Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-15-02079/USCOURTS-ca10-15-02079-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Billie J. Mancell
Appellant
John M. McHugh
Appellee

Document Text:

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT 

_________________________________ 

BILLIE J. MANCELL, 

 Plaintiff - Appellant, 

v. 

JOHN M. MCHUGH, 

Secretary of the Army, 

 Defendant - Appellee. 

No. 15-2079 

(D.C. No. 2:13-CV-00417-KG-SMV) 

(D. N.M.) 

_________________________________ 

ORDER AND JUDGMENT*

_________________________________ 

Before HARTZ, BALDOCK, and HOLMES, Circuit Judges. 

_________________________________ 

Billie J. Mancell appeals from the district court’s grant of summary judgment 

to the Secretary of the Army on her claims of gender discrimination and retaliation in 

violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e to 2000e-17. 

Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we affirm. 

 *

 After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined 

unanimously to honor the parties’ request for a decision on the briefs without oral 

argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(f); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore 

submitted without oral argument. This order and judgment is not binding precedent, 

except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It 

may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 

and 10th Cir. R. 32.1. 

FILED 

United States Court of Appeals

Tenth Circuit 

January 25, 2016

Elisabeth A. Shumaker 

Clerk of Court

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Background 

 Beginning in 2005, Ms. Mancell was a civilian employee of the Army, 

working first as a security guard and then as a lead security guard at White Sands 

Missile Range in New Mexico. As a condition of her employment, she had to pass an 

annual Physical Ability Test (PAT) in accordance with Army Regulation (AR) 

190-56. In 2009, the PAT was revised to include two elements, a minimum number 

of push-ups and a timed 1.5 mile run. 

 On February 4, 2010, and April 30, 2010, Ms. Mancell failed the PAT. She 

was able to do the push-ups, but she could not complete the run in the required time. 

In June, her supervisor proposed her removal from service because she had not 

passed the PAT. In September, the decisionmaker, Donald Morrison, opted to allow 

her to take a third PAT before he decided whether to remove her. Before 

Ms. Mancell could take the third PAT, however, she suffered a hernia. She had 

surgery in December. While she was undergoing treatment and recovery, the 

command structure was realigned, and Donald Knox became the decisionmaker 

regarding her removal. During this time, pursuant to AR 190-56, Ms. Mancell’s 

medical restrictions exempted her from taking the PAT. 

Ms. Mancell was medically cleared for all duties in April 2011, and her 

supervisor scheduled the third PAT for July 25. He allowed her to leave work an 

hour early each day to train for the test. Ms. Mancell passed the push-up 

requirement, but she injured her knee on the first lap and did not complete the run. 

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 Mr. Knox believed that AR 190-56 required a security guard who had been 

cleared of a temporary medical restriction to pass the PAT within ninety days of 

medical clearance. He informed Ms. Mancell that the July 2011 PAT counted as a 

failure, notwithstanding her injury. She objected, offering her own interpretation of 

AR 190-56 and also asserting that a male co-worker had been given a chance that she 

was not given. Before making a final decision, Mr. Knox consulted with the Army’s 

subject matter expert (SME) on AR 190-56. The SME opined that Mr. Knox’s 

interpretation of the regulation was correct. 

On August 10, 2011, Mr. Knox removed Ms. Mancell from federal service for 

failing the February and April 2010 and the July 2011 PATs. Believing that she had 

been treated differently than male co-workers, and that the removal was in retaliation 

for discrimination charges she had filed earlier, Ms. Mancell exhausted her 

administrative remedies, then she filed this Title VII suit. 

 The district court granted the Army’s motion for summary judgment. 

Applying the familiar three-step burden-shifting framework of McDonnell Douglas 

Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802-04 (1973), the district court held that Ms. Mancell 

had established a prima facie case of gender discrimination and the Army had offered 

a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for the removal—Ms. Mancell’s failures to 

pass three consecutive PATs. But Ms. Mancell failed to proffer sufficient evidence 

that the Army’s reason was pretext for discrimination. On the retaliation claim, 

Ms. Mancell relied on the same evidence she supplied for her discrimination claim to 

support causation (as part of her prima facie case) and pretext. The district court held 

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that her proffer was insufficient for the same reasons as discussed in connection with 

the discrimination claim. Ms. Mancell now appeals. 

Discussion 

 “We review a grant of summary judgment de novo, applying the same legal 

standard as the district court. Summary judgment is appropriate only if ‘the movant 

shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is 

entitled to judgment as a matter of law.’” Bennett v. Windstream Commc’ns, Inc., 

792 F.3d 1261, 1265 (10th Cir. 2015) (citation omitted) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 

56(a)). Because our review is de novo, we need not address Ms. Mancell’s assertion 

that the district court used an incorrect standard to evaluate her evidence. See Rivera 

v. City & Cty. of Denver, 365 F.3d 912, 920 (10th Cir. 2004). 

I. Discrimination Claim 

 Once Ms. Mancell established a prima facie case of gender discrimination, and 

the Army proffered a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for removing her, then to 

avoid summary judgment Ms. Mancell had to proffer sufficient evidence for a 

reasonable jury to conclude that the Army’s proffered reason was pretext for 

discrimination. See Timmerman v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 483 F.3d 1106, 1113 (10th Cir. 

2007). “An employee may show pretext based on weaknesses, implausibilities, 

inconsistencies, incoherencies, or contradictions in the employer’s claimed 

legitimate, non-discriminatory reason such that a rational trier of fact could find the 

reason unworthy of belief.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). 

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Ms. Mancell argues that the following evidence is sufficient for a rational jury 

to find pretext: (1) the Army contravened AR 190-56 by not honoring her medical 

restrictions from the injury that occurred during the July 2011 PAT; (2) she was 

given only a minimal time to recuperate from surgery and prepare for the PAT; and 

(3) she was treated differently from two male co-workers. 

