Case Name: David B. JONES, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. WAL-MART STORES EAST, LP; Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Defendant-Appellee
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2010-12-03
Citations: 405 F. App'x 155
Docket Number: No. 09-16873
Parties: David B. JONES, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. WAL-MART STORES EAST, LP; Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Defendant-Appellee.
Judges: Before: THOMAS and IKUTA, Circuit Judges, and SETTLE, District Judge.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 405
Pages: 155–156

Head Matter:
David B. JONES, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. WAL-MART STORES EAST, LP; Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Defendant-Appellee.
No. 09-16873.
United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.
Argued and Submitted Nov. 4, 2010.
Filed Dec. 3, 2010.
Elliot Spencer Isaac, Elliot S. Isaac, P.C, Phoenix, AZ, for Appellant.
Steven Biddle, Littler Mendelson, PC, Phoenix, AZ, for Appellee.
Before: THOMAS and IKUTA, Circuit Judges, and SETTLE, District Judge.
The Honorable Benjamin H. Settle, Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, sitting by designation.

Opinion:
MEMORANDUM
Even assuming that Jones established a prima facie case of discrimination, he has not raised a genuine issue of material fact that Wal-Mart's explanation for terminating him (namely, that he engaged in sexual harassment of several female coworkers) was pretextual, and therefore cannot overcome Wal-Mart's motion for summary judgment. See, e.g., Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 148, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000); Wallis v. J.R. Simplot Co., 26 F.3d 885, 890 (9th Cir.1994). Construing the facts in the light most favorable to Jones, Vasquez v. County of Los Angeles, 349 F.3d 634, 639-40 (9th Cir.2003), he did not offer any direct evidence of discriminatory animus on the part of Wal-Mart. Nor did Jones offer any "specific and substantial" indirect evidence that Wal-Mart's proffered nondiscriminatory reason for terminating him was a pretext to disguise a racially discriminatory reason. Villiarimo v. Aloha Island Air, Inc., 281 F.3d 1054, 1062 (9th Cir.2002) (citing Godwin v. Hunt Wesson, Inc., 150 F.3d 1217, 1222 (9th Cir.1998)).
Jones's allegations that Wal-Mart conducted an investigation of his alleged wrongdoings that was more thorough than prior investigations, that Wal-Mart failed to properly evaluate the evidence uncovered by the investigation, and that it imposed harsher punishment on Jones than on other employees accused of sexual harassment, do not create a genuine issue of material fact as to pretext. There is no evidence that discredits Wal-Mart's assertions that it terminated Jones because he had engaged in sexual harassment. See Villiarimo, 281 F.3d at 1063.
AFFIRMED.
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.