Racial & sexual harassment against "snitch" illegal 05-27-99

Harassment is illegal only if it is "motivated" by animus based on race, sex, or other protected characteristic. In Carter v. Chrysler, Ms. Carter "snitched" on a co-worker who performed his job badly. For the next two years, the co-worker and his best friends harassed Ms. Carter on an almost daily basis, calling her a "black bitch" and other sexual and racial slurs, plus leaving dead animals for her, destroying her chair, throwing things at her, and threatening her with violence. The Court of Appeals held that even if the harassment was "motivated" by her complaint about a job problem, when the men used racial and sexual slurs, that was sufficient to show illegal harassment. This case also is significant for the poor way Chrysler handled the complaint. Although many of the incidents could not be traced to the men, the company never considered even temporary transfers of the men to see if the behavior would change.

Carter v. Chrysler Corp., ___F.3d___ (8th Cir 04/20/99)

Information here is correct at the time it is posted. Case decisions cited here may be reversed. Please do not rely on this information without consulting an attorney first.