Can an employer ever win a motion for summary judgment on a discrimination case in state court?
The prevailing wisdom is no. A fool’s errand, some might say.
But a new Connecticut Appellate Court case (Alvarez v. City of Middletown) shows at least what’s possible.
The case has some details that stand out. The
Not every case that comes out from the Connecticut Appellate Court makes headlines.
Take the case of Walker v. Department of Children & Families, a new case that will be officially released next week (download here).
It is a fairly ordinary discrimination case — albeit a rare one where the employer has been successful on a motion for summary judgment. It is also a textbook example of how slow the legal system can be, with the court decision coming eight years after the employee was fired.
The plaintiff was hired as a social worker in June 2004 and was notified that he needed to successfully complete a “ten month working west period.” His first performance review, about 10 weeks in, was generally favorable. By December, though, he was transferred to a new unit and was required to prepare documents to be filed in court and attend court proceedings.Continue Reading Appellate Court Upholds Summary Judgment for Employer
Last month, I highlighted a federal case in Connecticut where the court threw out an age discrimination claim because the evidence presented by the employee was not strong enough to survive a summary judgment claim.
A new federal court case however has allowed an age discrimination claim to proceed even while noting that while the
As I’ve noted before, the appellate courts in Connecticut release their decisions in advance of an "official" publication date for various reasons. I’ve now read over the Appellate Court’s upcoming decision in Paylan v. St. Mary’s Hospital Corp. a few times trying to discern the big lesson for employers to take from this employment