A white man has won a federal discrimination lawsuit and the jury awarded him millions.
The former vice president at a North Carolina company was awarded a $10 million jury verdict in a legal battle over his claim that he was fired because he is a white man.
He was replaced by two people, one a white woman the other a black woman days before he was to become vested and qualify for severance pay.
David Duvall, a former senior vice president of marketing and communication at Novant Health, was awarded the money by a federal jury in Charlotte on Tuesday.
Duvall alleged that he was pushed out of his job without warning or explanation in July 2018 so the company could diversify top leadership positions. And the jury agreed that Novant violated the Civil Rights Act.
Legal experts say companies cannot terminate and replace employees in order to achieve greater gender and racial diversity in the workforce.
Novant says they will appeal.
So with the legal win, does that mean that white men are now a protected class?
According to the Civil Right’s Act of 1964, the groups protected from employment discrimination by law include men and women on the basis of sex; any group which shares a common race, religion, color, or national origin; people over 40; and people with physical or mental handicaps.