Though it may seem impossible for a New Jersey employer to keep track of every action performed by members of low-level management and the employees they supervise, they can still be held accountable for acts of wrongful termination. According to a decision made in 1990 by the 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals, high-level decision makers can be held liable for acting upon a recommendation made by a low-level supervisor if discrimination is apparent in the recommendation.

This means that an employer should investigate the situation before acting upon such a recommendation.

In 2008, a New Jersey case involved a homosexual man acting insubordinately towards his supervisor at Merrill Lynch. Later, the supervisor suggested firing the man. High-level officials with the company followed through with the termination and found themselves being hit with a lawsuit for discriminatory termination. According to evidence, the supervisor that recommended the firing was biased against the man because of his sexuality. The officials that had the man fired did not know that he was gay.

Despite this, the company was held liable because it did not conduct an investigation into the matter before committing itself to the recommendations made on discriminatory grounds.

Another case involved a hospital worker that was also a member of the U.S. Army Reserve. His supervisors were hostile toward him because of his military obligations. Because of this hostility, he was forced to report to his supervisor when he completed a case. When he did not report, his file was examined by the vice president of human resources and he was fired.

He sued the hospital and cited the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. Because of the bias that his supervisors felt toward his military service, human resources found an opportunity to fire him. Under the USERR Act, it is illegal for an employer to deny a worker of his or her rights based on membership in the military. The hospital was found liable in this matter.

Source: Business Management Daily, “Don’t get burned! The cat’s paw theory of discriminatory firing,” Sanrdo Polledri, Dec. 18, 2011