Connecticut Employment Law Blog Insight on Labor & Employment Developments for Connecticut Businesses

Tag Archives: similarly situated

“But My Co-Worker Did The Same Thing!” – Second Circuit Rejects Claims that Co-Workers Were “Similarly-Situated”

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, Litigation

Whenever someone gets into trouble, we’ve all heard one phrase at some point or another, particularly as a parent or child: "But So-and-so Is Doing the Same Thing!"  That is, at its essence, an argument that is sometimes made in discrimination cases.The legal name for it is "similarly situated" but the concept it entails is that… Continue Reading

“Me, too!” U.S. Supreme Court Punts on Evidence of “Other” Discrimination

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Discrimination & Harassment

After a long day of taking depositions on Tuesday, there’s nothing like coming back to my computer with dozens of e-mail messages and hundreds of posts to read on the RSS feeds.  And, when I saw that the U.S. Supreme Court decided an employment law case, my brain got excited for a brief moment (and… Continue Reading

Firing Instigators in Employment Fights – Second Circuit Shows Some Support For Employers

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Litigation

The sad reality is that, on rare occasion, some employees will revert back to their middle school days and behave like a couple of children. Some will even resort to physical fighting. In such a case, employers are faced with a difficult question — can I punish one employee more than other if I think they "started" it?… Continue Reading

Disciplining Employees for Fighting; Asking What Is Similar Conduct and What is Similarly Situated?

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Litigation

As cases go, Smith v. Connecticut (D. Conn., Jan. 9, 2008) (Bryant, J.) will not rank up there in the annals of legal history.  (Even the name of the case sounds generic.)  Moreover, when you read the facts, the case doesn’t scream "precedent".  The Smith case, however, reinforces the notion that consistently applied disciplinary policies are… Continue Reading

Consistently Applied Policies and Discipline Are Cruicial to Avoiding Discrimination Claims

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Litigation

Disciplining employees for violations of company policy is, as a general rule, a good thing for an employer to follow.  However, when a company disciplines employees differently for the same offense, perceptions of discrimination (rightly or wrongly) can creep in. A new case released this afternoon from the United States District Court illustrates that.  In… Continue Reading