Kia Motors HR Manager Can Sue Over Firing: 11th Cir. (1)

A human resources manager who was fired for encouraging or soliciting an employee to file a discrimination complaint against automaker Kia Motors is entitled to pursue her own claim that she was the victim of unlawful retaliation.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Sept. 24 in a 2-1 decision said Andrea Gogel’s status as an HR official at Kia Motors Manufacturing of Georgia Inc. didn’t put her outside the protection of federal civil rights laws.

The appeals court said it applies a case-by-case analysis of whether an HR official’s opposition to perceived discrimination is unreasonable. The court ...