Ethnic origin civil rights case is dismissed
Ke Ding, of Chinese national origin, sued Autoliv ASP, Inc., alleging that he was terminated because of her ethnicity. The Defendants argued the termination was a product of a reduction in force necessitated by an economic downturn. The trial court refused to allow Ke to file a late answer to the Motion for Summary Disposition and ultimately dismissed her claim. She appealed arguing that the lower court's decisions were in error.
Although Ke filed a matrix that apparently showed that all employees of Chinese origin were graded "inferior," the Court of Appeals held that Ke presented no direct evidence that she was terminated for reasons other than job performance. It also held that the matrix did not constitute evidence "giving rise to an inference of discrimination, as she did not prove that there was disparate treatment based on race."