A District Court judge in Kansas has granted a motion for summary judgment in favor of a defendant that was accused of firing a collector because she was African-American, which underscores the importance of having documented policies and procedures and following them at all times.
A copy of the ruling in the case of Washington v. U.S. Bank National Association can be accessed by clicking here.
The plaintiff worked as a collector for the defendant for two years, collecting on unpaid credit card debts. The plaintiff, on nine occasions, failed to leave voicemails for individuals she was contacting, which was a violation of company policy, while noting on the account that she had not reached the voicemail. On many of those occasions, the plaintiff was warned by the defendant about her behavior. There were also complaints from the plaintiff’s co-workers that she was stealing accounts from other collectors. The plaintiff filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging she was being discriminated against. The EEOC dismissed the charge, after finding insufficient evidence to pursue the case.
By providing logs of the call records indicating that the calls in question lasted between two and five seconds — not long enough to leave a voicemail message — and because the plaintiff provided no evidence that the manner in which the call logs were interpreted was implausible or that anyone working for the defendant had discriminatory motives to fire her, Judge Eric Melgren of the District Court for the District of Kansas granted summary judgment in favor of the defendant.
“… Washington has not provided evidence that she was treated differently than similarly situated employees or disputed that the final decision makers agreed that her employment should be terminated due to her continued violation of the department’s policies after receiving both a verbal and written warning,” Judge Melgren wrote.
