Opinion ID: 1460562
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Whether the harassment was based on race

Text: Moss does not allege that any racially derogatory comments were made in the workplace; her claim is based on the theory that the facially neutral conduct of her supervisor towards her was, in fact, based on her race. Conduct that is not explicitly race-based may be illegally race-based and properly considered in a hostile-work-environment analysis when it can be shown that but for the employee's race, she would not have been the object of harassment. Farmer v. Cleveland Pub. Power, 295 F.3d 593, 605 (6th Cir.2002), abrogated on other grounds by White v. Columbus Metro. Housing Auth., 429 F.3d 232, 240-41 (6th Cir.2005). Moss claims that Terlop singled her out and castigated her for engaging in behaviors in which her white counterparts engaged with impunity. In support of her argument that she was harassed based on her race, Moss supplied her own affidavit as well as affidavits from two coworkers. According to the district court, these affidavits were speculat[ive] and lack[ed] sufficient detail, and failed to specify whether Terlop knew about the white employees' conduct. J.A. at 947-48 (Op. at 12-13). Therefore, the district court determined that the affidavits did not establish that the harassment was based on race. The affidavits assert that Moss was criticized for conduct for which her white co-workers were not. Moss was criticized for the doughnut incident, for the route she took to get to her work station, for leaving her work station to get a cup of coffee, for using the bathroom at the end of her break, and for the size of her earrings. These affidavits set forth specific conduct for which Moss was berated and for which her white co-workers were not; thus, the district court erred in finding that these affidavits did not provide sufficient detail. We also reject the district court's rejection of the affidavits as speculat[ive]. J.A. at 947 (Op. at 12). A fair reading of at least one of the affidavits establishes that Terlop did witness white employees engaging in similar conduct for which he failed to discipline them. For example, in the affidavit of Moss's co-worker, Sue Starkey, Starkey states that Terlop yelled at Moss for the way she walked to her work station, yet Terlop never mentioned anything to me about how I walked to or from my work area, even though Starkey often took the same route. J.A. at 603 (Starkey Aff. at ¶ 15). The Starkey Affidavit also states that sometime after the doughnut incident, a white coworker[] took an entire plate of food to eat while she was still on the clock, [and] Terlop said nothing. J.A. at 604 (Starkey Aff. at ¶ 18). The obvious and fair inference from these statements is that Terlop was in a position from which he could witness these events. Given that Moss was the only black employee in her work area and that she alleges that Terlop disciplined her for things for which he did not discipline her coworkers, Moss has created an inference, sufficient to survive summary judgment, that race was the motivating reason behind Terlop's behavior. Accordingly, the district court erred in finding otherwise.