A Minnesota branch manager reportedly yelled and swore at his subordinates, treating them "brutally" and "belittling" them, they complained. So his district manager and the HR manager met with him to discuss the workers' concerns. When he denied there was a problem, they fired him. He sued.

What happened. Cuban-born "Lopez" joined W.W. Grainger, a large industrial supply company, in 1994. In April 2003, his district manager, "Stevens," who oversaw 13 branches in Minnesota and neighboring states, promoted him to branch manager in St. Paul. In 2009, Stevens visited the branch while Lopez was on vacation; the visit turned out to be an eye-opener.

Initially concerned that customers were kept waiting while employees worked little or no overtime, Stevens learned from three employees that the environment in the branch was "really bad." He heard of several instances when Lopez had yelled at workers in front of customers. He'd been aware that Lopez needed work on leadership and communication, but the situation was worse than he'd believed. He asked the HR manager to investigate the situation, and she returned with similar feedback to what Stevens had learned. When Lopez returned, Stevens and HR met with him to discuss his behavior. But Lopez seemed to them to blame any problems on the employees and to brush off what they were telling him. So they decided to fire him.

Lopez sued on several grounds, but he primarily charged race and national origin discrimination, saying those were the reasons for his termination. A federal district court judge ruled against him, saying Grainger had a documented and unbiased reason for firing him, and dismissing his other charges. Lopez appealed to the 8th circuit, which covers Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

What the court said. Appellate judges could find no fault with Grainger managers' decisions regarding Lopez's pay or evaluations—which he'd described as biased—nor with Grainger's handbook, which Lopez interpreted to mean that for his offenses he deserved a performance improvement plan but not termination. So they ruled in Grainger's favor on all charges. Martinez v. W.W. Grainger, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, No. 11-1422 (2011).

Point to remember: Judges especially noted that Grainger's mode of determining branch managers' compensation was based on objective factors, including a branch's size, efficiency, and service and sales levels. In fact, Lopez had earned more than 5 or 6 of the other managers that Stevens supervised. Judges also approved of the clarity of the company's handbook.