The Utah Business and Employment Lawyer

  In Kean v. Brinker International , the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court's remedy for spoliation and a grant of a motion for summary judgment in favor of the employer on an employee's discrimination claim under the Americans with Disability Act ("ADA"). In the opinion , the Sixth Circuit overturned summary judgment finding that because a report should have been excluded by the district court the employer could not rely on an honest-belief defense and show that "it made a reasonably informed and considered decision before terminating Kean." It also remanded the case to determine whether more severe spoliation sanctions should be implemented against the employer for failing to preserve and retain relevant documents. Under a judicially created doctrine in employment cases alleging discrimination and related claims, if an employer honestly, albeit mistakenly, believes in the non-discriminatory reason it relied upon in making its employme...

  In a unanimous opinion  issued today the U.S. Supreme Court in  Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services  overruled prior precedent - including in the Tenth Circuit - that previously held members of non-minority groups to a different burden of proof for discrimination claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e et seq. After  Ames, courts may not impose a heightened burden on plaintiffs who are members of a majority group when asserting claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In Ames,  Ms. Ames, a heterosexual woman, sued the Ohio Department of Youth Services after being passed over for a promotion and later demoted—alleging that she was discriminated on the basis of being a heterosexual female - for sexual orientation. The Sixth Circuit - like the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals - had previously applied a “background circumstances” rule to such claims brought by member of a majority group which required t...