The employee alleged that his employer subjected him to a hostile working environment and fired him because of his race. Nichols argued that he established viable claim where he alleged that co-workers call him "boy" and "black nigger” and interfered with various job assignments as custodian. However, the Court held that because there were only six instances over a two-and-a-half week period, they were not sufficiently severe or pervasive to establish viable harassment claim.
Furthermore, Nichols failed to establish that his termination was based on race when: (1) he was terminated after three co-workers reported that he was acting strangely that day; (2) he was going to be terminated the following week in favor of a permanent employee regardless of his job performance; and (3) Nichols failed to present evidence of comparative co-worker who was treated more favorably.