Merit Energy Must Defend Revived Sex Bias Suit by Ex-XTO Worker

Merit Energy Co. saw the Eighth Circuit revive a sex discrimination suit brought by a XTO Energy employee it decided not to hire when it acquired the company.

Kimberly Connors produced sufficient evidence rebutting Merit’s stated reasons that it didn’t hire her as a lease operator due to concerns about her safety and production records for her case to go to trial, the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit said Wednesday. The court noted that some of Merit’s purported evidence supporting its decision to not hire her, despite her 17 years of experience at XTO, included contested hearsay ...