HONOLULU (AP) — A man who claims he was fired from a car dealership in 2002 for complaining about his supervisor’s derogatory remarks can move forward with his lawsuit against the company but not against the supervisor, the Hawaii Supreme Court has ruled.
The 4-1 decision said the supervisor cannot be held personally liable, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser (http://bit.ly/1iWbgpW) reported.
Gerald Lales contends he was fired because he complained that supervisor Gary Marxen Sr. made derogatory remarks about Lales’ French origin at their jobs at Wholesale Motors Co.
A circuit court judge threw out the lawsuit. The state appeals court in 2012 reinstated the claims against Marxen and the company.
The case has been closely watched in part because of the issue of personal liability for workers and supervisors who are not defended by their employer.
Associate Justice Simeon Acoba dissented from the 76-page opinion written by Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald. Acoba wrote that the state anti-discrimination law holds any person liable for aiding discriminatory practices. He would have let claims against Marxen move forward, he wrote.
The ruling was bittersweet, said Lales’ attorney, Daphne Barbee, but the good outweighed the bad.
Wholesale Motors attorney Christopher Muzzi said the company is reviewing the majority opinion and Acoba’s 60-page dissent.
The majority opinion said a defense available in federal discrimination cases did not automatically apply under state law. Employers under that defense can assert that they acted to correct the discrimination but that the person suing did not take advantage of the corrective action.
The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii and the Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association filed briefs in support of the lawsuit’s dismissal.
The Hawaii Civil Rights Commission argued that the state law covers discrimination by supervisors. Executive director Bill Hoshijo said the commission will evaluate the ruling and to determine how it will affect cases.
The ruling gives clear guidance on employers’ liability, he said. Workers who aid discrimination can be held liable, he said, but not because of their position.
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Information from: Honolulu Star-Advertiser, http://www.staradvertiser.com
