The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the world’s largest HR association, has been ordered to pay US$11.5 million in damages after a Colorado federal jury found the organisation liable for racial discrimination and retaliation against a former employee.
The verdict, delivered on Friday after a five-day trial, awarded US$1.5 million in compensatory damages and US$10 million in punitive damages to Rehab Mohamed, an instructional designer who worked at SHRM from 2016 to 2020. Mohamed alleged she was discriminated against by a white supervisor and faced retaliation after raising concerns with senior leadership, including CEO Johnny C. Taylor Jr..
SHRM, which denies the allegations, said it will appeal, arguing the decision “does not reflect the facts, the law, or the truth of how SHRM operates.”
The ruling highlighted tensions between SHRM’s public reputation as the global authority on HR best practices and its internal handling of discrimination complaints. During the trial, testimony revealed gaps in SHRM’s investigative processes, including admissions from a former employee experience manager, Mike Jackson, that he had only one HR investigations training session before handling Mohamed’s complaint and could not recall its contents.
Court records also showed SHRM attempted to block Mohamed from referencing the organisation’s HR expertise during trial, a request denied by the judge, who ruled that SHRM’s professed authority in human resources is directly relevant to the case.
The jury’s decision comes amid a broader string of controversies for the organisation, including stricter attendance rules, a contested dress code memo, and internal criticisms from leadership about staff culture. SHRM has also acknowledged at least two other discrimination complaints filed between 2018 and 2021, one settled and the other pending.
Mohamed’s lawyers say the verdict sends a clear warning to employers nationwide. “The jury listened closely to the evidence and held SHRM accountable,” attorney Ariel DeFazio said.
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