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Richard L. Rainey, Editor
Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC
Vol. 18, No. 3
April 2008
HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT
Religious harassment case to go to trial
North Carolina is becoming increasingly diverse. Our state has added people of all races, nationalities, and religions. Increased diversity makes the workforce strong, but with it comes growing pains, particularly when outside events create tension
within the workplace. Recently, the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (which covers North Carolina) addressed a religious harassment claim that arose in the days following the 9/11 attacks.
Facts
Clinton Ingram was employed by Sunbelt Rentals, Inc., at its Gaithersburg, Maryland, store. He was hired in October 2001, a month after the September 11 terrorist attacks. After initially working as a truck driver, Ingram was promoted to the position
of rental manager, which he held until his termination in February 2003. As a rental manager, he primarily worked at a rental counter located inside the store's showroom and was responsible for assisting with equipment rentals.
Before joining Sunbelt, Ingram, who is African-American, converted to Islam while serving in the Army. His coworkers knew he is a Muslim. In fact, Sunbelt permitted him to use a private upstairs room for short prayer sessions that were required by
his faith. In addition, it allowed him to attend a weekly congregational prayer session that took place from 1:00 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. on Friday afternoons. He also observed the tenets of his faith at the workplace by keeping a beard and wearing a kufi,
traditional headgear worn by Muslim men.
During his time at Sunbelt, Ingram claims he was subjected to a hostile work environment on the basis of his religion. According to him, the abusive environment was marked by a steady stream of demeaning comments and degrading actions from his
coworkers ― conduct that went unaddressed and unpunished by Sunbelt's supervisors.
For instance, Ingram claims that coworkers used religiously charged epithets and often called him names such as "Taliban" and "towel head." In addition, fellow employees frequently made fun of his appearance, challenged his allegiance to the United
States, suggested he was a terrorist, and made comments associating all Muslims with senseless violence. Ingram claimed that sometimes his supervisors personally participated in the harassment.
Ingram claimed that the harassment resulted in several religiously charged incidents. On one occasion, David Gray, another rental manager, held a metal detector to Ingram's head, and after the detector didn't go off, he called Ingram a "fake-ass
Muslim want-to-be turban-wearing ass." Additionally, a cartoon was posted in the store's dispatch area depicting persons dressed in Islamic attire as suicide bombers. Ingram took offense to the cartoon and tore it down.
Ingram also claimed he suffered from other forms of harassment. For example, his timecard was frequently hidden, especially on Fridays when he went to congregational prayer. Likewise, he alleged that coworkers constantly unplugged his computer
equipment and defaced his business cards.
After nearly every incident of harassment, Ingram complained to Steve Riddlemoser, the manager of the Gaithersburg office. The complaints proved futile, however, and the religious harassment persisted.
On Friday, November 15, 2002, after discovering that his timecard was missing, Ingram confronted Mike Warner, the store's shop foreman, who he believed was responsible. After a heated exchange, Ingram was sent home for the day. Later that day, he
contacted Sunbelt's HR department and spoke with HR specialist Stephanie Wilson. During two phone conversations with Wilson, Ingram expressed his frustration about the ongoing harassment and explained that he believed it was due to his religion.
Wilson told him to fax her a written complaint detailing some specific incidents of the alleged harassment.
After receiving Ingram's written complaint, Wilson e-mailed Riddlemoser to inform him of the situation. She outlined Ingram's harassment complaints and emphasized that they were serious allegations and that discrimination on the basis of religion
couldn't be tolerated under Sunbelt's personnel policies. Riddlemoser forwarded the e-mail to Eddie Dempster, the regional manager for the Gaithersburg location, and both informed Wilson they would look into the matter.
The following week, Riddlemoser talked with Ingram and his coworkers about the issues alleged in his complaint. After investigating the various incidents, Riddlemoser refused to take any disciplinary action because he believed there was insufficient
evidence of who was responsible. He did, however, tell Ingram's coworkers to avoid making comments about him or Muslims in general.
On November 19, Riddlemoser reported to Wilson that he had determined the basis of the complaints and that none of the allegations was based on religion. Rather, he concluded that the allegations were of a personal nature and that Ingram's
performance and personality were the cause of the problems.
Ingram claimed that after a short period of relative improvement, the religious harassment pranks started up again. For instance, he said that Gray continued to harass him about his appearance and faith. After Ingram informed Dempster that the
harassment was starting to happen again, Dempster accused him of being paranoid and "trying to build a case against" Sunbelt. The harassment allegedly continued until his termination in February 2003.
