On April 20, 2017, in Marshall v. The Rawlings Company LLC, No. 16-5614, slip op., (6th Cir. April 20, 2017) the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers federal courts in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee, for the first time adopted the cat’s paw theory of liability in the context of a retaliation
Second Circuit Extends the Reach of the Cat’s Paw
In employment litigation, plaintiffs often rely on the “cat’s paw” doctrine to hold their employers liable for discriminatory or retaliatory animus of a 
supervisory employee who influenced, but did not make, the ultimate employment decision. On August 29, 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in Vasquez v. Empress Ambulance Service,