• Associative discrimination is discrimination in the workplace based on an employee’s “association” with another person who falls under a protected classification (eg gender, race, religion) or engages in a protected activity (eg whistleblowing). In Holcomb v. Iona Coll., 521 F.2d 130 (2d Cir. 2008) a Caucasian former assistant basketball coach claimed he was fired because his wife was African American. The United States Court of Appeals in New York agreed that this assertion was sufficient to claim “associative” discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Court stated, “If an employee is subjected to adverse action because the employer does not approve of interracial ties, the employee is discriminated against because of their race.”