Staub v. Proctor Hospital
Staub v. Proctor Hospital, 562 U.S. 411 (2011), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States, in which the Court held that employers are still liable under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act if they fire an employee based on the recommendation of a subordinate who is acting out of hostility towards the employee's military obligations, even if the firing employer is not aware of or does not hold those discriminatory views himself.
| Staub v. Proctor Hospital | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued November 2, 2010 Decided March 1, 2011 | |
| Full case name | Vincent E. Staub, Petitioner v. Proctor Hospital |
| Docket no. | 09-400 |
| Citations | 562 U.S. 411 (more) 131 S. Ct. 1186; 179 L. Ed. 2d 144; 79 U.S.L.W. 4126 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | jury found for plaintiff (PEOCC 2007) reversed (7th Cir. 2009) cert granted, 562 U.S. 441 (2010). |
| Holding | |
| An employer may be held liable for employment discrimination based on the discriminatory animus of an employee who influenced, but did not make, the ultimate employment decision. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Scalia, joined by Roberts, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Alito, Sotomayor |
| Concurrence | Alito, Thomas (in judgment) |
| Kagan took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. | |
| Laws applied | |
| Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act | |
Background
Statutory provisions
The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) was passed by Congress in 1994 to guarantee to military reservists a return to their civilian jobs after their deployments. The law also offers protection against termination or other retaliation against current and former military members because of their military obligations.[1] USERRA says, in part, that:
A person who is a member of, applies to be a member of, performs, has performed, applies to perform, or has an obligation to perform service in a uniformed service shall not be denied initial employment, reemployment, retention in employment, promotion, or any benefit of employment by an employer on the basis of that membership, application for membership, performance of service, application for service, or obligation.[2]
Lower court proceedings
The case arose when Vincent Staub, the plaintiff, was terminated from his job as a radiology technician at Proctor Hospital in Illinois in April 2004. Staub was a member of the Army Reserve and was periodically required to take time off of work for training. According to Staub, Janice Mulally and Michael Korenchuk, two of Staub's supervisors, were openly hostile towards him and belittled his military obligations.[3] In 2004, Korenchuk advised the hospital's vice-president of human resources, Linda Buck, that Staub had broken a rule about remaining in the hospital while not seeing patients, despite the fact that Staub had merely visited the hospital's cafeteria and Staub had left a note for his supervisors explaining his absence after he could not contact them directly.[4]
Staub was fired from his job for the alleged breach of the minor infraction. He sued the hospital, claiming that the complaint against him was a sham, and that the real reason he had been fired was due to the hatred of military members demonstrated by his supervisors. The jury sided with Staub and awarded him damages, but the hospital appealed the judgement. The Seventh Circuit reversed the jury's decision, and found in favor of the hospital. Staub appealed, and was granted certiorari by the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court's decision
The Supreme Court reversed the decision made by the Seventh Circuit in a unanimous 8-0 vote on 1 March 2011, with Justice Elena Kagan recusing herself. In the Court's opinion, written by Justice Antonin Scalia, the Court opined that "since a supervisor is an agent of the employer, when he causes an adverse employment action the employer causes it; and when discrimination is a motivating factor in his doing so, it is a 'motivating factor in the employer's action.'”[5] Therefore, if a biased supervisor tries to get an employee fired, and that employee is in fact fired as a result, then the fired employee can sue the employer for employment discrimination, "even if the biased supervisor is not the final decision maker and even if the final decision maker is unbiased."[6]
References
- "Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act Overview". military.com. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
- "38 U.S. Code § 4311 - Discrimination against persons who serve in the uniformed services and acts of reprisal prohibited". Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
- Kane, Anne E. (24 March 2011). "United States: How to Avoid "Cat's Paw" Discrimination Claims - How Subordinate Bias Can Taint An Otherwise Non-Discriminatory Employment Decision". www.mondaq.com. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
- Markowitz, Eric (4 November 2010). "Employee Discrimination Case Reaches Supreme Court". Inc. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
- Scalia, Antonin (1 March 2011). "Staub v. Proctor Hosp., 562 U.S. 411". Supreme Court of the United States. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
- "Staub v. Proctor Hospital". SCOTUSblog. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
External links
- Text of Staub v. Proctor Hospital, 562 U.S. 441 (2011) is available from: Justia Oyez (oral argument audio)