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( Fi l ed: Sept ember17, 2009) OP I NI ONW e h av e j ur i s di ct i on overt hi s appea l pur s uantt o 28 1 U . S. C . § 1291. 2 S L O V IT E R , C irc u it Judge . Ja c o b G . M a rle ya p p e a ls th e D istric t C o u rt’s o rd e r g ra n tin g su m m a ryju d g m e n t in f a v o ro f a p p e l l e e CORT F u r n i tu r e Re n t a l Co rp o r a t i o n o n M a r l e y ’ s c l a i m th a tCORT d isc rim in a ted a g a in st h im in v io latio n o f T itl e V II a n d N e w Je rse ysta te la w b yf a ili n g to p ro m o te h im to a n yo f

th e th re e p o sitio n s f

o r w h ich h e a p p lied , sp e c if ica llyin R e tail S a l e s , Ex e c u t i v e S a l e s , a n d a s As s i s t a n tDi s t r i b u t i o n M a n a g e r . W e wi l l a f f i r m. 1 B e c a u s e w e w ri te p ri m a ri ly f o r t h e p a rt ie s , o u r r e c ita tio n o f th e f a c ts is b ri e f. M ar l ey , w ho came t o t he U ni t ed St at es fr om L i ber i a i n or dert o conductbus i nes s on b eh alf o f th e L iberian g o v ern m en t, w as g ran ted a sy lum d u e to a L iberian civil w ar. I n O ct ober2004, M ar l eybegan w or ki ng forC O R T as a del i veryt ruck dr i ver . I n Sept ember 2005, M ar l eyw as i nvol ved i n a ca racc i dentt hatr es ul t ed i n hi s bei ng pl ace d on m edi cal l eave unt i l O ct ober18, 2005. O n M ar l ey ’ s r etur n t o w or k, he w as t ol d byhi s doct ort hat he s houl d notl i ftanyt hi ng heavy . A l t hough M ar l eyr emai ned a de l i veryt ruck dr i ver des pi t e hi s i nj ur y , he w as gi ven an a ddi t i onal as s i s t antform ovi ng t he furni tur e he del i ver ed. Som et i m e af

t erM ar l ey ’ s r etur n t o w or k, he expr es s ed t o C O R T ’ s t hen- D i s t r i ct G e n e ra l M a n a g e r, A n th o n yD e C a n t, his d e sire to e x p lo re th e p o ten tial f o r a p ro m o tio n to s al es . D eC antw as r epl ace d byB i l l R os at o i n D ece m ber2005, and M ar l eyi nfor m ed3

R o sa to o f

h is d e sire to sta rt w o rk in g in sa les . T h e tw o m e t in F e b ru a ry2 0 0 6 , an d th e ir
v e rsio n s o f

th e m e e tin g d if

f e r b u t th e ya g re e th e re w a s s o m e re f e re n c e to M a rle y ’s a c c e n t,
w hi ch i s t he bas i s forM ar l ey ’ s di s cr i m i nat i on cl ai m . I ns t ead of r es ol vi ng t he i s s ue of the eff ectof M ar l ey ’ s L i ber i an ac cent , t he D i s t r i ctC our tgr ant ed s um m aryj udgm entfor C O R T on t he gr ound t hatM ar l eyfai l ed t o es t abl i s h t hathe w as qual i fi ed foranyof the pos i t i ons he s ought , and ther efor e di d notm ake outa pr i m a fa ci e ca s e. In su p p o rt o f

its m o tio n f

o r su m m a ryju d g m e n t, C O R T re lied o n o u r d e c isio n in Ma kk y v . C h e rto

ff , 541 F. 3d 205, 215 ( 3d C i r . 2008) , w her e w e hel d t hata pl ai nt i ff p u rsuin g a m ixed -m o ti v e the o ryo f d iscri m ination u n d er P r i ce W at er hous e v. H

