Employment; Individual liability

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Employment
Individual liability

A subordinate with a retaliatory motive may be individually liable under Section 1981 for causing the employer to retaliate against another employee.

“In general, the same standards govern intentional discrimination claims under Title VII, § 1981, and § 1983, e.g., Steinhauer v. DeGolier, 359 F.3d 481, 483 (7th Cir. 2004), and recognizing individual cat’s paw liability under § 1981 is consistent with our parallel approaches to these statutes. It logically follows that an individual can be liable under § 1981 for retaliatory conduct that would expose her employer to liability under Title VII or § 1981. It also makes sense as a matter of basic fairness: why should the ‘hapless cat’ (or at least his employer) get burned but not the malicious
‘monkey’? The cat’s paw theory can support individual liability under § 1981 for a subordinate employee who intentionally causes a decision-maker to take adverse action against another employee in retaliation for statutorily protected activity.”

Affirmed.

11-1935 Smith v. Bray

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Darrah, J., Hamilton, J.

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