Dive Brief:
- An appeals court recently affirmed a $300,000 jury award for a Cuban-American office worker who alleged she was subjected to national origin discrimination (Cid v. City of Miramar, Florida, No. 19-11181 (11th Cir. April 27, 2020)).
- Georgina Cid worked as an administrative assistant for the City of Miramar, Florida. She was demoted one month after an election changed the composition of the commission to be mostly Jamaican because, Cid said she was told, "the commission had changed" and needed someone who could "communicate better" with the new commissioners and mayor. The commission replaced her with someone who was Cuban and Jamaican and, unlike Cid, lacked a college degree. Cid complained to HR a month after her demotion, alleging it stemmed from national origin discrimination and that her new managers treated her differently than other employees. Cid said her relationship with one boss deteriorated after her complaint to HR and she was eventually fired for insubordination and dishonesty after she left work early following a workshop and misrepresented the timeline to her boss. Cid sued, alleging national origin discrimination and retaliation.
- The appeals court held that a reasonable factfinder could find that Cid's national origin was a motivating factor in her demotion. It also affirmed the jury finding on retaliation; Cid's second boss had said he didn't know that Cid had complained to HR, so there could be no retaliation but the appeals court disagreed, pointing out that, as the HR director, he had reviewed and approved of Cid's termination.
Dive Insight:
Protected characteristics such as race or national origin can't factor into employment decisions because Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as many state and local laws, forbid discrimination in employment on that basis as well as many others. The federal law bars discrimination in all terms and conditions of employment, including hiring, firing, assignments, leave, pay and more, according to guidance from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Employers have paid hefty penalties to settle national origin bias charges. Breakthru Beverage Illinois agreed to pay $950,000 to settle an EEOC investigation that found reasonable cause to believe that the company made account and territory assignments that resulted in national origin or race discrimination. Marquez Brothers International agreed to pay $2 million to settle an EEOC suit alleging that it refused to hire non-Hispanic applicants for unskilled production and warehouse positions and that several of its affiliates discouraged non-Hispanic applicants from applying for the jobs by imposing, among other things, an unnecessary language requirement.
The appeals court in Cid also noted that one of the plaintiff's bosses "felt that her performance was subpar but never documented it." The EEOC has suggested that documenting the reason for discipline or termination can help an employer defend bias charges.