## Facts

- Fred Gates, an African American building engineer for Chicago public schools, worked under supervisor Rafael Rivera starting in 2012.
- Gates testified that Rivera stated in a 2013 performance meeting that Gates would never be promoted because of his age (nearly 50) and because he was Black.
- Gates testified that Rivera later told a racially insensitive joke and called Gates the N-word.
- Gates testified that Rivera threatened to “write up” his “black ass” so Gates would receive low evaluations and be fired.
- Gates testified that Rivera again called him the N-word in a March 2014 meeting.
- Gates took repeated leave, including about a month of sick leave, seeking treatment for homicidal thoughts toward Rivera and other administrators that he attributed to Rivera’s conduct.
- Gates sued the Board of Education asserting age discrimination, race discrimination, retaliation, and a racially hostile work environment under Title VII.

## Issues

1. Whether the district court applied an incorrect standard by suggesting a Title VII hostile-environment claim requires a “hellish” workplace.
2. Whether, on Gates’s version of the facts, a reasonable jury could find Rivera’s conduct was sufficiently severe or pervasive to create a racially hostile work environment.
3. Whether summary judgment was proper on Gates’s other discrimination and retaliation claims.

## Decision

- Reversed summary judgment for the Board on the Title VII racially hostile-work-environment claim and remanded.
- Affirmed summary judgment for the Board on the other claims (age discrimination, other race-discrimination theories, and retaliation).
- Held the district court erred by (1) relying on a “hellish” gloss and (2) discounting the significance of repeated racial slurs and threats made by a supervisor.

## Legal Principles

- A Title VII hostile work environment exists when discriminatory intimidation, ridicule, or insult is sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of employment; severity or pervasiveness is disjunctive.
- Title VII does not require proof that a workplace was “hellish”; the statutory standard can be met before harassment causes extreme psychological collapse.
- Harassment by a supervisor carries added weight because of the power relationship; a supervisor’s use of the N-word and racially charged threats can be sufficiently severe even if relatively infrequent.
- On summary judgment, courts must view evidence and reasonable inferences in the nonmovant’s favor; where a reasonable jury could find objective and subjective hostility, the claim should proceed to trial.

## Conclusion

The Seventh Circuit held that the district court imposed an overly demanding “hellish workplace” gloss and failed to account for the aggravated seriousness of a supervisor repeatedly using the N-word and making race-based threats; those facts could allow a jury to find a racially hostile work environment, while Gates’s other discrimination and retaliation claims lacked triable support.


Gates v. Bd. of Educ. of Chi., 916 F.3d 631 (7th Cir. 2019)