Supreme Court to Hear "Cat's Paw" Discrimination Case
The U.S. Supreme Court has decided to hear an important employment discrimination case in which a Coca-Cola bottling company fired a black employee. The case involves allegations that a supervisor was motivated by racial bias and influenced a human resources manager to fire the worker. The human resources person was located elsewhere and did not know the employee's race. Such circumstances are sometimes referred to as "cat's paw" liability.
The Court will be asked to consider whether an employer can be held liable for intentional discrimination when the person who fired the employee harbored no discriminatory bias.
See also the Tennessee Business Litigation Blog for a discussion on the case.
