Kenya Boson sued Manor ISD alleging a variety of things, including that she was discriminated against on the basis of race.  The plaintiff alleged eight specific actions she considered to be discriminatory.  However, all but one of those actions fell short of an “ultimate employment decision.”  That turned out to be a problem for the plaintiff. The court put it this way:

For purposes of discrimination, the Act [Texas Commission on Human Rights Act] only addresses ultimate employment decisions; it does not address every decision made by an employer that arguably might have some tangential effect on employment decisions.  Generally, adverse employment decisions involve hiring, granting leave, discharging, promoting, and compensating employees.  Adverse employment actions do not include disciplinary filings, supervisor’s reprimands, poor performance reviews, hostility from fellow employees, verbal threats to fire, criticism of the employee’s work, or negative employment situations.

That knocked out seven of the eight allegedly discriminatory actions.  The one remaining claim was a “failure to promote” claim.  However, the court concluded that the “promotion” would not really have been a promotion—it was a lateral move.  So that claim failed as well.

The case is Boson v. Manor ISD, decided by the Court of Appeals in Austin on March 1, 2018. We found it at 2018 WL 1124310.

DAWG BONE: LOTS OF MINOR AND/OR FAIRLY MAJOR IRRITATIONS CAN STILL FALL SHORT OF AN “ULTIMATE EMPLOYMENT DECISION.”

 Tomorrow: Have you heard of people who are allergic to Wi-Fi?