The Fifth Circuit recently held that liability for employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 extends to “terms, conditions, or privileges of employment.” Previous to this decision, employers were liable only for discrimination in “ultimate employment decisions,” such as hiring, termination, promotion, and compensation.
While the court notes that “[f]uture cases in our circuit will need to determine the floor that Title VII’s anti-discrimination provision sets for actionable harm,” employers under the Fifth Circuit’s jurisdiction should prepare for a less employer-friendly interpretation of Title VII.
