6th Circuit narrowly defines which employees are 'similarly situated' in race bias case

The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals (which has jurisdiction over Kentucky and Tennessee employers) has dismissed an African-American state trooper's race discrimination claim even though a Caucasian trooper who engaged in similar misconduct was treated better.

Facts

The case involved two Ohio State Troopers who were allegedly trying to develop relationships with women they encountered while performing their official duties. Trooper David Johnson, who is Caucasian, allegedly detained a woman and later sent her a Facebook friend request when he was off-duty. Three years later, he allegedly did the same thing to another woman. The Ohio Department of Public Safety issued him a one-day suspension for his misconduct.

Trooper Morris Johnson, who is an African American, also tried to develop relationships with women while on the job. He pulled over a woman for DUI, arrested her, and then asked her out. He pulled the same woman over a month later (without probable cause) to ask her out again. Afterwards, Morris Johnson's superiors had him sign a last-chance agreement (LCA), which provided that if he didn't follow the rules for the next two years, he would be terminated. The warning apparently wasn't enough to stop the behavior.