April 17, 2024
Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, No. 22-193 – Decided April 17, 2024
Today, the Supreme Court held that a Title VII plaintiff challenging a forced job transfer as discriminatory must show some harm from the transfer, but need not show that the harm was “significant,” “material,” or “serious.”
“Although an employee must show some harm from a forced transfer to prevail in a Title VII suit, she need not show that the injury satisfies a significance test.”
Justice Kagan, writing for the Court
Background:
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) prohibits discrimination in the “terms, conditions, or privileges of employment” because of an individual’s race, religion, sex, or national origin. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(1). In 2017, following a change in leadership in the St. Louis Police Department, Sergeant Jatonya Muldrow was transferred from the Intelligence Division to another unit. The transfer did not affect Muldrow’s regular pay or rank, but she was allegedly “moved from a plainclothes job in a prestigious specialized division giving her substantial responsibility over priority investigations and frequent opportunity to work with police commanders . . . to a uniformed job supervising one district’s patrol officers, in which she was less involved in high-visibility matters and primarily performed administrative work. Her schedule became less regular, often requiring her to work weekends; and she lost her take-home car.” She alleged that no male sergeants were transferred out of the Intelligence Division and that she was replaced with a male sergeant.
Muldrow brought a Title VII claim against the Department, alleging that the transfer was discriminatory because of her sex. The district court and the Eighth Circuit held that the transfer was not an adverse employment action because it did not result in a “materially significant disadvantage” to Muldrow.
Issue:
Does Title VII prohibit discrimination in transfer decisions where the transfer does not result in a “materially significant disadvantage”?
Court’s Holding:
To prevail on a Title VII claim challenging a forced job transfer, a plaintiff must show some harm from the transfer, but need not show that the harm was “significant,” “material,” or “serious.”
What It Means:
Gibson Dunn represented the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Legal Center, Inc., Restaurant Law Center, Inc., and National Retail Federation as Amici Supporting Respondent.
The Court’s opinion is available here.
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This alert was prepared by associates Cate McCaffrey and Salah Hawkins.
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