FI L ED

U.S. COURT OF APPEAL S

EL EVENTH CI RCUI T

J AN 21, 2009

THOMAS K. KAH

N

CL ERK [ D O N O T P U B L I S H ]

I N T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S C O U R T O F A P P E A L S

F O R T H E E L E V E N T H C I R C U I T

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

N o

. 0 8

- 1 1 2 0 9

N o n

- A r g u m e n t C a l e n d a r

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

D

. C

. D o c k e t N o

. 0 6

- 2 0 4 1 6

- C V

- J A L

L O U I S P E R R E R O

,

P l a i n t i f f

- A p p e l l a n t

,

v e r s u s

S P E C T A C O R M A N A G E M E N T G R O U P

,

a f o r e i g n c o r p o r a t i o n a

. k

. a

. S M G

, I n c

. ,

D e f e n d a n t

- A p p e l l e e

.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

A p p e a l f r o m t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s D i s t r i c t C o u r t

f o r t h e S o u t h e r n D i s t r i c t o f F l o r i d a

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

( J a n u a r y 2 1

, 2 0 0 9 )

B e f o r e T J O F L A T

, B L A C K a n d B A R K E T T

, C i r c u i t J u d g e s

.

P E R C U R I A M :

T h i s c a s e w a s b r o u g h t u n d e r t h e A g e D i s c r i m i n a t i o n i n E m p l o y m e n t A c t( “ A D E A ” )

, 2 9 U

. S

. C

. § 6 2 3 ( a )

. I n h i s t h i r d a m e n d e d f o u r

- c o u n t c o m p l a i n t

( “ c o m p l a i n t ” )

, L o u i s P e r r e r o

, a l l e g e d i n C o u n t I t h a t h i s e m p l o y e r

, S p e c t a c o r

M a n a g e m e n t G r o u p ( “ S M G ” ) d i s c r i m i n a t e d a g a i n s t h i m i n t h e w o r k p l a c e o n

a c c o u n t o f h i s a g e ; i n C o u n t I I t h a t s u c h d i s c r i m i n a t i o n w a s w i l l f u l ; a n d i n C o u n t 1

I I I t h a t S M G r e t a l i a t e d a g a i n s t h i m f o r h a v i n g c o m p l a i n e d t o t h e E q u a l

E m p l o y m e n t O p p o r t u n i t y C o m m i s s i o n ( “ E E O C ” ) a b o u t t h e d i s c r i m i n a t i o n

d e s c r i b e d i n C o u n t s I a n d I I

, a n d t e r m i n a t e d h i s e m p l o y m e n t o n a c c o u n t o f h i s

a g e

. C o u n t I V a l l e g e d t h a t S M G b r e a c h e d t h e c o n t r a c t o f e m p l o y m e n t

. 2

A f t e r t h e p a r t i e s j o i n e d i s s u e a n d e n g a g e d i n d i s c o v e r y

, S M G m o v e d t h e

d i s t r i c t c o u r t f

o r s u m m a r y j u d g m e n t

. I n a c o m p r e h e n s i v e o r d e r e n t e r e d o n 3

F e b r u a r y 2 0

, 2 0 0 8

, t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t p a i n s t a k i n g l y r e v i e w e d t h e e v i d e n c e r e l a t i n g

t o P e r r e r o ’ s e m p l o y m e n t h i s t o r y w i t h S M B a n d g r a n t e d S M G s u m m a r y j u d g m e n t

.

P e r r e r o n o w a p p e a l s

.

He wa s 62 y ear s of ag e at the time he broug ht this l awsuit. 1

The a lleg ations of Counts I throug h I I I wer e, collec tively , that SMG (1) fa iled to give 2

him appropriate job training ; (2) denie d him overtime work; (3) failed to supply him with the

tools necessa

ry to do his work; (4) fa iled to remedy his complaints of verba l and phy sical

hara ssment by

co-e mploy ees; (5) disciplined him; (6) made a g e-ba sed comments pre ssuring him

to retire a nd beca use he ha d complained to the EEO C; and (7) fir ed him on Aug ust 3, 2005.

Perre ro’s c omplaint was limit ed by the scope of his complaint to the EEOC in 2005,

which only

alleg ed discrimination base d on SMG’s termination of his employ ment. See Mulhall

v. Advanc e Secur ity , I nc., 19 F .3d 586, 589 n. 8 (11th Cir. 1994).

SMG also moved the cour t to dism iss the complaint under F ed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). 3

The c ourt denied the motion. The ruling is not bef ore us in this appea l.

