Worried about firing the only minority employee?

If your workplace isn’t exactly the picture of diversity, the need to fire your only minority employee may worry you. Isn’t that just courting a lawsuit?

Maybe—but that’s no reason to retain a poor performer. As long as you can provide solid business reasons for the discharge, the employee’s status as the only member of a protected class won’t be enough to support a lawsuit.

Recent case: Edward, one of just two black nurses at a hospital, was discharged when drugs went missing. He sued, alleging that he must have been fired because of racism.

But the court said just being a member of a small minority wasn’t enough; he had to offer real evidence that the hospital engaged in discrimination when it fired him. (Mayes v. Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, No. S-12-1726, ED CA, 2013)