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Supreme Court - "Boy" can be probative of racial bias
February 21, 2006 by Ross Runkel at LawMemo
If a manager refers to a black employee as "boy," is that evidence of racial animus?
The 11th Circuit thought not, unless "boy" was modified by some obviously racial adjective such as "black" or "white." Thankfully, the US Supreme Court has a better grip on reality. Ash v. Tyson Foods (US Supreme Court 02/21/2006)
Two African-Americans were superintendents who were denied promotions. They sued claiming race discrimination in violation of Title VII and 42 USC Section 1981. The 11th Circuit decision went against them. The US Supreme Court granted certiorari and remanded the case in a per curiam decision, without hearing oral argument.
There was evidence that the plant manager (the decisionmaker) referred to each of the employees as "boy." The 11th Circuit held that use of "boy" alone (without adding "white" or "black") was not evidence of racial animus. The US Supreme Court said this was error because "The speaker's meaning may depend on various factors including context, inflection, tone of voice, local custom, and historical usage."
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