Sasser Sefton Tipton & Davis

Sasser, Sefton, Tipton & Davis, P.C.
Montgomery, Alabama

On March 1, 2011, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Staub v. Proctor Hospital that an employer can be liable for employment discrimination in violation of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (“USERRA”) under a “cat’s paw” theory of liability.  The cat’s paw theory posits that an employer can be held liable for discrimination if the actions of an employee motivated by unlawful bias are a proximate cause of the discriminatory employment action taken, even if the ultimate decision-maker was not motivated by unlawful bias.  In essence, the ultimate decision-maker is merely taking the action intended by the person actually motivated by animus.  Although the Staub case concerned allegations of discrimination under USERRA, the Court’s decision may well have an impact on other areas of employment law because of the similarity of USERRA’s anti-discrimination provisions to Title VII's anti-discrimination provisions.