A corporate executive’s knowledge of federal anti-discrimination law must be proved rather than merely presumed, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday in striking down a punitive damages award to a white male employee the executive fired to make the workplace more diverse.

In its 3-0 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld a North Carolina jury’s award of back and front pay to David Duvall after finding that Novant Health Inc. Executive Vice President Jesse Cureton intentionally fired him to make room for Black and female employees