Lawsuit
Following his termination, Ingram filed a discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC investigated the charge, determined that there was sufficient evidence to support his claim, and filed a lawsuit against
Sunbelt. The district court judge reviewing the case ruled that the commission hadn't presented enough evidence of a hostile environment based on religion and that Sunbelt had done enough to attempt to address the problems. The EEOC appealed to the
Fourth Circuit.
Court's decision
To prove that Ingram suffered from a hostile environment, the EEOC had to demonstrate that the conduct he was subjected to was:
- unwelcome;
- based on his religion;
- sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of employment and create an abusive atmosphere; and
- attributable to Sunbelt.
The Fourth Circuit's job was to decide whether the
EEOC's evidence, assuming it was true, was sufficient for a reasonable jury to decide that a hostile environment existed.
The court first concluded that a reasonable jury could determine that the conduct to which Ingram was subjected was unwelcome. Ingram complained both orally and in writing about the alleged harassment to his supervisors and the HR department. In
addition, he made it clear to his coworkers that the harassing comments about his religion were unwelcome. He consistently defended himself and his religion and told his coworkers that he found the conduct offensive.
The court also found sufficient evidence for a jury to conclude that the conduct was motivated by religious animosity. Terms such as "Taliban" and "towel head" weren't used toward non-Muslim employees. Moreover, Ingram was consistently teased about
his appearance, particularly his kufi and beard. In addition, he testified that coworkers harassed him about his short prayer sessions.
The court further concluded that the conduct could be interpreted as severe and pervasive. Ingram was subjected to repeated comments that disparaged both him and his faith. He was accused of being a member of the Taliban and a terrorist. He was
persistently harassed about his appearance and his Islamic religious practices. According to Ingram, the harassment was a daily occurrence.
In addition to abusive comments made to Ingram personally, several coworkers made hostile remarks about Islam in general. For instance, another rental manager told Ingram that the United States should go to Saudi Arabia and "kill them all," referring
to Muslims in the Arab world. A coworker also said that he wanted to be a Muslim so he could have eight wives. After it was announced on a television in the store showroom that the D.C. snipers had been apprehended, another coworker stared at Ingram
and shouted, "I should have known they were Muslims!"
Ingram was also forced to endure harassment lacking a direct religious connection, such as having his timecard hidden, having his computer equipment unplugged, and having his business cards defaced. Although similar pranks were played on other
Sunbelt employees, the evidence suggested that Ingram was subjected to the harassment more often than others and likely because of his religion.
The court held that any of the above incidents viewed in isolation wouldn't have been enough to transform the workplace into a hostile or abusive one. But it couldn't ignore the habitual use of epithets and the repetitive abuse founded on
misperceptions that all Muslims possess hostile designs against the United States and are sympathetic to the 9/11 attacks.
Finally, the court held that the EEOC had presented sufficient evidence that Sunbelt could be held responsible for its employees' conduct. Ingram had complained about the harassment to the store manager and to the company's HR department. Despite
those complaints, reasonable corrective action wasn't taken, and the conduct continued. When Ingram complained that the religious harassment had begun again, he was met with accusations of paranoia and litigation. Rather than investigating the matter
further or taking any additional form of corrective action, his complaints were dismissed.
The court noted that the mere existence of an antiharassment policy didn't allow Sunbelt to escape liability because evidence showed that the company didn't seriously work to combat the conduct. Because there was sufficient evidence for a reasonable
jury to conclude that a hostile environment existed, the court ruled that the EEOC was entitled to take the case to a jury for a decision.
What this means for you
This claim could have been nipped in the bud if the company had taken appropriate corrective action. Instead, it chose to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the conduct in the complaint. A more effective response could have protected the company from
the lawsuit. Even if Sunbelt ultimately prevails at trial, it will have gone through an expensive litigation process because it failed to aggressively stamp out problematic behavior.
Find out more about religious harassment in the subscribers' area of www.HRhero.com, the website for North Carolina Employment Law Letter. You have access to an HR Executive Special Report on the
subject: "Ten Commandments for Avoiding Religious Harassment & Discrimination Claims." Just log in and scroll down to the link for all the Special Report titles. Lost your password? Call customer service at (800) 274-6774.
Copyright 2008 M. Lee Smith Publishers LLC
NORTH CAROLINA EMPLOYMENT LAW LETTER is intended as a report on topics of interest in labor and employment law. It is not intended as legal advice. Readers with legal questions or problems should consult legal counsel and should not rely upon this
publication without advice of counsel.
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