Seventh Circuit Clarifies Similarly Situated Defense for Employers

"There is no 'similarly situated employee' analysis available to the employer to defeat a plaintiff's claim." So held the Seventh Circuit in Diaz v. Kraft Foods Global, Inc., No. 10-3073 (7th Cir. Aug. 8, 2011), decided this week.  A copy of the opinion is here.

A great analysis of the opinion is available at Outten & Golden's Employment Law Blog.  It begins:

"A timely reminder from the Seventh Circuit that there is no "bottom-line" defense to Title VII (Connecticut v. Teal, 457 U.S. 440 (1982)): an employer does not earn immunity from Title VII liability by pointing to minority employees whom it did not treat as shabbily."

Read the full post here.