Tom Burlington has lost his lawsuit claiming his use of the “n-word” was OK because his black co-workers sometimes used it.
Philly.com reports the all-white jury ruled against Burlington in his racial discrimination lawsuit against former employer FOX owned WTXF. He claims he was fired after using the racial epithet.
“I can’t believe that in this day and age, he didn’t have an idea that using the full n-word in the workplace was outrageous, and it didn’t matter the context,” Jerome Hoffman, lawyer for Fox29, said in his closing argument to jurors.
AdvertisementHe declined to comment after the verdict. So, too, did Burlington, 53, who quickly left the courtroom with his wife as soon as the jurors were dismissed.
During testimony last week, Burlington said he apologized to several colleagues after learning that they were offended by his language during a 2007 newsroom discussion of an NAACP event at which group members ceremonially “buried” the word.