Merck Will Have To Go Trial In Federal Court In White Plains, On A Long-Simmering Race Discrimination (In Firing) Claim. But It Will Be Financially... Immaterial.

The plaintiff here is a lawyer. . . and he's done a very capable job of laying out a prima facie case that he was fired when similarly situated whyte employees were kept on, after a dispute involving all of them.

It seems the word of a whyte subcontractor was believed, over that of the Black lawyer, who was supervising 25 Merck team members. Now that Merck must put on a defense, I suspect CEO Rob Davis (no relation to plaintiff here) will opt to settle the matter, confidentially. But we shall see. Here is the just published USDC opinion, denying Merck's dismissal motion:

. . .Defendant [Merck] argues plaintiff [R.E. Davis] fails to establish a prima facie case of race discrimination under Section 1981 or the NYSHRL, and that even if he could establish a prima facie case, defendant has proffered legitimate non-discriminatory reasons for plaintiff’s termination, and plaintiff has not identified any evidence from which a reasonable jury could conclude those reasons were pretextual.

The Court disagrees. . . .

Onward -- on a soggy but relatively warm Friday afternoon here. We will now keep an eye on this court docket.

नमस्ते