Location: Utah
The Situation: I am a gay man of color and recently ended a nearly 15-year career at a major corporation. I was recently pulled into a meeting and given an ultimatum: resign or be terminated. I chose to resign because I felt I had no other option (constructive discharge).
This ultimatum was the result of a misdemeanor DUI I received entirely on my personal time, off company property, and not in uniform. There were no felony charges. I proactively disclosed this personal struggle to my leadership. Instead of offering help, they used my disclosure to force me out.
The Pretext: The official reason management gave for forcing my resignation was that a temporary restriction on my driver's license left me "unable to perform my job duties." This is entirely pretextual. My position does not require driving whatsoever. I was a top-of-scale employee, and I strongly suspect they used this as an excuse to cut my salary from the payroll.
The Company Policy: My former employer has a massive, highly regulated employee handbook. Regarding off-duty behavior, the policy explicitly states: "As a general practice, the Company does not seek to monitor or become unnecessarily involved in employee's off-duty, off-premises conduct."
The Disparate Treatment (Comparator Evidence): The core of my discrimination claim is how my situation was handled compared to a peer.
- Me: Gay man of color. Committed an off-duty, non-operational infraction. Forced to resign under the false pretext of a driving restriction.
- My Colleague: A straight, white employee. Arrived and clocked into work under the influence of alcohol on two separate known occasions. Under our company policy (and federal guidelines for our industry), arriving at work intoxicated is an immediate fireable offense and a massive safety violation. Instead of being terminated, this employee was offered company-paid treatment and kept their job.
- Other Leaders: Other managers have committed severe, highly visible off-duty infractions (such as being forcibly removed from company services for unruly behavior) with zero disciplinary action taken.
My Questions:
- Because Utah is an at-will state, does this blatant discrepancy in the enforcement of company policy against a minority employee give me a viable Title VII discrimination or disparate treatment claim?
- Does the fact that they used a "driving restriction" as the reason for termination, when my job requires zero driving, strengthen a claim for pretextual termination?
- Is this worth taking to a local employment attorney on contingency?
Thank you in advance for your time and advice.