Brenda Smelter v. Souther Home Care Services Inc., 904 F.3d 1276

Brenda Smelter, a Black Customer Service Supervisor at Southern Home’s Perry, GA office, worked there ~July–September 2013 and was the only Black employee in that office.
During her ~2 months of employment she testified she heard racist remarks almost daily from co-workers (notably Catherine Smallwood and Connie Raleigh), including being called “dumb black nigger” during a September 9 altercation.
Smelter struggled with job duties (linking/Telephony); supervisors provided additional training and documented performance problems and a written warning for scheduling errors.
After the September 9 altercation, Branch Manager Brandi Talton (who delivered the termination) and Executive Director Kelly McDougal (decisionmaker) terminated Smelter during her probationary period, citing poor fit, performance/chaos, and the altercation.
Smelter sued under Title VII and 42 U.S.C. § 1981 alleging hostile work environment, discriminatory termination, and retaliation; the district court granted summary judgment to Southern Home on all claims.
Eleventh Circuit: affirmed summary judgment on discriminatory termination and retaliation (insufficient evidence of pretext), reversed as to hostile work environment (genuine factual disputes on severity/pervasiveness and employer notice) and remanded that claim.

Issue	Smelter’s Argument	Southern Home’s Argument	Held
Hostile work environment (race-based)	Daily racist remarks (including an epithet directed at her) created an objectively and subjectively hostile workplace; Talton knew or overheard remarks.	Comments were not severe/pervasive as a matter of law and Smelter failed to report them until the final day, so employer lacked notice.	Reversed: evidence of frequent, severe remarks (including targeted epithet) and testimony that Talton found comments "funny" creates triable issues on severity/pervasiveness and actual notice.
Discriminatory termination	Termination was race-motivated or pretextual; comparators were treated better.	Termination was for legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons: poor performance during probation, alleged theft accusation, and instigating an altercation.	Affirmed: Smelter did not rebut employer’s stated reasons (failed to show pretext); her deposition did not waive the claim but evidence insufficient to avoid summary judgment.
Retaliation (for opposing harassment)	She reported racial slur/harassment and was fired in retaliation.	Employer acted for nondiscriminatory reasons; no pretext shown.	Affirmed: Smelter established a prima facie case but failed to show pretext for the termination reasons, so summary judgment proper.

Harris v. Forklift Sys., Inc., 510 U.S. 17 (1993) (standard for hostile or abusive work environment).
McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 (1973) (burden-shifting framework for circumstantial discrimination).
Mendoza v. Borden, Inc., 195 F.3d 1238 (11th Cir. 1999) (subjective and objective hostile-environment elements).
Miller v. Kenworth of Dothan, Inc., 277 F.3d 1269 (11th Cir. 2002) (employer liability for co-worker harassment where management knew or should have known).
Adams v. Austal, U.S.A., L.L.C., 754 F.3d 1240 (11th Cir. 2014) (use of racial epithets directed at plaintiff supports severity).
Smith v. Lockheed‑Martin Corp., 644 F.3d 1321 (11th Cir. 2011) (race-based motivation can be actionable even if not personal animus of the decisionmaker).