Garrison Law partner Josh Goodbaum was recently quoted in a Connecticut Law Tribune article about race discrimination claims involving an alleged hostile work environment and retaliatory termination.
The article discusses an employment discrimination case filed by Rafael Navarro, a former employee of the Town of Stratford, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. The lawsuit alleges that other employees in Stratford acted and spoke in an “intimidating, hostile, and racist” manner, even though some of their comments were not made directly to Mr. Navarro and/or were not made about a race of which Mr. Navarro considers himself a member.
Asked about the case, Goodbaum said that there is racist conduct that many people find “instinctively” offensive, explaining that, “Increasingly, we think of racism and marginalization in terms of intersectionality, where different kinds of subordination run together. It wouldn’t be surprising for a Hispanic person like Mr. Navarro to hear someone making habitually racist statements about African Americans and think [he’s] also not welcome [in the workplace].”
Mr. Navarro reported the treatment to the Town’s Human Resources department, which concluded that “no discriminatory or racist behavior against [him]” had occurred. Goodbaum explains that Stratford’s failure to promptly and appropriately investigate the allegations could create a liability issue for the town: “A complaint of discrimination may cause that employer to be responsible for the actions of one of its employees, even actions that the employer itself may not and probably does not endorse.”
Read the full piece here.