---
title: "Murray v Verizon Wireless Racial Slur Case | Workplace Conduct Policy"
description: "Can an employee be fired for using a racial slur applicable to their own race? Explore the Murray v. Verizon Wireless ruling, where a court upheld an employer's right to enforce consistent workplace conduct policies against all slurs."
url: "https://wimlaw.com/publications/newsletters/murray-verizon-wireless-racial-slur-ruling"
date: "2026-06-03T03:00:27+00:00"
language: "en-US"
---

#  The Issue of Black Worker’s Use of Anti-black Racial Slur

Written on December 18, 2025.

*Tag(s):* [Discrimination](https://wimlaw.com/index.php?option=com_tags&view=tag&id%5B0%5D=52:discrimination), [Human Resources (HR)](https://wimlaw.com/index.php?option=com_tags&view=tag&id%5B0%5D=66:human-resources), [Administrative Law](https://wimlaw.com/index.php?option=com_tags&view=tag&id%5B0%5D=198:administrative-law), [December 2025 Newsletter](https://wimlaw.com/index.php?option=com_tags&view=tag&id%5B0%5D=203:december-2025-newsletter)

An employer recently successfully defended a lawsuit where the plaintiff claimed the discrimination laws “effectively enshrine a right for any person to use any slur which applies to their own protected characteristic in the workplace.” The plaintiff argued that the term “has cultural significance for African-Americans and is a word that has a different connotation when used within the African-American community than it does to others who are not African-American.” The employer defeated the claim that the employer should not have fired him for using the slur under his breath after he walked away from the conversation with another co-worker. Murray v. Verizon Wireless LLC, 2025 BL 361884 (E.D. Pa. 10/8/25).

This article is part of our December 2025 Newsletter.

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