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2nd Circuit allows Discrimination Claim for Interracial Marriage
Posted by: Melville Johnson, P.C.
April 22, 2008
Topic: Employment Discrimination
The Attorneys at Melville Johnson, P.C. can provide this type of legal representation for you:
The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 may be violated where a white man is fired for associating with a person of another race. In Holcomb v. Iona College, Mr. Holcomb brought a Title VII claim alleging that he was subjected to an adverse action simply because his employer disapproves of his interracial marriage.
Mr. Holcomb was an assistant head-coach at Iona College. In May, 2004, Mr. Holcomb was asked to resign, however, he refused. Mr. Holcomb averred that the decision to ask him to resign was not based on his performance, but on the Administrations disapproval of his interracial marriage to an African American.
The District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed Mr. Holcomb's suit on grounds that even if the Administration had engaged in racist conduct, Mr. Holcomb has failed to establish that the decision to fire him was motivated by racially improper motives.
On appeal, the district court was reversed, since the court found that there was sufficient evidence in the record to establish that the Administration disapproved of Holcomb's marriage to an African American women, which allowed him to be subjected to discrimination under Title VII, on account of his own race. The court remanded the case back to district court for further proceedings.
On remand, Mr. Holcomb will still need to overcome the Defendant's race-neutral explanation for its actions: that Holcomb was not performing at an acceptable level, to ultimately prevail.
This article is largely based on a New York Law Journal article written by Mark Hamblett on April 2, 2008.
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