Quote Quoting cbg
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Let's put it this way.

Your former employee wouldn't have to work very hard to show a prima facie case. I told you on the other forum where I've seen this question that I'd rather be the attorney representing the employee than the one representing your employer. I would recommend doing whatever it takes to keep this from getting to a formal discrimination claim because right now, your chances of winning aren't very high IMO. Reinstate the employee, settle money on the employee, fire the hire-up; whatever it takes. But if this goes to the EEOC and eventually to court, you're toast.
The minority employee was discharged for performance issues, though we didn't indicate a reason in the termination letter.

The only documentation we have of the minority employee's performance issues is the mid-year evaluation. However, the minority employee was the only one subject to a mid-year performance review. None of the other white staff in the department received a mid-year performance evaluation.

The minority employee was the only one who received a mid-year performance evaluation because he was the only who showed performance lapses necessitating it.

Is this a valid defense?

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Quote Quoting cbg
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Reinstating the employee is problematic in a number of ways, not the least of which is that once done, he will be practically bulletproof. But it would be less problematic if the higher up is fired. I agree with you that that *should* be done anyway. But I suspect that's not within the control of our OP.
His attorney is asking us to re-hire the employee, either in his previous role or to transfer him to a different department.

We were initially open to transferring him to a different department. The head of that department was open to taking him, but the higher-up intervened and didn't want it to happen.

If this goes to mediation what kind of settlement are we looking at? What about litigation? Should we just allow for reinstatement and avoid the legal headache and monetary payment? The employee is generally well-liked by all but this one individual.

We also spent about $50k in just recruiting the guy, and will like spend another $50k to find a replacement. If he's willing to come back why not?