Black NPR Worker Called ‘Boy’ Can Pursue Harassment, Bias Suit

National Public Radio Inc. was off-base in arguing a White supervisor’s allegedly referring to a Black employee as “boy” was mere name-calling beyond the protections of District of Columbia anti-harassment law, a federal judge ruled.

The term is “an offensive, racial slur with its origins in the white supremacy of slavery and Jim Crow” when used to refer to a Black man, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said.

The behavior Zandile Mkwanazi alleges he was subjected to by Brett Gerringer during his eight months as a probationary network operations center technician with NPR “falls well outside” ...