As I’ve lamented from my very first post, too often the press focuses on new cases that are brought without placing them in context. Yet every month, federal and state courts in Connecticut consider dozens of employment law cases that never make the headlines. One such case is Jacobs v. Connecticut Community Technical Colleges, decided… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: summary judgment
Court: No Injury by Employer = No Standing = No Case
Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, LitigationThe running joke by employment lawyers is that even though Connecticut is an at-will employment state, employees can sue their employers at any time for any reason or no reason at all. (I’ll wait while you laugh groan.) The joke touches on the perception by employers that employees can seemingly file the most frivolous of… Continue Reading
Court: Department of Corrections’ Physical Fitness Test Discriminates Against Women
Posted in Class Actions, Discrimination & Harassment, Human Resources (HR) Compliance, LitigationLast week, a federal district court in Connecticut held that the Department of Corrections violated federal law in instituting a discriminatory physical fitness test that created a disparate impact on women. It also found that the test was not job-related or necessary. In doing so, the court granted summary judgment to the employee and… Continue Reading
Regarding Employee as “Paranoid” and “Irrational” Not Enough To Satisfy ADA (at least pre-ADAAA)
Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, LitigationYou’ve seen a lot on this blog about how the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) may have a significant impact on how employment discrimination cases proceed. We haven’t had many cases yet to judge that on because the Act was not retroactive, but a case recently decided in Connecticut District Court gives us some insight into… Continue Reading
Back Again? After Remanding Case Once, Second Circuit This Time Finds for Employer on First Amendment Claims
Posted in LitigationIn broad terms, the First Amendment prohibits public employers from retaliating against employees who engage in "protected speech". (Connecticut has a statute, Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 31-51q that purports to apply the First Amendment to private employers too.) But proving these cases remains difficult for employees. And even victories may later end up as defeats… Continue Reading
First Amendment Retaliation Claims by Town Facilities Manager Tossed by District Court
Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, LitigationA former Branford Facilities Manager’s claims that his employment was terminated due to protected speech and his political affiliation were effectively dismissed on Friday, February 25th when a federal court granted the employer’s motion for summary judgment. The 40-page opinion provides good roadmap for employers (and their attorneys) to understanding such claims and what is… Continue Reading
Quitters Rarely Win…In Constructive Discharge Claims
Posted in LitigationWhile fans of the long running television reality show Survivor may suggest the timing of this post is geared to the events of last night’s episode that featured two players who quit, there are actually two recent and noteworthy cases in Connecticut that show that employees who quit their jobs rare win discrimination claims that… Continue Reading
Appellate Court: Trial Court Was Wrong To Deny Summary Judgment Without Oral Argument on Res Judicata Issue
Posted in LitigationThere is an unspoken truth about the Superior Courts in Connecticut: Summary judgment for employers in employment-related claims is typically a long shot. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule. A case to be released by the Connecticut Appellate Court next week shows the difficulty but also shows that at least with regard to… Continue Reading
Don’t Cry for Me Connecticut: Court Says Mere Factual Disagreements Not Necessarily Probative of Age Discrimination
Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, LitigationIn employment discrimination cases, some of the day-to-day details of a person’s employment are sometimes disputed. Did an employee "continually" cry at work or only "occasionally" cry? And does it matter? A recent Connecticut district court decision clarified that such trivial disputes about an employee’s background — without more — are not enough to be… Continue Reading
Second Circuit: Repeated Use of “Bitch” May Be Enough to Create Hostile Work Environment
Posted in CHRO & EEOC, Discrimination & Harassment, LitigationIf you’re an employer with an appeal to the Second Circuit, having the EEOC write a brief on behalf of the Plaintiff-employee is not one of those things that portends well for the case. So, when the Second Circuit issued its decision in Pucino v. Verizon Communications (download here), perhaps the writing was already on the… Continue Reading
Court Allows First Amendment Retaliation Claim to Proceed To Trial
Posted in LitigationLast year, I talked about a First Amendment retaliation case and noted the difficulties in defending against such claims. A new case out of the federal court in Connecticut last week highlights the those difficulties even further. In Brown v. Waterbury Board of Ed. (download here), the Plaintiff, a custodian for the Waterbury Board of… Continue Reading
Supervisor’s Dislike of Employees Not Proof of Retaliation or Discrimination
Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, LitigationAn employee who is passed over for promotion — time and again — may feel like the whole world is against them. Even so, the fact that supervisors and coworkers may "dislike" a particular employee is not enough to prove that the employer retaliated against the employee for participation in a discrimination claim. So… Continue Reading
Quick Hits: Text Message Privacy; Top 10 for 2009; Summary Judgment; Prevailing Wages; 401(k) Contributions; $1B Wage/Hour Claim
