By Erica Shelley Nelson and Kasey Burton
In Williams v. Ala. Dep’t of Corr., an Alabama District Court held that an African-American correctional officer failed to prove that he was terminated on the basis of race. Even though the officer tried to show that the white officer was treated differently, the Court was not convinced the two officers were similarly situated.
Williams was terminated after his second excessive force complaint against an inmate. He was already subject to five disciplinary actions in the prior nineteen months and was in the middle of a disciplinary investigation when he struck an inmate open-handed three times on the side of the head.
Williams argued that he was treated differently than a white officer who was only suspended, rather than discharged, after a second use of force complaint. Williams alleged the two were similarly situated, because they performed similar duties and were subject to the same regulations.
The Department argued that the white officer was not similarly situated to Williams, because they worked at different correctional facilities under different wardens. The white officer also received more favorable performance reviews and did not attempt to conceal his misconduct like Williams. Williams also attempted to coerce another officer into lying about the use of force incident.
The District Court granted summary judgment in favor of the Department, holding that Williams failed to identify a valid comparator that was similarly situated. The Court noted three key differences between Williams and the white officer, specifically, Williams’ deception about the incident, Williams’ extensive disciplinary history, and the fact that the two officers had different supervisors. The Court also noted the Department’s right to exercise a degree of discretion in interpreting rules and instituting discipline.
Mr. Williams is correct that, at all relevant times, he and Mr. Hines were correctional officers who supervised inmates and that investigations concluded that he and Mr. Hines had on two separate instances used unjustified force against an inmate. There are at least four key differences between Mr. Hines and Mr. Williams, however, that render them dissimilarly situated and which demonstrate that Mr. Williams’s comparison is too broad for purposes of the similarly situated analysis.
This case was likely decided correctly. From a just cause perspective, there are certainly some concerns about the Department inconsistently punishing officers for the same offenses, however, for purposes of his race discrimination claim, there is no question that Williams was not similarly situated to the other white officer. If Williams not been disciplined numerous times, or attempted to conceal his misconduct, the Court may have decided this case differently.
