Dive Brief:

• The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will not rehear a court officer's allegations that his termination constituted race discrimination (Jenkins v. Housing Court Department, No. 20-1124 (1st Cir., Jan. 4, 2022)).
• In its order, the court said it denied the request for an en banc hearing. 
• The ruling upheld an October judgment from a 1st Circuit panel. The judges found that the officer's termination stemmed from insubordination, not race discrimination. 

Dive Insight:

It's not uncommon for courts to side with employers in discrimination cases when employers provide evidence that shows the adverse action they took was prompted by poor performance, rather than discrimination.

In the case of Jenkins v. Housing Court Department, the employer produced significant written documentation, including multiple warnings, demonstrating that the court officer was aware his workplace behavior — including levying accusations via numerous unsolicited emails — was unacceptable. The employer outlined specific actions the court officer would need to take to lodge complaints, and it showed the officer did not take those actions.

In August 2020, the 5th Circuit similarly ruled that a senior project manager at an electronics manufacturer was fired not because of age discrimination but for the "classic nondiscriminatory reason of poor performance."

The employee, who was in his 60s, alleged that the three inquiries about his retirement plans showed his termination was motivated by his age. But the employer produced customer complaints, an unsuccessful performance improvement plan and records of insubordination to support its decision to terminate the worker. 

The 1st Circuit's decision in Jenkins followed a similar pattern. In its October ruling, the judges found that the record "indisputably" showed discipline preceding the worker's termination focused on his "insubordination and failure to comply with a reasonable court order."