 Ms. Mancell’s first argument concerns the interpretation of AR 190-56. She 

asserts that her July 25, 2011, injury should have exempted her from the testing 

requirement until she recovered, and then she should have been given another chance 

to pass the PAT. She believes that the Army’s interpretation of the regulation is 

wrong: “the policy exempting employees from PAT if they are medically restricted 

should also apply to an employee injured during a PAT. . . . While there is no exact 

policy stating a PAT is invalid if an employee was injured during the test, it certainly 

would seem to be implied.” Aplt. Br. at 24. 

 But “[t]he relevant inquiry is not whether the employer’s proffered reasons 

were wise, fair or correct, but whether it honestly believed those reasons and acted in 

good faith upon those beliefs.” Rivera, 365 F.3d at 924-25 (brackets and internal 

quotation marks omitted); see also Timmerman, 483 F.3d at 1120 (same). “We will 

not second-guess an employer’s business judgment or replace its opinion of best 

practices with either an employee’s opinion or our own.” Bennett, 792 F.3d at 1268. 

“Thus, we consider the facts as they appeared to the person making the decision, and 

we do not second-guess the employer’s decision even if it seems in hindsight that the 

action taken constituted poor business judgment.” Riggs v. AirTran Airways, Inc., 

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497 F.3d 1108, 1119 (10th Cir. 2007). That means it is not our task to decide how 

AR 190-56 should be interpreted, but simply to determine whether a reasonable jury 

could find that Mr. Knox’s professed reliance on his interpretation was pretext for 

discrimination. And even if Mr. Knox actually interpreted AR 190-56 incorrectly, 

nothing in the record indicates he did not honestly believe his understanding of the 

regulation and did not act on that understanding in good faith. He went so far as to 

confirm his understanding by consulting with the SME, who opined that he was 

correct. Consequently, this argument fails to carry Ms. Mancell’s burden regarding 

pretext. 

 Ms. Mancell’s second argument is that she was given only the minimum time 

to recuperate from surgery and take the PAT. The timing of the test, however, was 

consistent with the Army’s interpretation of AR 190-56, and there is no evidence that 

Ms. Mancell’s supervisor did not honestly believe that he was acting in accordance 

with the regulation. Also, as the district court recognized, Ms. Mancell admitted that 

she was physically ready to take the test and asserted that she would have passed if 

she had not been injured. 

 Ms. Mancell’s third argument is that she was treated differently from two 

similarly situated male co-workers. “A plaintiff seeking to show pretext often does 

so by providing evidence that [s]he was treated differently from other 

similarly-situated employees who violated work rules of comparable seriousness.” 

Timmerman, 483 F.3d at 1120 (internal quotation marks omitted). “Similarly situated 

employees are those who deal with the same supervisor and are subject to the same 

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standards governing performance evaluation and discipline.” Id. (internal quotation 

marks omitted). 

 Ms. Mancell argues that two male co-workers were either not required to take 

a PAT or were given a longer time to prepare and take the PAT after being medically 

cleared. For the reasons discussed by the district court, however, we conclude that 

those two co-workers were not substantially similar to Ms. Mancell. 

Ms. Mancell also asserts that “there were an unusual number of supervisors at 

Plaintiff’s PAT test which was to intimidate Plaintiff.” Aplt. Br. at 23. But she 

testified in her deposition that the spectators did not cause her to fail the PAT, and as 

the district court noted, the number of supervisors does not tend to show that the 

Army’s explanation for the removal is pretext for discrimination. 

Finally, Ms. Mancell points to a male co-worker’s affidavit testifying that she 

was treated differently and was ostracized by her supervisor. The district court held 

that the affidavit in question presented mere conclusory allegations and conjecture 

that were not supported in the record, and therefore it was insufficient to show 

pretext. We agree. It is well established that “[s]uch conclusory allegations—

lacking evidentiary support in the record—do not suffice to create a genuine question 

as to whether the [employer’s] work-related reasons for [plaintiff’s] termination were 

a pretext for discrimination.” Salguero v. City of Clovis, 366 F.3d 1168, 1178 

(10th Cir. 2004). 

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II. Retaliation Claim 

 “[T]o establish a prima facie case of retaliation, an employee must show that: 

(1) she engaged in protected activity; (2) she suffered an adverse employment action; 

and (3) there was a causal connection between the protected activity and the adverse 

action.” Timmerman, 483 F.3d at 1122-23 (internal quotation marks omitted). As 

with the discrimination claim, the employer then must proffer a legitimate, 

non-discriminatory reason for the adverse action, and the employee must demonstrate 

that the proffered reason is pretextual. See id. at 1123. The court may consider 

evidence tending to establish the weakness of a proffered non-discriminatory reason 

not only in the pretext stage of a retaliation claim, but also in connection with 

establishing causation as part of a prima facie case. See Proctor v. United Parcel 

Serv., 502 F.3d 1200, 1209 (10th Cir. 2007). 

 Ms. Mancell filed discrimination charges in 2006 and 2009, and her 

employment was terminated in 2011. These gaps are too long to support an inference 

of retaliatory motive. See id. (holding that a four-month time period does not support 

an inference of retaliatory motive). Therefore, Ms. Mancell must present additional 

evidence to establish causation. See id. She points to the same evidence that she 

presented in connection with her discrimination claim. For the reasons discussed 

above, this evidence is insufficient for a reasonable jury to conclude that the Army’s 

proffered reason for removing her from federal service was caused by her earlier 

claim of discrimination or that it was pretext for retaliation. 

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Conclusion 

The district court’s judgment is affirmed. 

Entered for the Court 

Jerome A. Holmes 

Circuit Judge 

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