Opinion ID: 2772994
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Barnes’s 2013 Lawsuit

Text: On May 1, 2013, Barnes filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, alleging race discrimination claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 and the PHRA. She named Nationwide and Verbeke as defendants. In her complaint, she alleged that Verbeke discriminated against her due to her race in the ways 4 previously alleged in her EEOC complaint. She further alleged that, in addition to sending emails to Oliphant about her arrival and departure times, Verbeke also sent emails alleging she had made work-related errors. Barnes said that Verbeke did not scrutinize white employees in the same way that he scrutinized black employees and that he had targeted other black employees on two previous occasions. On February 27, 2014, the District Court granted summary judgment against Barnes. It reasoned that Barnes’s race discrimination claim failed as a matter of law because none of the alleged wrongs that she suffered as a result of Verbeke’s conduct resulted in disciplinary action, negative performance reviews, changes in employment status, or any other adverse employment action. To the contrary, the District Court observed that Barnes continuously received favorable evaluations, bonuses, and raises during her employment at Nationwide. As a result, the Court concluded that Barnes had not suffered an adverse employment action. Barnes timely appealed.