Arsham v. Mayor & City Council of Baltimore

Elie Arsham (plaintiff), who was of Persian descent, worked for the Baltimore Department of Public Works (DPW). Prakash Mistry was initially Arsham’s colleague. Mistry openly speculated that Arsham belonged to the Parsee ethnic group from India and expressed his disdain for that group. In 2010, Mistry became Arsham’s boss, at which point their tenuous relationship significantly declined. Arsham believed Mistry treated her differently from other employees, writing her up any time she requested time off and sabotaging her work by failing to invite her to project meetings and denying her requests to visit job sites. Arsham claimed that Mistry also yelled at her during meetings and eventually arranged for security at events she attended, even though Arsham had never been violent. In 2010, Arsham filed an employment-discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Arsham’s psychiatrist also contacted DPW leadership to express concern about Arsham’s work environment. However, the situation did not improve. In July 2013, Arsham attempted suicide because of the work situation. In October, Arsham’s attorney requested a right-to-sue letter from the EEOC. DPW terminated Arsham in January 2014, claiming that she had violated DPW’s leave policy. However, Arsham claimed that justification was a pretext and that DPW had been campaigning to fire her since her attorney sought the right-to-sue letter. Arsham sued Baltimore’s mayor and city council (the city) (defendants), asserting various claims, including for (1) perceived-national-origin discrimination violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) and its state-law equivalent and (2) intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED) violating state law. The city moved to dismiss, arguing that Title VII did not prohibit discrimination based on perceived national origin and that the facts did not support a claim for IIED.