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The Cat's Revenge: Individual Liability Under The Cat's Paw Doctrine, Abby Bochenek

Seventh Circuit Review

Human resources personnel may be surprised to learn that they are now vulnerable to a lawsuit when a plaintiff invokes the "cat's paw" legal doctrine. In an issue of first impression, the Seventh Circuit found that, pursuant to a 42 U.S.C. § 1981 retaliation claim, an employee can be held individually liable for his or her actions that contributed to an adverse employment action against a fellow employee. Now, not only are employers held liable under "cat's paw," employees are too. The concept of "cat's paw" applies to an employment discrimination action when a final decision-maker relies on a subordinate's …