AUGUST 2005

II. JUDICIAL UPDATE

Racial Names Give Rise to Liability

In El-Hakem v. BJY, Inc. et al, Mamdouh El-Hakem (“the Employee”) filed a civil lawsuit against his former employer BJY, Inc. (“the Employer”) and its Chief Executive Officer for, among other claims, wrongful termination and employment discrimination. The Employee’s race discrimination claims stemmed from the CEO’s repeated references to him as “Manny.” Despite the Employee’s objections, the CEO insisted on using the non-Arabic name. The CEO further expressed that a “Western name” would increase the Employee’s chances for success and would be more acceptable to the Employer’s clients.

The Employer argued that there could be no liability for intentional discrimination because the name “Manny” is not a racial epithet. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed and upheld the jury verdict in the Employee’s favor. Specifically, the court held “a group’s ethnic characteristics encompass more than its members’ skin color and physical traits. Names are often a proxy for race and ethnicity.”

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