AT&T wins summary disposition of race discrimination claim

Kim Hosendove sued AT&T and several management employees, claiming racial discrimination. She provided the Court with evidence implying that she was treated differently than another employee, in terms of sales achievement and in response to their respective Performance Improvement Plans. The Appellate Court determined, however, that the other employee (obviously of another race) was not actually treated differently if her approved leave of absence was taken into account: the employees' monthly sales results were no longer similar when the LOA was included in the calculation. The Court also held that the Plaintiff did not provide adequate explanation of the other employee's performance under her "improvement plan" to allow the Court, or a rational factfinder, to conclude that the two employees received racially-motivated disparate treatment.