Kalich v. AT&T Mobility, LLC, 679 F.3d 464 (2012)
In Kalich v. AT&T Mobility, LLC, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of the employer, holding that the plaintiff failed to establish a claim of sex discrimination or hostile work environment under Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, Mich. Comp. Laws § 37.2101 et seq. The plaintiff, an AT&T employee, alleged that his immediate supervisor made repeated sexually derogatory comments over the course of a year, including calling him by a woman’s name and saying he “looked like a girl.” He argued that this conduct created a hostile work environment based on sex. The case was originally filed in Michigan state court and removed to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The district court granted summary judgment to AT&T, finding insufficient evidence that the alleged harassment occurred “because of sex,” as required under the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act. The Sixth Circuit affirmed, noting that the plaintiff admitted in his deposition that he believed his supervisor’s comments were motivated by the supervisor’s perception that he was gay. The Court concluded that harassment or discrimination based on perceived sexual orientation, rather than biological sex, was not actionable under either Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or Michigan law at the time. The Court further observed that the plaintiff had not shown that similarly situated female employees were treated more favorably or that the supervisor’s conduct stemmed from animus toward his sex. Without such evidence, his claim could not proceed under existing statutory protections.
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- 2012
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Jurisdiction