Linde PLC Unit to Face Trial on Black Worker’s Harassment Claim

A Black American Homepatient Inc. customer service representative will get a trial on whether racial slurs uttered by her supervisor and a co-worker made her work environment illegally hostile.

The US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania’s ruling involves an instance where a single incident of harassment could be found to violate federal anti-bias law. The abuse Patricia Holmes faced while working for the Linde PLC subsidiary in State College, Pa., allegedly included the supervisor’s and co-worker’s use of a “deeply offensive word” that courts have noted is unique in its ability to immediately alter a worker’s job ...