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Customer preference no excuse for discrimination, 5th Circuit says

March 2025 employment law letter
Authors: 

Michael P. Maslanka, UNT-Dallas College of Law

In 2025, you’d think I wouldn’t have to write that headline, but I do. A recent case from the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals (our federal appeals court over Texas) laid down the law once again and made it easier for an employee to establish a hostile working environment claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to boot.

Patient preference: No Black attendants

In June 2016, Lawrence Dike (pronounced “dee-kay”), a Black African, went to work as a certified nursing assistant for a Corpus Christi hospital. In August 2016, he complained that some patients refused to allow him to treat them because of his race. The alleged responses from his various supervisors:

·     “We make it happen for the patient.”

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