A probationary firefighter trainee fails to establish a discrimination claim after she was terminated for posting unauthorized pictures of her fire department, as well as modeling pictures of herself on her MySpace page, according to the Eleventh Circuit.

The fire department discovered the posted pictures after an anonymous caller complained. When the trainee’s managers informed her that her MySpace account violated the fire department rules, and explained that she lacked permission to post pictures related to the department, including photographs of her co-workers in uniform, she denied violating any rules. Although her chief gave her a direct order to remove the fire department pictures, she never agreed to do so. She also claimed that male firefighters also posted fire department pictures on their MySpace pages, but refused to disclose their names when asked, stating that the chief “could find their web pages himself in the same way he found hers.” She was subsequently terminated based in part on her “denial of violation of Fire Department policy, disrespect toward administration and Chief Officers,” the Court observes.

The Eleventh Circuit affirms a lower court decision dismissing her sex discrimination claim, pointing out that she refused to identify any of the alleged male violators of the fire department policy.

“The record contains no evidence of a male firefighter who was on probationary status, disputed alleged violations of [the fire department] rules, disobeyed direct orders of the commanding chiefs, and showed disrespect. Consequently, [the claimant] has failed to establish that she was treated less favorably than a male firefighter who was ‘similarly situated in all relevant respects,’” the Court says. Marshall v. Mayor of Savannah