White Medtronic Leader Can Add Race Claim to DEI Ouster Lawsuit

Medtronic USA Inc. failed to block a White former high-level sales manager from adding federal allegations of race discrimination to his lawsuit alleging he was illegally laid off under the company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative.

The ruling by the US District Court for the District of Minnesota in Brian Walton’s case addressed an open issue in the Eighth Circuit: whether a claim under 42 U.S.C. §1981, which requires proof that race bias was the “but-for” cause of a challenged employment decision, is futile when the plaintiff also alleges other forms of discrimination. It isn’t, Magistrate Judge John F. Docherty ...