“Super Tonic” and the “Single Employer” Test
When paramedic Willard Bohannon, the plaintiff in a recent case from the Western District of Tennessee, was asked by his supervisor at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Tipton (Baptist-Tipton) whether he was keeping “super-tonic” in his locker, he admitted that he was. See Bohannon v. Baptist Memorial Hospital-Tipton, et al., 2010 WL 1856547 (W.D. Tenn. May 7, 2010). Baptist-Tipton promptly had the “super tonic” tested and discovered that it consisted of one part garlic, onion, cayenne pepper, ginger, horseradish, apple cider vinegar, and 2 parts vodka. Mr. Bohannon was subsequently terminated for possessing alcohol on the premises in violation of Baptist-Tipton’s fitness for Duty Policy.
By Assigning Cleaning Duties Not an Adverse Employment Action
A recent decision from the Middle District of Tennessee sheds light on the meaning of “adverse action” in the context of discrimination cases. See Pope v. General Dynamics Information Technologies, Inc., 2010 WL 1727850 (M.D. Tenn. Apr. 27, 2010). The plaintiff, Marie Pope, sued her former employer under the Tennessee Human Rights Act for discrimination based on, among other things, disparate treatment. Pope claimed the employer discriminated against her by assigning her cleaning duties for a year, at the exclusion of Pope’s male co-workers. The employer admitted that its warehouse supervisor assigned Pope the duties, and told her, “you are a female and you are good at it.” However, the employer claimed Pope had asked for the duties.
