The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled in a non-precedential opinion in Tolley v. Mercer University that a white applicant for a professorship failed to prove race discrimination because he could not show that the university officials who rejected his application knew his race. Employment discrimination is about actual knowledge and real intent, not constructive knowledge and assumed intent, the appeals court said. The ruling serves as a useful reminder that it may be wise to withhold information about job applicants’ race and gender from recruiters and search committees in the early stages of the talent acquisition process.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, can read more here.