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Posted: 5:24 PM- The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today reinstated a lawsuit by a former Union Pacific Railroad yard conductor in Utah who alleges the company ignored a pervasive climate of racism and harassment.
The Denver-based court reversed a ruling by U.S. District Judge David Sam throwing out the suit by Ranee Tademy, an African-American man who alleged he was subjected to a hostile work environment.
Sam said the alleged ethnic slurs, racist graffiti and an incident involving a rope that Tademy interpreted as a noose were "boorish and regrettable" - but legally insufficient to win a discrimination suit. The judge ruled that some of Tademy's allegations were filed too late and others were accompanied by too little evidence to proceed with the case.
The 10th Circuit, without ruling on the merits of Tademy's claims, disagreed.
The court said a jury could rationally find that some earlier incidents were part of the same racially hostile environment, including racist cartoons posted on company billboards and a reference to "f---ing Kunta Kinte" made by another railroad employee.
The 10th Circuit also said Tademy has offered evidence that Union Pacific failed to investigate or discipline any employee for writing racial slurs on his locker and in the company bathroom.
"Those messages were unequivocally racist," the court ruling said.
Erika Birch, a Salt Lake City attorney who represents Tademy, said the decision allows all harassment to be used as proof of a hostile workplace environment. Previously, some incidents could not be presented in a lawsuit because they occurred too long ago, she said.
The court also made clear that companies have to investigate all harassment, even if it involves something anonymous, such as graffiti, Birch said.
"This is great news for our client and great news for all employees," she said.
Robert Rice, an attorney for the railroad, said that the ruling merely allows the case to go to trial, where the company will have the opportunity to talk about "its strong and effective equal employment program."
"Union Pacific remains committed to diversity and fairness in the workplace," he said.
Tademy joined Union Pacific in 1979 and last worked as a yard conductor in Salt Lake City. He was placed on disability retirement in 2003 after being diagnosed with major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety disorder.
In July 2004, Tademy and another longtime railroad employee filed similar suits in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City alleging discrimination and harassment. Terry Fullwiley, a through-freight engineer in Ogden who is black, alleged that he also was subjected to degrading and offensive words that included "sambo," "slave" and "boy."
His suit was thrown out about the same time as Tademy's by U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart. Stewart determined that Fullwiley's evidence did not meet the legal standard for winning a suit and that he had waited too long to bring many of his allegations.
Fullwiley, who is represented by Birch, also appealed the dismissal to the 10th Circuit. A decision is pending.
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