Friday, October 23, 2015

Can Boss Call Employee “Asshole” on Facebook? Yes, But…


Employers enjoy a wide range of freedom of speech; but they need to watch out for the following. Consider Teresa Harris’s case (Harris v. Forklift Systems, Inc.), which went to the U.S. Supreme Court. Her boss called her a “dumbass woman.” He also told crude jokes. The high court reinstated a case that had been dismissed, and basically told the lower court to reconsider whether expressions such as “dumbass woman” create a hostile work environment. Different context, but in another case a company president repeatedly referred to his employee, Mansour, as Manny. Mansour asked him politely to use his correct time-- more than once. After a while, Mansour sued claiming national origin discrimination. He won a $90,000 judgment due a work environment that was hostile to Egyptians. The boss denied any hostile intent. The court said intent didn’t necessarily matter: a reasonable Arab would find this insulting and interfering with work. Lesson: Calling an employee an “asshole” won’t create liability; but the boss has to be careful not to append discriminatory names and stereotypes to this common insult.

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