How the law works: Court lets race discrimination promotion case go to jury

Here’s a very recent case from the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal appeals court covering Texas. It explains how a court goes about deciding whether to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a very qualified Black woman—who claimed race discrimination when she was denied a position—or instead allow its merits to be decided by a jury. Lots of lessons.

Ominous start for employer

The 5th Circuit said she gets to a jury. The first line of the opinion starts off, “For approximately half a century, Esther Watson worked in education, including as a teacher for over twenty years, an assistant principal for almost a decade, a principal for around seven years.” So when she was denied the position of principal of an elementary school, which went to a white man with a mere eight years of teaching experience, there was—as the expression goes—“some explaining to do.” Let’s drill down.

Watson had actually been in retirement for only one month. But when the position of principal of the school where she had been the assistant principal opened up, she wanted to get back into the game and applied. Interviews were conducted.

In addition to her experience, Watson had also earned 10 teaching certifications, including many dealing with being a school administrator. All this information was before the interview committee, which rated her slightly higher than other applicants including the white male who received the job.