allegations were sufficient to establish that he was subjected to severe racial harassment. The appellate court observed that Alamo claims that he was subjected to acts of physical violence and that the acts of physical violence were motivated by his race. The first act of physical violence, according to Alamo, occurred in March 2011 when a firefighter directed racist comments to him and then physically assaulted him. The second act of physical violence, according to Alamo, occurred in September 2011 when a Captain, who had stated “I don’t like your kind,” chest bumped him and threatened more physical violence. These allegations, the Seventh Circuit concluded, are “exactly the type of severe language and physically threatening circumstances” that the U.S. Supreme Court in Harris v. Forklift Systems, Inc.,510 U.S. 17 (1993) “described as hostile.”
Citrus County Race Discrimination Lawyers
Based in Ocala, Florida and representing workers throughout Florida, our race discrimination lawyers in Citrus County, Florida have litigated racial discrimination cases in Florida courts for more than two decades. If you have endured racial harassment in the workplace or have questions about your protection from racial harassment under employment discrimination law, please contact our office for a free consultation with our race discrimination lawyers in Citrus County, Florida. Our employee rights law firm takes racial discrimination cases on a contingency fee basis. This means that there are no attorney’s fees incurred unless there is a recovery, and our attorney’s fees come solely from the monetary award that you recover.