Posted in Class Actions, Discrimination & Harassment, Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Laws and Regulations, Litigation, Wage & HourWith a possible snowstorm coming this weekend (or not) and another next week, no doubt there will be the usual rushing out to get milk and bread. But before you do so, here’s a bevy of stories from the last week to keep you updated on the latest in employment law affecting employers in Connecticut…. Continue Reading
USDOL Providing Webchats on Regulatory Agenda
Posted in Laws and RegulationsThis year, the U.S. Department of Labor has taken great strides to modernize the office and better serve the public. The new website is only part of that. This week, the DOL has begun a series of webchats with the public discuss the 2010 regulatory agenda and other issues facing the Department of Labor. They… Continue Reading
Court Denies Summary Judgment to Employer Who Claimed Employee Improperly Used Employee Discount for Relatives
Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, Human Resources (HR) Compliance, LitigationGoing to a trial with an employment discrimination case is expensive. Which is one reason why many employers will ask the court to dismiss a claim before trial using a process known as "summary judgment". But a recent federal court case illustrates the difficulty that employers still have in getting courts to grant summary judgment… Continue Reading
Corrective Action Memorandum Not a Contract, Says District Court
Posted in Litigation, Wage & HourUPDATED 2/10/09 Sometimes, by coincidence, two unrelated decision get released in close proximity to one another that they bring some greater clarity to the law. Yesterday, I discussed a Connecticut Superior Court case that found that certain discussions did not create an employment contract and that the employee was properly classified as "at-will". Earlier this… Continue Reading
A Tale of Two Summary Judgments: Looking at How Federal Judges May View Cases With a Different Lens
Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, LitigationIn employment litigation in federal court (let’s leave state court out of this discussion — it’s a whole different animal), filing a motion for summary judgment is seen by employers as their last, best chance to win a case before the matter is sent to a jury. After all, if the court grants the motion,… Continue Reading
What Ever Happened To…That Ethics Case with the Anonymous Letter?
Posted in LitigationIt has been several months since my last update on the matters involving former state Ethics Chief Alan Plofsky and the strange case of the lawyer who penned an anonymous letter complaining of Mr. Plofsky. (For background on the matters, you can find my prior posts here.) The developments have been slow to occur, but… Continue Reading
Whatever Happened to….That Lawyer Who Penned an Anonymous Letter?
Posted in LitigationAs I’ve mentioned before, sometimes cases hit the headlines for a day only to disappear into oblivion. But thanks to some followup reporting, there’s one story that we can give an update on. Readers may recall a post from May of this year about a state attorney, Maureen Duggan, who wrote an anonymous letter about the state’s Ethics Chief,… Continue Reading
Transgender Litigation: Court Grants Summary Judgment to Employer In Title VII Transgender Case
Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, Human Resources (HR) Compliance, LitigationEarlier this year, proponents of a bill to make transgender (or gender identity and expression) a protected category failed in their efforts to get that category covered under the state’s anti-discrimination laws. A new United States District Court case this week may provide proponents with an example of a case that, in their view, may have come out differently if "transgender" was… Continue Reading
Court: Denial of Transfer Is Not Race Discrimination
Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, Human Resources (HR) Compliance, LitigationIt’s a common observation among employment lawyers that employers can be sued for lots of on-the-job actions that don’t lead to termination. Whether that employee, however, will prevail on the claim is an entirely different question. A case yesterday decided by the United States District Court of Connecticut highlights that distinction. In Charles v. State… Continue Reading
Summary Judgment in District Court in Connecticut: An Update
Posted in LitigationIn yesterday morning’s post, I indicated that people should be wary of drawing generalities from some recent decisions granting summary judgment for employers. Indeed, I went out of my way to note that each judge has their particular way of handling employment discrimination cases. I also highlighted District Court Judge Christopher Droney for his statement in his… Continue Reading
Summary Judgment in Employment Cases is Alive and Well in District of Connecticut (At Least With Judge Bryant)
Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, LitigationA few years ago, there was lots of debate among attorneys about whether summary judgment was still a disfavored remedy in employment discrimination cases in federal court. (For those readers unclear what "summary judgment" is, the Wikipedia entry is a pretty good start and George’s Employment Blawg has a nice post about how to best prepare… Continue Reading
Second Circuit Reinforces Notion that Summary Judgment Difficult to Achieve for Employers in Harassment Claims
Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, LitigationSummary Orders (in other words, decisions with no precedential value) by the Second Circuit typically are not worth noting. However, a decision released today is telling for the court’s view of race and gender discrimination cases and it can be cited by parties under certain limitations. In Williams v. Consolidated Edison of New York, the… Continue Reading
About Daniel Schwartz
Trusted advisor. Experienced employment law attorney. Bar leader. Award-winning author. Noted Speaker. "Legal Rebel". All can be said to be apt descriptions of Daniel Schwartz, a member of Pullman & Comley. More +
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