Korean carmaker outpowers the opposition

In a controversial, bitterly divided decision, the 11th Circuit (whose rulings apply to all Alabama, Florida, and Georgia employers) recently held a Georgia automaker's decision to fire an HR representative after it had suspected her of recruiting another employee to sue the company was lawful and nonretaliatory.

Facts

In 2010, Korean automobile manufacturer Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia employed Andrea Gogel as team relations department manager at its West Point, Georgia, plant. As a key member of the HR team, her position was highly sensitive and critical to maintaining the company's employee relations. She was directly responsible for investigating and attempting to resolve workplace complaints internally and, where possible, avoid externalizing complaints and having them evolve into Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charges or lawsuits.

In her role, Gogel frequently expressed her personal dissatisfaction with Kia's employment practices, claiming management harbored antiquated views toward women. In turn, she reportedly exhibited a strong animus against the Korean management structure and "hated the Koreans."?

After being passed over for promotion, Gogel lodged an EEOC charge against Kia on November 10, 2010, claiming gender and national origin discrimination. A week later, her colleague, HR manager Robert Tyler, filed a discrimination and retaliation charge. And merely three weeks later, another employee, Diana Ledbetter, filed a discrimination charge.