“A reasonable jury could conclude from [plaintiff’s supervisor’s] explanation, together with the summary judgment evidence that Plaintiff’s’ co-worker, Clark, also did not strictly follow TDCJ’s timesheet policy as written, that [employer’s] timesheet policy recognized a de facto exception for [public information officers]. If the de facto exception was selectively ignored in [plaintiff’s] case, a reasonable
Employment Discrimination
The availability of a volunteer to cover an employee’s shift precludes an employer from asserting an undue hardship as a result.
“[P]laintiff arranged for a substitute who voluntarily agreed to work [Plaintiff]’s shift that Sunday…. With a volunteer substitute available, [Defendant] would not have had to incur any cost requiring an employee to substitute for [Plaintiff], nor would [Defendant] necessarily be left short-handed.” Davis v. Fort Bend County, 2014 WL 4209371 at *7 (5th Cir.…
In a failure to hire case, an applicant does not have to show that he or she is “clearly better qualified, but simply that the employer’s explanation for the employment decision is pretext.
“As we have noted, while a showing that a plaintiff is clearly better qualified is one way of demonstrating that the employer’s explanation is a pretext, it is not the only way … the question is whether the assessment, even if incorrect, was the real reason for the action.”
E.E.O.C. v. DynMcDermott Petroleum Ops. Co.,…
Showing that white employee was denied raise, even though fully funded by federal grant, by new black sheriff who recently hired two new blacks employees is enough create fact issue regarding intentional discrimination.
“Kelvin Williams, a black male, was elected sheriff. James Moore, a black male, became warden. Shortly thereafter, Williams promoted another black female, with no college degree or counseling certification, to be the director of the male alcohol and drug program at the facility at a salary of $40,000 per year. He appointed Jean Fair, a…
An employee’s bona fide religious belief does not require an inquiry into the nature of the activity itself.
“A showing of sincerity, however, does not require proof that the July 3rd church event was itself a true religious tenet, but only that [Plaintiff] sincerely believed it to be religious in her own scheme of things.” Davis v. Fort Bend County, 2014 WL 4209371 at *4 (5th Cir. 2014) (Prado, J.) (citing Moussazadeh …
Assurances from another manager that decisionmaker will not be retaliated against by discriminating supervisor does not negate the influence of the discriminating supervisor.
“After Lewis disagreed with Wood’s desire to Swafford, Wood repeatedly informed Lewis that he was violating federal law because Lewis was discriminating based on age and disability. Also the record indicates that Hojem did not make any assurance to Wood regarding retaliation until weeks later—after Wood had already decided to interview Thomas, who he had…
Two statements made by non-supervisor, proximate to the termination, are enough to create a genuine issue of material fact regarding direct evidence under Medina test.
“Here, [Employee] alleges two statements in particular as evidence of age discrimination. First, [employee] asserts that McKinley, during or immediately after [employee’s] termination, declared: ‘[G]o get a job as a Wal–Mart door greeter.’ Second, [employee] alleges that a fellow employee overheard McKinley say, on the day immediately following [employee’s] termination, ‘I’m the one that got…
History of positive performance, failure to fire others for similar behavior without explanation, and failure to describe weak performance in demotion memo show demotion for performance issue may be pretext.
“He also offered evidence of a history of positive performance reviews, as well as the testimony of Major Robinson … Haverda highlights that the demotion memorandum does not explain how his performance was weaker than that of the other Jail Command Staff members, and that Sheriff Cutler could not explain this distinction during his deposition. …
Negative comments are still racially based if white coworkers are not subjected to the same type of comments.
“Viewing the facts in the light most favorable to [Plaintiff], the Court finds that he has presented sufficient evidence to establish a genuine dispute of material fact from which a jury could conclude that the harassment complained of was based on race. Such a conclusion is underscored by the deposition testimony of Bell’s white co-worker,…
In the prima facie analysis of the qualified prong, Defendant can use only objective requirements. “Pertinent experience” is not an objective requirement.
“An employer may establish job requirements, and rely on them in arguing that a prima facie case is not established because the employee is not ‘qualified.’ However, only objective requirements may be used in making this argument.” Johnson v. Louisiana, 351 F.3d 616, 622 (5th Cir. Nov. 14, 2003) (citing Medina v. …
