Derogatory comments at work can result in litigation

The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose rulings apply to employers in North Carolina, South Carolina, and West Virginia, as well as Maryland and Virginia) ruled a state university’s decision to dismiss a Swiss student from his doctoral program and terminate his assistant position wasn’t the result of national origin discrimination because most alleged derogatory comments were spaced out over four years, were largely isolated, and weren’t made contemporaneously with the student’s unsatisfactory grades or his dismissal. While the decision isn’t binding in the 6th Circuit (which includes Kentucky and Tennessee), the courts evaluate claims similarly across the country, making this case instructive in that circuit, too.