2H e r e

, o n a p p e a l

, P e r r e r o f i r s t a r g u e s t h a t a g e i s t c o m m e n t s m a d e b y S M G ’ s

h u m a n r e s o u r c e s m a n a g e r

, R i c a r d o A r t a l e j o

, c o n s t i t u t e d d i r e c t e v i d e n c e o f

d i s c r i m i n a t i o n

. H e a r g u e s a l t e r n a t i v e l y t h a t t h e e x t e n s i v e c i r c u m s t a n t i a l e v i d e n c e

b e f o r e t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t w a s s u f f i c i e n t t o d e m o n s t r a t e t h a t S M G ’ s p r o f f e r e d

l e g i t i m a t e

, n o n d i s c r i m i n a t o r y r e a s o n f o r t e r m i n a t i n g h i m w a s p r e t e x t u a l

. 4

T h e A D E A m a k e s i t u n l a w f u l f o r a n e m p l o y e r “ t o f

a i l o r r e f u s e t o h i r e o r t o

d i s c h a r g e a n y i n d i v i d u a l o r o t h e r w i s e d i s c r i m i n a t e a g a i n s t a n y i n d i v i d u a l w i t h

r e s p e c t t o c o m p e n s a t i o n

, t e r m s

, c o n d i t i o n s

, o r p r i v i l e g e s o f e m p l o y m e n t

, b e c a u s e

o f s u c h i n d i v i d u a l ’ s a g e

. . . . ” 2 9 U

. S

. C

. § 6 2 3 ( a ) ( 1 )

. T o s u c c e e d o n c l a i m s o f

d i s c r i m i n a t i o n u n d e r t h e A D E A

, t h e p l a i n t i f f m u s t m a k e o u t a p r i m a f a c i e c a s e o f

d i s c r i m i n a t i o n

. C h a p m a n

, 2 2 9 F

. 3 d 1 0 1 2

, 1 0 2 4 ( 1 1 C i r

. 2 0 0 0 )

. I f t h e p l a i n t i f f th

e s t a b l i s h e s a p r i m a f

a c i e c a s e o f d i s c r i m i n a t i o n

, t h e d e f e n d a n t e m p l o y e r m u s t

a r t i c u l a t e a l e g i t i m a t e

, n o n d i s c r i m i n a t o r y r e a s o n f o r t h e c h a l l e n g e d e m p l o y m e n t

a c t i o n

. I d

. I f t h e e m p l o y e r m e e t s t h i s b u r d e n o f p r o d u c t i o n

, t h e p l a i n t i f f m u s t

c o m e f o r w a r d w i t h e v i d e n c e “ s u f f i c i e n t t o p e r m i t a r e a s o n a b l e f a c t f i n d e r t o

c o n c l u d e t h a t t h e r e a s o n s g i v e n b y t h e e m p l o y e r w e r e n o t t h e r e a l r e a s o n s ” f o r t h e

Perre ro ra ises no challeng e on appe al to the district court’s g rant of summar y judgme nt 4

on his retaliation and br eac h of contra ct claims, Counts I I I and I V. He ha s theref ore a bandoned

those claims. See Ac cess Now , I nc. v. Southwest Airlines Co., 385 F.3d 1324, 1330 ( 11th Cir.

2004) (e x plaining tha t, “a leg al claim or a rg ument that has not bee n briefe d befor e the c ourt is

deeme d abandone d”).

3e m p l o y m e n t a c t i o n

. I d

. I n o t h e r w o r d s

, “ [ i ] f t h e p l a i n t i f f d o e s n o t p r o f

f e r

s u f f i c i e n t e v i d e n c e t o c r e a t e a g e n u i n e i s s u e o f m a t e r i a l f a c t r e g a r d i n g w h e t h e r

e a c h o f t h e d e f

e n d a n t e m p l o y e r ’ s a r t i c u l a t e d r e a s o n s i s p r e t e x t u a l

, t h e e m p l o y e r i s

e n t i t l e d t o s u m m a r y j u d g m e n t o n t h e p l a i n t i f f ’ s c l a i m

. ” I d

. a t 1 0 2 4

- 2 5

.

“ [ C ] o n c l u s o r y a l l e g a t i o n s o f d i s c r i m i n a t i o n

, w i t h o u t m o r e

, a r e n o t s u f f i c i e n t t o

r a i s e a n i n f

e r e n c e o f p r e t e x t o r i n t e n t i o n a l d i s c r i m i n a t i o n w h e r e [ a n e m p l o y e r ] h a s

o f f e r e d

. . . e x t e n s i v e e v i d e n c e o f l e g i t i m a t e

, n o n

- d i s c r i m i n a t o r y r e a s o n s f o r i t s

a c t i o n s

. ” Y o u n g v

. G e n e r a l F o o d s C o r p

. , 8 4 0 F

. 2 d 8 2 5

, 8 3 0 ( 1 1 t h C i r

. 1 9 8 8 )

( q u o t a t i o n s o m i t t e d ) ( m o d i f i c a t i o n s i n o r i g i n a l )

.

A s t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t c o r r e c t l y p o i n t e d o u t i n i t s F e b r u a r y 2 0 o r d e r g r a n t i n g

S M G s u m m a r y j u d g m e n t

, t h e e v i d e n c e c o n s i d e r e d i n t h e l i g h t m o s t f a v o r a b l e t o

P e r r e r o f a i l e d t o d e m o n s t r a t e t h a t S M G ’ s p r o f f e r e d l e g i t i m a t e

, n o n d i s c r i m i n a t o r y

r e a s o n s f o r h i s t e r m i n a t i o n w e r e a p r e t e x t f o r a g e d i s c r i m i n a t i o n

. S i n c e t h e

e v i d e n c e w a s i n s u f

f i c i e n t t o s u p p o r t t h e t e r m i n a t i o n c l a i m

, i t a l s o f a i l e d t o

d e m o n s t r a t e a c a s e o f w i l l f u l v i o l a t i o n o f t h e A D E A

.

A F F I R M E D

.

4