A former Whirlpool worker who said she was punished for associating with African Americans on the job will get another chance to argue her case in federal court. 

Treva Nickens, who worked for more than 20 years at the Benton-Harbor based appliance manufacturer’s La Vergne, Tennessee plant claimed that she was refused a promotion by a supervisor who said she spent too much time with black people. Nickens said she was also physically threatened for reporting racist jokes to a supervisor.

Last week the federal appeals court in Cincinnati dismissed two other cases about discrimination based on association at Whirlpool but said that Nickens should have a chance to argue her claim about Whirpool’s hostile work environment in the U.S. District Court in Nashville.

In 2005 Whirlpool agreed to a $850,000 settlement in a case involving hiring practices that discriminated against African Americans.