Muldrow v. St. Louis: Applying the ‘Some Harm’ Standard in Title VII Discrimination Cases

In Muldrow v. St. Louis, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a transferred employee must prove “some harm” regarding an identifiable term or condition of employment to maintain a discrimination claim under Title VII. This standard of proof is different and lower than some circuit courts of appeal have required in the past. Therefore, Muldrow will significantly influence future discrimination cases under Title VII in terms of the standard for determining whether a plaintiff has suffered sufficient harm related to employment for the case to proceed.

The Supreme Court found that in cases involving forced job transfers resulting from alleged discrimination, plaintiffs are no longer required to show that the transfer has caused them “significant injury.” Noting that the “significant injury” standard is a high bar that appears nowhere in the text of Title VII, the Supreme Court wholly rejected it in favor of the lower “some harm” standard.

The Supreme Court’s ruling in Muldrow resolved the split among the 1^st, 2^nd, 4^th, 7^th, 8^th, 10^th, and 11^th Circuit Courts of Appeal as to the proper degree of injury necessary to maintain a Title VII employment discrimination claim. By establishing the “some harm” standard, the Supreme Court rejected standards used by lower courts, which required the harm to be serious, significant, or material.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas is the first federal Court in the 10^th Circuit to apply the Supreme Court’s newly articulated standard. In that discrimination case, the District Court rejected the employer’s motion for summary judgment, stating that Muldrow has important implications for the case. The Court also criticized the employer for failing to address the Muldrow ruling, which was mentioned only once in its reply brief. The District Court also noted that the term “adverse employment action” is no longer the applicable standard, as the Supreme Court rejected it in favor of the “some harm” standard it relied upon in Muldrow.

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