Justice Marcy Friedman
Former employee Godbolt sued Verizon in this termination action complaining of discrimination. An anonymous caller reported that Godbolt was intoxicated while on duty. Investigator Busse investigated the allegation and found there was no evidence of alcohol use while on duty, and also performed a Google search on Godbolt, discovering various convictions. Busse’s report found the intoxication accusation unsubstantiated, but informed Verizon that Godbolt failed to disclose felony convictions on his applications. Termination was recommended by Godbolt’s superiors for falsification of an employment application, noting it was non-discretionary. The court found Verizon met its burden of showing a non-discriminatory reason for terminating Godbolt’s employment, ruling Godbolt failed to raise a triable issue of fact of whether the reason was pretextual or false, and rejected Godbolt’s claim Busse exceeded his authority. It found Verizon produced evidence showing it terminated similarly situated employees who falsified information on their applications regarding criminal convictions. Thus, Verizon was granted dismissal.
