Managers Are People, Too! The Eleventh Circuit’s Rejection of the “Manager Exception” Allows Human Resource and Managerial Employees to Bring Title VII Retaliation Claims

Authors

Kaitlyn Myles

Publication Date

6-2023

Document Type

Casenote

Abstract

Human resource (HR) managers undertake important tasks at companies. For example, a company may employ a human resource manager to manage internal issues, such as those affecting lower-level employees. That HR manager may come to the conclusion that a lower-level employee, having faced some discrimination from the company, had their rights violated. In that situation, the HR manager may advocate for the employee against the company. Subsequently, the company terminates the HR manager for siding with the employee over the company. Can the HR manager successfully bring a retaliation suit against the company? It depends. More specifically, the answer depends on whether the court must follow the manager exception when hearing Title VII retaliation claims.

Patterson v. Georgia Pacific, 38 F.4th 1336 (11th Cir. 2022).

Recommended Citation

Myles, Kaitlyn (2023) "Managers Are People, Too! The Eleventh Circuit’s Rejection of the “Manager Exception” Allows Human Resource and Managerial Employees to Bring Title VII Retaliation Claims," Mercer Law Review: Vol. 74: No. 5, Article 7.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.mercer.edu/jour_mlr/vol74/iss5/7