In November 1997, a supervisor saw white employee Bill Peterson accept from an employee of another company on the same construction site what appeared to be a marijuana cigarette. Peterson subsequently confessed to taking a few puffs from the “joint,” and he was fired. A day later, the company put out a general hiring call; Peterson applied and was rehired. In August 1998, the company promulgated a new rule that anyone fired could not be rehired for at least thirty days. In October 1998, Albert Leonard, an African Americanman, was hired as a laborer. During a routine lunchbox check by a security guard at the gate that very day, Leonard was found to be in possession of marijuana. He was fired the next day, and his termination notice contained a notation “not for rehire.” Leonard was never rehired, either within or after thirty days from his discharge.

Is he a victim of race discrimination? Explain your answer. See Leonard v. Walsh Construction Co.

[37 F.E.P. Cases 60 (U.S. Dist. Ct. S.D. Ga. 1985)].