Trendy issue, prosaic proof problem

While Olivarez v. T-Mobile involved the high-profile topic of Title VII’s protection for  transgendered individuals, it turned on a basic and common proof problem in such cases: “Olivarez has failed to plead any facts indicating less favorable treatment than others ‘similarly situated’ outside of the asserted protected class.  In fact, the Second Amended Complaint does not contain any facts about any comparators at all. The complaint simply indicates that Olivarez took six months of leave from September 2017 to February 2018—including an extension granted by T-Mobile and Broadspire—and that when Olivarez requested additional leave in March 2018, T-Mobile denied the request and terminated Olivarez’s employment in April 2018. Notably, there is no allegation that any non-transgender employee with a similar job and supervisor and who engaged in the same conduct as Olivarez received more favorable treatment.” No. 20-20463 (May 12, 2021) (emphasis added).