Case Name: Deatia J. McFARLIN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. STATE BOARD OF TECHNICAL AND ADULT EDUCATION, Technical College System of Georgia, et al., Defendants-Appellees
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2013-08-06
Citations: 525 F. App'x 899
Docket Number: No. 12-15546
Parties: Deatia J. McFARLIN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. STATE BOARD OF TECHNICAL AND ADULT EDUCATION, Technical College System of Georgia, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
Judges: Before WILSON, ANDERSON, and EDMONDSON, Circuit Judges.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 525
Pages: 899–899

Head Matter:
Deatia J. McFARLIN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. STATE BOARD OF TECHNICAL AND ADULT EDUCATION, Technical College System of Georgia, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
No. 12-15546
Non-Argument Calendar.
United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.
Aug. 6, 2013.
S. Wesley Woolf, S. Wesley Woolf, PC, Savannah, GA, for Plaintiff-Appellant.
Shelley S. Seinberg, Annette M. Cowart, Samuel Scott Olens, Attorney General’s Office, Atlanta, GA, for Defendants-Appel-lees.
Before WILSON, ANDERSON, and EDMONDSON, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM:
Deatia McFarlin, an instructor at the Savannah Technical College, appeals from the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of defendants in her employment suit under 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(l) and 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The appeal presents this issue:
Whether the district court erred in granting summary judgment against McFarlin on her race discrimination claims challenging her (a) placement on disciplinary leave; and (b) termination of employment.
The case was decided under the familiar McDonnell Douglas framework. McFar-lin failed to establish a prima facie case that her placement on "leave" was based on racial discrimination, as she failed to show sufficiently that similarly situated employees were treated more favorably than she. Even if she had established a prima facie case, McFarlin did not carry her burden to show sufficiently that the proffered nondiscriminatory reasons for her placement on leave, including her perceived insubordination, were mere pretexts. Even if McFarlin established a pri-ma facie case that her termination was discriminatory, she did not show sufficiently that the proffered reasons for her termination, specifically the receipt of several student complaints and her perceived unwillingness to improve, were pretextual.
The courts do not decide about the wisdom of the employer's decisions. And an employer's own perception of events is important. Therefore, the district court, given the evidence in this record and lack of evidence, did not err in granting summary judgment in favor of defendants.
AFFIRMED.