“Table: Nigga-1 Guest”: How Far We Have Fallen

You are looking at a receipt from a Texas restaurant, issued on January 1, 2015. In all, six African-Americans are suing the restaurant for intentional infliction of emotional distress, seeking $1 million.

If you think they are over-valuing their lawsuit, think again.

Consider the words of Judge Brett Kavanaugh, on Pres. Trump’s short list for the Supreme Court. In a recent race discrimination case, he joined the majority in awarding damages. He wrote separately to emphasize this point: “being called the n-word by a supervisor … suffices by itself to establish a racially hostile work environment.” 

He’s not alone. 

Federal appeals courts have consistently ruled this way: Rivera v. Rochester Genesee Reg’l Transp. Auth., 743 F.3d 11, 24 (2d Cir.2012)  (“no single act can more quickly alter the conditions of employment and create an abusive working environment than the use of an unambiguously racial epithet such as ‘nigger’ by a supervisor in the presence of his subordinates”); McGinest v. GTE Serv. Corp., 360 F.3d 1103, 1116 (9th Cir.2004) (“It is beyond question that the use of the word “nigger” is highly offensive and demeaning, evoking a history of racial violence, brutality, and subordination”); Swinton v. Potomac Corp., 270 F.3d 794, 817 (9th Cir.2001) (the word “nigger” is “perhaps the most offensive and inflammatory racial slur in English, ... a word expressive of racial hatred and bigotry”); Rodgers v. Western-Southern Life Ins. Co., 312 F.3d 668, 675 (7th Cir. 1993) (“Perhaps no single act can more quickly alter the conditions of employment and create an abusive working environment than the use of an unambiguously racial epithet such as “nigger” by a supervisor in the presence of his subordinates”); Bailey v. Binyon, 583 F.Supp. 923, 927 (N.D.Ill.1984) (“The use of the word ‘nigger’ automatically separates the person addressed from every non-black person; this is discrimination per se.”); Spriggs v. Diamond Auto Glass, 242 F.3d 179, 185 (4th Cir.2001) (far more than a “mere offensive utterance,” the word “nigger” is pure anathema to African–Americans”); Daso v. The Grafton School, Inc., 181 F.Supp.2d 485, 493 (D.Md.2002) (“The word ‘nigger’ is more than [a] ‘mere offensive utterance’…. No word in the English language is as odious or loaded with as terrible a history.”); City of Minneapolis v. Richardson, 239 N.W.2d 197, 203 (1976) (“We cannot regard use of the term “nigger” ... as anything but discrimination ... based on ... race.... When a racial epithet is used to refer to a [black] person ..., an adverse distinction is implied between that person and other persons not of his race. The use of the term “nigger” has no place in the civil treatment of a citizen....”).

Using this word is very costly, too. 

See $16.6 Million Verdict Against Corona Company in Racial Discrimination Lawsuit, The Press-Enterprise (June 29, 2017) (employee was called the “N” word and other racially offensive names); Kirk Mitchell, Denver Jury Awards Nearly $15 Million in Racial Discrimination Case, The Denver Post (Feb. 11, 2015) (white employees and supervisors of Matheson Trucking and Matheson Flight Extenders Inc. often used the N-word when referring to black workers); Bethany Barnes, Portland Public Schools, After Expressing ‘Respect’ for $1 Million Verdict, Appeals It, The Oregonian (Aug, 22, 2017) (two employees were relentlessly subjected to the N-word and having a noose in the workplace); Laura Bult, Sara Lee Agrees to Pay $4M to Black Employees Who Say They Were Called Racial Slurs, DAILY NEWS (Dec. 22, 2015); Chris DiMarco, Top 10 Most Expensive Discrimination Settlements of 2013, INSIDECOUNSEL MAGAZINE (July 8, 2103) (Bradley v. City Of Richmond settled for $1 million in a case brought by eight African-American pipefitters who alleged that they were subjected to racial epithets and other forms of bias); Tim Gould, Noose, ‘N-word’ Lead to $3.6M Race Discrimination Settlement, HR MORNING (Aug. 3, 2016) (New Jersey Transit settled discrimination lawsuit with seven employees who were subjected to the N-word and a put around one employee’s neck).