opki ns , 4 9 0 U . S . 2 2 8 (19 8 9 ), m u st pro v e s/h e w as q u ali fied fo r th e p o sit ion so u g h t bef o re p ro c e e d in g o n a d isc rim in a tio n c laim . W e a lso sta ted th a t “[ i]n th is re sp e c t at le a st, req u ir em en ts un d er P ri ce W ater ho use do notdi ffe rfr om t hos e of McD onnel lD ougl as [ C or p. v. G r een , 411 U . S. 792 ( 1973) ” ( oft en r efe r r ed t o as t he pr et extt heory ) ] . T he D i s t r i ctC our tr evi ew ed the r ecor d pr oduced on s um m aryj udgm entand ana l y zed the q u ali fica ti o n s n ee d ed fo r bo th sa les p o sit ion s fo r w h ich M arleyap p li ed . T h e C o u rt determ i ned t hat M arl eydid not m eett he n ecessaryqu al i fi cat i on s. T he C our texpl ai ned thatforbot h s al es pos i t i ons an appl i cantw as r equi r ed t o have pr i orfurni tur e s al es exper i ence and the abi l i t yt o l i ft25 pounds fort he exe cut i ve s al es po si t i on and 50 po un ds for t he ret ai l sal es posi t i on . T he C ou rtst at ed that“[b]ecause M ar l eydi d nothave the r equi s i t e expe r i ence ort he abi l i t y[t o] m eett he l i ft i ng4

r equi r ement s , he w as notqual i fi ed fort he j obs . ” A pp. at11. M or eover , al t hough M ar l ey cl ai m ed t o have pr evi ous s al es exper i ence , he di d notdi s put e thathe di d nothave a ny f u rn itu re sa les e x p e rie n c e . W e h a v e re v iew e d th e re c o rd a n d se e n o th in g th a t su g g e sts t he D i s t r i ctC our terr ed. T he r et ai l s al es pos i t i on w as fi l l ed byC har l es J aggers om et i m e af t ert he meet i ng betw een M ar l eyand R os at o. J aggerhad bee n w i t h t he companyonl ya s hor tt i m e buthad p r e v i o u s s a l e s e x p e r i e n c e . I n a d d i t i o n , J a g g e rh a d p a r t i c i p a t e d i n t e n ts a l e s o f CORT furni tur e. J aggerr ece i ved pos i t i ve r evi ew s i n r es pons e t o t hos e t ents al es . T he exe cut i ve s al es pos i t i on w as fi l l ed byan i ndi vi dual M ar l eydes cr i bed onl yas a, “s hor t , w hi t e, C auca s i an ki d. ” A pp. at306. In M a y2 0 0 6 , R ic h a rd P e tc h u la t w a s h ir e d a s A s s is ta n t D is tr ib u tio n M a n a g e r. M ar l eyal l eges he w as deni ed thi s pos i t i on even though he appl i ed fori t , and thatan hour aft erhe appl i ed he w as i nfor m ed he w as notqual i fi ed fort he j ob. T hatpos i t i on r equi r es t hr ee y ear s exper i ence i n w ar ehous e/ di s t r i but i on m anage m ent . Pr i ort o hi s empl oym entat C O R T , Pet chul athad s even y ear s exper i ence i n w ar ehous e management . M ar l eyhas offe r ed no t es t i m onyorevi dence r egar di ng hi s w ar ehous e managementexper i ence . S im il arly , w ith resp ec t t o the A ssist an t D istri b u ti o n M an ag er p o sit ion , the C o u rt
n o ted th a t M a rle yd id n o t h a v e th re e y e a rs o f w a re h o u se e x p e rie n c e , a jo b re q u ire m e n t,
w her eas t he s ucce s s ful candi dat e di d. A l t hough M ar l eydi s put es t hatt her e w as s uch a
r equi r ement , he fa i l ed t o ar t i cul at e w hatt he j ob r equi r ement s actual l yw er e and thus has5

notm ethi s r equi r ed bur den. Ac c o r d i n g l y , t h e Di s t r i c tCo u r tc o n c l u d e d t h a tM a r l e yf a i l e d t o e s t a b l i s h a p r i ma fa cie c ase fo r fa il u re to p rom o te ba sed o n h is r ac e, an d the C o u rten tered su m m ary jud g m en t. W e f

ind n o erro r i n the D istri ct C o u rt ’s an aly sis. A cc o rdin g ly , w e w il l aff irm