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Plaintiff cannot show
that harassment was because of his race where his evidence consists solely
of racist comments directed towards others.
Caver v. City of Trenton,
420 F.3d 243 (3d Cir. August 26, 2005) - This is a Title VII racial harassment
and retaliation action. The district court dismissed the racial harassment
claim at trial, but allowed the retaliation claim to go to the jury. The
jury found in favor of the City. On appeal, the Court holds that a claim of
racial harassment that is based solely on comments directed at other
individuals cannot succeed because the plaintiff cannot show that he
suffered intentional discrimination because of his race. But in addition to
racist comments directed towards others, the plaintiff also claimed certain
employment actions were taken against him based on his race (e.g. forcing
him to undergo psychiatric evaluations). But these same employment actions
were also considered by the jury on his retaliation claim and the jury (in a
special verdict) found no improper motive. Therefore, that finding is
binding as to the harassment claim that was dismissed before trial. Finally,
with respect to the retaliation claim, the plaintiff alleges that the
district court erred by charging the jury that it had to find that
retaliation was a "determinative factor" as opposed to a "substantial
factor." The Third Circuit finds no error. Click
here to see actual case.