The attorney for a North Carolina assisted living facility that had racial harassment and discrimination charges reinstated against it by an appellate court said that his clients are “disappointed” in the decision but that they look forward to making their case in court.
A federal appeals court on Tuesday overturned a lower court in reinstating hostile work environment and constructive discharge claims against Oakland Living Center in Rutherfordton, NC. The charges were brought by a former worker who said she was subjected to racial harassment and discrimination.
“We are disappointed in the decision, which we feel relied heavily on inaccurate information, but we look forward to making our case during trial,” Jonathan W. Yarbrough of the Asheville, NC, law firm Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete LLP and attorney for Oakland Living Center, told McKnight’s Senior Living.
Tonya Chapman, who worked as a housekeeper, cook and personal care aide from 2004 to 2015, alleged that she experienced racial harassment and other discrimination by members of the Smith family — including owners Arlene and Michael Smith, and their son Steve Smith, facility supervisor — in that 11-year span, prompting her to quit.
Among the allegations were references to Chapman being assigned a “slave number” on her ID badge, witnessing a birthday cake depicting a Black figure hanging from a noose, and being denied advancement opportunities. The experiences, she said, prompted her to resign in 2015.
In 2018, another employee persuaded Chapman to return to the facility as a weekend cook, according to the lawsuit. Chapman alleged that the six-year-old grandson of the owners and son of the facility supervisor used a racial epithet on more than one occasion, including one in which the boy said he was repeating a disparaging remark made by his father. The incidents prompted Chapman to resign again.
In 2020, Chapman filed a civil rights action with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Oakland Living Center and the Smiths, alleging race discriminationation. She then filed a lawsuit against the facility in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, charging she was subjected to a hostile work environment and constructive discharge.
In November 2020, the district court granted summary judgment to Oakland Living Center and the Smiths, concluding that it only could consider evidence of racial harassment during her second period of work with the facility.
Tuesday, a three-judge appellate court panel unanimously reversed that decision, finding that the facility failed to provide reasonable procedures for complaints of workplace harassment, that the owners and supervisor had knowledge of the racial slurs and that its response was insufficient. The appellate court also said that consideration must be given to the racial harassment and discrimination allegations during Chapman’s earlier period of employment.
“At a minimum, it is relevant background evidence in support of the hostile work environment and constructive discharge claims,” the ruling read. “The fact that the three n-word incidents were perpetrated by a six-year-old boy does not preclude a finding that those incidents are sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter Chapman’s condition of employment and create an abusive work environment.”
