Hostility toward a racial group different than that to which the plaintiff belongs: Probative or not?

A group of Hispanic employees sue for a racially hostile work environment. The question: Can they prove their case by evidence of race-based hostility towards black employees? This was the issue the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals looked at in Hernandez, et al, v Yellow Transportation Inc. The answer delivered on May 12 was a very qualified “maybe.” The court's opinion notes that the district court's opinion was that the plaintiffs could not. The 5th Circuit's answer was “maybe” but only if “the hostility towards a racial group different than that of a plaintiff is in some fashion probative of the claim of hostility towards the plaintiff’s category of workers.” What would that look like? The 5th Circuit suggested it would be evidence of harassment directed towards black employees that would interfere unreasonably with the work performance of the Hispanic employees. What does that look like? The court did not say. Here, though, is a hidden gem in the opinion. The court reaffirmed its adherence to its 2007 decision in EEOC v. WC&M Enterprises Inc. In WC&M, the 5th Circuit remarked that, once a plaintiff establishes that a manager bears unlawful animus toward the plaintiff (national origin), then harassment not based on national origin (the same manager banging on the glass partition of the plaintiff's office) can support a hostile environment claim. Because the plaintiffs in Hernandez could not establish that the alleged non-race-based harassment was part of a pattern of race-based harassment, WC&M did them zero good.