6th Circuit OK's discovery of comparator information in failure-to-promote case

The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose rulings apply to all Ohio employers) recently reversed a district court decision in favor of an employer and held that comparator information may be discoverable (exchanged as evidence pretrial) in failure-to-promote cases.

Background

Kyisha Jones, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employee, first joined the department in June 2002. She quickly climbed the organization's ranks and was promoted to customs and border protection officer in 2003. She received yet another promotion to become a customs and border protection enforcement officer in 2007.

Twice in 2011 (in June and then again in August), Jones applied for promotion to supervisory customs and border protection officer. She was denied a promotion in both instances.

DHS's port director Roderick Blanchard, who was Jones' fourth-line supervisor, recommended four males and one female be promoted in the June 2011 round of promotions. In the August round, he recommended one male and one female for promotion. He didn't interview any candidates during either round or review their personnel files. Instead, he had HR provide a list of qualified candidates, their resumes, and applications.