White Male Novant VP’s Bias Win Upheld in Diversity-Firing Suit

Novant Health Inc. mostly failed to undo a White male former marketing vice president’s nearly $4.2 million win on claims that his firing during a “diversity” push was race and sex bias, a federal appeals court said Tuesday.

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit stressed that workers need affirmative evidence that a company decision-maker had enough knowledge of the perceived risks of violating federal anti-bias law before punitive damages can be awarded for an intentionally discriminatory job decision. The former Novant employee failed to produce such evidence, so he can’t keep the $300,000 in punitive damages the ...