Black VA Officer’s Discipline for Sex Harassment Could Show Bias

The Veterans Affairs Department may have discriminated against a Black police officer at an Illinois hospital when it suspended and otherwise disciplined him after a female visitor accused him of sexual harassment, but didn’t discipline a White officer accused of similar misconduct, the Seventh Circuit ruled today.

A trial could show Benjamin Levy’s and Cary Kolbe’s situations were similar enough for them to be suitable comparators for proving race discrimination and retaliation under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the court said, reviving Levy’s suit.

A lower court distinguished Levy from Kolbe by finding Levy’s discipline was based ...