Labor & Employment Law

Second Circuit Court of Appeals Recognizes Association Discrimination Claim

By Harvey Randall, Esq.

Second Circuit Court of Appeals Recognizes Association Discrimination Claim
Source: Adjunct Law Prof Blog; http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/adjunctprofs/

Reproduced with permission. Copyright © 2008, Mitchell H. Rubinstein, Esq., Adjunct Professor of Law, St. Johns Law School and New York Law School, All rights reserved.

Holcomb v. Iona College, __F.3d__(2d Cir. April 1, 2008), is an important decision.Download 063815cv_opn1.pdf In a case of first impression, the court recognized a cause of action for discrimination on the basis of association.

A white plaintiff asserted that the college?s decision to dismiss him as an assistant basketball coach was motivated by his marriage to a black woman. The college claimed that plaintiff?s removal was part of a necessary overhaul of the poorly performing team. In vacating judgment and remanding the case, the appellate court held, for the first time, that an employer may violate Title VII if it takes action against an employee because of that employee?s association with a person of another race. Rejecting the college?s ?restrictive reading of Title VII? the court said that ?[w]here an employee is subjected to adverse action because an employer disapproves of interracial association, the employee suffers discrimination because of the employee?s own race.? A reasonable jury could find that the decision to dismiss plaintiff was at least partly motivated by his marriage to a black woman.

There is conflicting case law on this issue and this issue is ripe for law review commentary. While I applaud the result here, I am not sure that it is right. In DeCinto v. Westchester Medical Center, the 2d Circuit held that Title VII did not extend to prohibit discrimination by a supervisor who promoted his girl friend over others. However, that was a sex discrimination case and this was a racial discrimination case. Is there a difference? Should there be a difference??

Workplace Prof Blog reports on a 6th Circuit decision coming down the same way. Available here.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

Full post as published by New York Public Personnel Law on April 07, 2008 (boomark / email).