A Black woman who’s worked for the Social Security Administration for 35 years lacked proof she was subjected to a hostile work environment based on her race or age, the Seventh Circuit ruled.
The Aug. 18 ruling highlighted key aspects of federal workplace harassment law. Discrete acts of bias that a worker failed to timely submit to a job rights agency can still be part of an actionable hostile environment lawsuit. But incidents need to be related to be considered part of the same unlawful employment practice, and the harassment needs to be linked to a worker’s protected class to ...