Opinion ID: 796153
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Parties and the Course of Bogle-Assegai's Employment

Text: 4 Bogle-Assegai, an African-American of Jamaican descent, was first employed by CHRO in the early 1990s as an investigator, initially in a provisional position and thereafter in a permanent position. In 1995, she was promoted to be regional manager of CHRO's office in Bridgeport; in 1997, she became regional manager of its Waterbury office. 5 Defendant Cynthia Watts-Elder was executive director of CHRO from March 1999 until August 2003. Defendant Leanne Appleton was CHRO's fiscal administrative supervisor from January 1994 until 2004. 6 Defendant Donald Newton, a CHRO employee for more than 30 years, began serving as its chief of field operations in 1999. In that capacity, he supervised CHRO's regional managers. He continually reminded all regional managers, including Bogle-Assegai, that they were expected to be at work every day in accordance with their approved schedules. 7 Bogle-Assegai, in her two positions as manager of CHRO regional offices, was responsible for supervising the staffs and operations of those offices. Her scheduled working hours were 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. In early 2001, Newton questioned Bogle-Assegai about a time sheet representing that she had worked eight hours on January 26, 2001, a day on which Newton had telephoned her office at 10 a.m. and been informed that she was not in. Bogle-Assegai responded that she had in fact been in the office when Newton called, because she had arrived at work that day at 9:30 a.m. (not by 8 a.m. as her schedule required). Newton sought additional information to shed light on the discrepancy between Bogle-Assegai's insistence that she had been in her office by 9:30 a.m. and the staff member's statement that Bogle-Assegai had not arrived by 10 a.m. 8 As Bogle-Assegai had an official parking space in a garage with an electronic swipe-card access system, Newton asked Appleton to obtain the access-card records for January 26, 2001, from the garage operator. She did so, and the records for that date showed that Bogle-Assegai had arrived in the garage at 10:30 a.m. Further, other access-card records, whose accuracy Bogle-Assegai does not concede, showed numerous occasions when Bogle-Assegai arrived several hours late for work, occasions when she left work before the scheduled end of the day, and occasions when she both arrived late and left early. For example, for the period November 13, 2000, through February 22, 2001—which encompassed 68 non-holiday weekdays—the access-card records showed that Bogle-Assegai arrived more than one hour late 34 times, including 15 days on which she arrived more than two hours late. After a review of these records, Watts-Elder requested an audit of all CHRO employee time sheets. Examination of Bogle-Assegai's time sheets revealed numerous hours claimed as work time that were contradicted by the garage access-card records of her times of arrival and departure. 9 On March 1, 2001, Watts-Elder informed Bogle-Assegai in writing that an investigation of her time records had been conducted and that, based on that investigation, CHRO was considering formal discipline, including dismissal. CHRO held a formal hearing on March 12; Bogle-Assegai attended, but she refused to participate or answer questions. She requested and was granted an opportunity to provide a written response; but her response provided no information addressing the discrepancies between her time sheets and the garage access-card data. 10 On March 29, 2001, Bogle-Assegai received a letter from Watts-Elder, stating that Bogle-Assegai's employment with CHRO would be terminated effective April 12, 2001. ( See Letter from Watts-Elder to Bogle-Assegai dated March 29, 2001 (Termination Letter).) The Termination Letter also informed Bogle-Assegai that [a]lthough your dismissal will be effective April 12, 2001, and you will be paid through that date, from this day forward, you will neither be expected (nor authorized) to report to work. ( Id. at 1.) The letter stated that Bogle-Assegai was being dismissed for the good of CHRO, as a result of [her] fraudulent use of state time. ( Id. ) 11 On October 1, 2001, Bogle-Assegai filed an administrative complaint with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). She thereafter received a right-to-sue letter. 12