Martino v. Western & Southern Financial Group

Dist. Ct. did not err in granting defendant-employer’s motion for summary judgment in Title VII action alleging that defendant terminated plaintiff from his sales representative position on account of his religion shortly after defendant directed plaintiff to terminate his part-time pastor position because it violated defendant’s outside employment policy by requiring plaintiff to work more hours and receive more pay than what was allowed under policy. Defendant explained that plaintiff was terminated for failing to submit documents verifying his employment eligibility, and plaintiff’s proffered comparable co-workers were not sufficiently similar where, unlike plaintiff, said workers either had temporary work authorization status or had complied with defendant’s outside employment policy, and where plaintiff failed to establish evidence of one co-worker’s religion.