Court to Clarify Discrimination Protections Based on Marital Status

A federal court in New York state recently approved a motion to ask the New York State Court of Appeals to decide whether protections in New York City’s anti-discrimination law encompass an employee’s marital status in relation to another person.

The case centers on the then-married couple who spearheaded “The Wendy Williams Show,” a daytime TV talk show that ran from 2008 to 2022.

Background

Kevin Hunter, whose legal name is Kelvin Hunter, was the executive producer of the show from 2008 until 2019. He was married to the show’s host, Wendy Williams. On April 11, 2019, he received notice that Williams had filed for divorce, and a week later, he was fired, according to court documents. The divorce was finalized in January 2020.

Hunter sued Debmar-Mercury, the company that syndicated the show, on March 1, 2022, alleging unlawful termination under the New York City Human Rights Law, which prohibits discrimination based on marital status and other protected characteristics. He claimed he was fired because of the impending divorce.

The company argued that the law protects workers from discrimination based on their single or married status, but not marriage to a particular individual. It filed a motion to dismiss the case, which the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied in September 2023, stating that it was constrained by legal precedent. However, the company asked for that decision to be stayed pending a possible appeal, and the district court granted the stay.

SHRM’s Position

SHRM filed a friend-of-the-court brief in favor of Debmar-Mercury, urging the court to give marital status its plain, ordinary meaning of being single, married, separated, divorced or widowed.

A ruling to expand that definition would have significant adverse consequences for employers because it would “invalidate anti-nepotism employment policies, which are legitimate, extraordinarily prevalent, and aim to promote inclusiveness and prevent gossip, conflicts of interest and favoritism in the workplace,” SHRM said. A corporate anti-nepotism policy could prohibit spouses or family members from working closely together.

Divorce can be intensely emotional, sometimes causing a hostile work environment, retaliation or workplace violence, and employers should be permitted to make business decisions to avoid those scenarios, SHRM stated.

Furthermore, expanding the definition of marital status could create an uneven patchwork of laws for multistate companies and lead to an unnecessary increase in litigation if it exacerbates the inconsistent treatment of similarly situated employees, SHRM said.