The Seventh Circuit held, with respect to harassment claim, that Cole failed to show that the his employer was negligent in (1) discovering noose or in (2) remedying it. The record showed that employer entrusted the investigation to the police (who did not uncover the culprit), but otherwise took no other measure to remedy situation. However, the Seventh Circuit held that turning the matter to the police was sufficient to remedy the situation, particularly as Cole told management that he viewed incident as joke.
Cole also failed to establish race discrimination, where he failed to present evidence that race played factor in his demotion, and where a white co-worker was demoted at same time under similar circumstances. Finally, Cole failed to establish a retaliation claim, where the subject of his underlying complaint did not pertain to an unlawful employment practice.