Avis Rent A Car System, Inc. v. Aguilar

Background

A group of Latino drivers at an airport Avis facility sued a co-worker, John Lawrence, and their employer under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act after repeated name-calling, demeaning remarks, and some uninvited touching. A jury found Lawrence liable and awarded damages. The trial court then issued an injunction ordering Lawrence to stop using specified derogatory words about Latino employees and to refrain from uninvited touching while employed. The California courts modified and then affirmed aspects of that injunction, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take the case.

Reasoning

Justice Thomas wrote a dissent explaining why he would have allowed review and questioned the injunction. He calls the court order a “prior restraint,” meaning a court stop on speech before it happens, which the Constitution treats with great suspicion. Thomas argues the list of forbidden words likely covers fully protected speech, notes the words are not classic unprotected categories (like fighting words or obscenity), and says the injunction is not narrowly targeted — it bans even single, isolated remarks and speech outside victims’ hearing. He points out there was little evidence of ongoing harassment and says money damages could deter future misconduct without silencing speech in advance.

Real world impact

Because the Supreme Court refused review, the state-court injunction stays in place, limiting what this employee may say at work and affecting how courts and employers handle similar harassment claims. The dissent warns this outcome raises big First Amendment questions about when courts can use preventative orders to police workplace speech, leaving national constitutional standards unresolved.