When falsehoods are filed – Retaliation case arises from employer’s investigation, response

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Abstract: When a sheriff’s department undertook disciplinary actions against a group of officers after determining that the officers had made a false EEOC filing alleging racial harassment, the officers filed another EEOC claim against the department. They alleged that they were being retaliated against for having complained of racial harassment. But the district court entered summary judgment in the employer’s favor, and the Second Circuit agreed. This article explains why. A sidebar looks at a precedential case involving false statements made outside the context of an EEOC charge. Cox v. Onondaga County Sheriff’s Dept., No. 12-1526-cv, July 23, 2014 (2nd Cir.) E.E.O.C. v. Total Sys. Servs., No. 99-13196., Aug. 7, 2000 (11th Cir.)