As a Chicago plaintiff's attorney, I am pleased that a federal jury awarded $30,000 to a Chicago police officer who faced repeated religious and ethnic slurs from his superior.
The religious and ethnic slurs were directed at the police officer's Jewish and German heritage. According to the Chicago Tribune story, witnesses testified at trial that the police officer's superior, “repeatedly ridiculed [the officer] with anti-Semitic comments, calling him ‘Jew Boy' or ‘stupid Jew' and saluting him with ‘Heil Hitler.'” After an internal department investigation found the superior to be at fault, he retired instead of serving his suspension.
Individuals facing discrimination in the workplace, whether based on race, religion, ethnicity, or gender, suffer severe emotional distress. Particularly when the discrimination comes from a superior, individuals may be hesitant to report the discrimination for fear of retaliation or loss of job. Because of this, employers must stress to employees that any form of discrimination will not be tolerated and should be reported immediately.