Colorado Civil Rights Commission v. Big O Tires Inc.6/30/1997
EN BANC
CHIEF JUSTICE VOLLACK delivered the Opinion of the Court.
We granted certiorari to review the court of appeals decision in Thurman v. Big O Tires , Inc., No. 94CA1076 (Colo. App. Dec. 21, 1995) (not selected for official publication), in which the court of appeals vacated the order of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission (the Commission). The court of appeals held that the record did not support a finding that Big O Tires, Inc. (Big O), discriminated against Karen Thurman (Thurman) because of her race when it discharged her. We granted certiorari to determine whether, in a claim of employment discrimination, additional evidence is required to infer intentional discrimination where a prima facie case of discrimination is proven and the employer's reasons for the employment decision are found to be a pretext for discrimination. We hold that no additional evidence is required to infer intentional discrimination in such circumstances and that in the current case, the court of appeals erroneously determined that additional evidence was necessary to support a finding of discrimination by Big O. We therefore reverse the court of appeals and reinstate the order of the Commission.
I.
Thurman, an African-American woman, was employed by Big O as an inside sales clerk from April 9, 1987, to May 16, 1991. Big O paid Thurman an hourly wage and required her to record all of her hours on a mechanical time clock. Thurman's principal duties, along with two other employees who comprised the inside sales group, involved receiving telephone orders from Big O tire dealers and processing those orders for the warehouse, which in turn distributed the ordered merchandise to the dealers. At the time Thurman was terminated, she was the lead person for the inside sales group.
According to Big O, Thurman was terminated from her employment due to her violations of the company's policies regarding use of the mechanical time clock. In general, the policies required (1) that employees punch in and out at the beginning and end of work periods; (2) that employees punch out and in for lunch breaks; (3) that employees take lunch breaks for a specific length of time; and (4) that employees obtain a supervisor's approval and initials for any variations from the time clock policies. Apparently, Thurman had violated these time clock policies on numerous occasions from May 30, 1989, through April 24, 1991. Thurman received a written warning on April 24, 1991, indicating that her time clock violations were an ongoing problem and that termination would be the next step. On May 13 and 15, 1991, Thurman failed to clock out and in for her lunch break. On May 16, 1991, Thurman was terminated from her employment.
Another member of the inside sales group, Cherie Edmonds (Edmonds), a Caucasian woman, began working for Big O approximately one year after Thurman began her employment. Like Thurman, Edmonds violated Big O's time clock policies on numerous occasions from March 20, 1989, through May 24, 1991. Like Thurman, Edmonds received a written warning on April 24, 1991, indicating that her time clock violations were a serious problem and that termination would be the next step. On May 14, 1991, Edmonds worked through lunch without supervisor approval and left work early without supervisor approval, in violation of the time clock policies. On May 15, 1991, Edmonds was absent one-half of the day without supervisor approval. However, unlike Thurman, Edmonds received no immediate disciplinary action as a result of her time clock violations committed on May 14 and 15, 1991.
On May 22, 1991, Thurman filed a complaint with the Commission, alleging that Big O had discriminate
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