Applying policy unevenly among employees will always get you in trouble. For a shipping company in Burnsville, MN, it meant a lawsuit that's proven difficult to shake.
The company fired an African-American employee for allegedly being tardy to work and failing to be available when called to come in.
He sued, claiming white employees were given more leeway than he had been. And a federal appeals court said he had a point: He supposedly missed three calls to come to work on the same day, but employees were supposed to receive only one call. And on another day when he was allegedly unavailable, he'd already worked 40 hours in the week and wasn't required to be available.
The court said his suit was strong enough to go to trial.
The company fired an African-American employee for allegedly being tardy to work and failing to be available when called to come in.
He sued, claiming white employees were given more leeway than he had been. And a federal appeals court said he had a point: He supposedly missed three calls to come to work on the same day, but employees were supposed to receive only one call. And on another day when he was allegedly unavailable, he'd already worked 40 hours in the week and wasn't required to be available.
The court said his suit was strong enough to go to trial.
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