The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently held that an African-American chef's assistant working at a hospital may proceed to trial on discrimination and retaliation claims brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  The employee applied for a promotion to a Food Services Manager position.  When her application was denied, she filed a charge of discrimination alleging she was denied the promotion and disciplined for sham infractions due to race.  She claimed that managers were altering time records to create an excuse for terminating her.  She was subsequently terminated for tardiness.

In concluding that trial was proper on her wrongful termination and retaliation claims, the Seventh Circuit reasoned that genuine issues of material fact existed regarding whether the employee was tardy in reporting to work on four occasions prior to her termination.  Electronic time records were introduced into the record that showed the employee had clocked in before her shift began on two of the four dates cited as the basis for termination, and that she had clocked in within a seven minute grace period provided to all employees according to deposition testimony by the employer's management representative.  In light of this information, the Seventh Circuit reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment and remanded the case so that a trier of fact could evaluate whether the employee was terminated despite complying with attendance requirements while similarly situated employees outside her protected class remained employed.   Gosey v. Aurora Medical Center