Opinion ID: 2974559
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Other Record Evidence of Pretext

Text: Besides McCoy’s testimony, Burke-Johnson contends that there was other evidence that supports a finding of pretext. First, Burke-Johnson argues that the evidence does not show that Cardona was better qualified for the Staff Assistant position than her. She further claims that the process used to choose between the candidates for the Staff Assistant job was suspicious in that Tirone did not adequately investigate Burke-Johnson’s qualifications. The Secretary argues that Burke-Johnson has waived these arguments because she did not raise them in the district court. On reply, Burke-Johnson responds that these issues were encompassed by the proceedings below and that to the extent they were not, this Court should nonetheless consider them pursuant to Pinney Dock and Transport Co. v. Penn Central Corp., 838 F.2d 1445, 1461 (6th Cir. 1988), which held that an appellate court may exercise its discretion to - 14 - No. 06-1251 Burke-Johnson v. Dep’t of Veterans Affairs consider matters not raised below “to the extent the issue is presented with sufficient clarity and completeness and its resolution will materially advance the progress” of the litigation. i) Qualifications Evidence Although Burke-Johnson did not specifically discuss qualifications as evidence of pretext in her brief in opposition to the Secretary’s motion for summary judgment, the question of her qualifications relative to those of Cardona was sufficiently part of the proceedings below. BurkeJohnson alleged her superior qualifications in her complaint, the Secretary sought to rebut that contention in its opening summary-judgment brief, and the district court considered and dismissed it as evidence of pretext in its order. Thus, we will address this argument. In substance, Burke-Johnson claims that Tirone unduly emphasized “interpersonal skills” in the hiring process when it is not clear that interpersonal skills were an important qualification for a job that was primarily statistical in nature. Burke-Johnson further argues that the evidence does not show that her interpersonal skills are in fact lacking, and notes that until this litigation, Tirone signed McCoy’s performance evaluations of Burke-Johnson and did not record that Burke-Johnson suffered from any interpersonal-skill deficiencies. Finally, Burke-Johnson appears to argue that the depth and breadth of her experience within the Ann Arbor VA was at least as extensive as Cardona’s. Burke-Johnson has not produced sufficient evidence to substantiate her qualifications argument. The Supreme Court has stated that “qualifications evidence may suffice, at least in some circumstances, to show pretext.” Ash v. Tyson Foods, Inc., 126 S. Ct. 1195, 1197 (2006). In Bender v. Hecht’s Department Stores, 455 F.3d 612, 626 (6th Cir. 2006), this Court held that the probative value of qualifications evidence in terms of demonstrating pretext must be balanced against “the - 15 - No. 06-1251 Burke-Johnson v. Dep’t of Veterans Affairs principles that employers are generally ‘free to choose among qualified candidates,’ [quoting] Wrenn v. Gould, 808 F.2d 493, 502 (6th Cir. 1987), and that ‘[t]he law does not require employers to make perfect decisions, nor forbid them from making decisions that others may disagree with,’ [quoting] Hartsel v. Keys, 87 F.3d 795, 801 (6th Cir. 1996).” Thus,“[w]hether qualifications evidence will be sufficient to raise a question of fact as to pretext will depend on whether a plaintiff presents other evidence of discrimination.” Bender, 455 F.3d at 626. If there is a dearth of other evidence of discrimination, then to survive summary judgment, “the rejected applicant’s qualifications must be so significantly better than the successful applicant’s qualifications that no reasonable employer would have chosen the latter applicant over the former. Id. at 627. Burke-Johnson has not met this standard. Even if it is true that her interpersonal skills were not lacking and that her experience within the VA was as well-rounded as Cardona’s, these were just two of the factors that Tirone considered in the selection process. Tirone also pointed to the importance of overall knowledge of patient-care services, organizational skills, decision-making skills, and computer skills. Burke-Johnson has not shown that her skills in these other areas exceeded Cardona’s, let alone, in light of the insufficiency of McCoy’s testimony, that they so far surpassed Cardona’s skills that Tirone’s selection of Cardona was unreasonable. Finally, although we recognize that “subjective reasons provide ‘ready mechanisms for discrimination,’” Burke-Johnson has not adduced any evidence showing that Tirone did not actually regard excellent interpersonal skills as an important qualification for the Staff Assistant job. Hedrick v. Western Reserve Care Sys., 355 F.3d 444, 461 (6th Cir. 2004) (internal citation omitted). Even had Burke-Johnson shown that interpersonal skills are irrelevant to the Staff Assistant’s duties, she - 16 - No. 06-1251 Burke-Johnson v. Dep’t of Veterans Affairs could not defeat summary judgment because in a Title VII case “we look to the employer’s motivation, not the applicant’s perceptions, or even an objective assessment, of what qualifications are required for a particular position.” Wrenn, 808 F.2d at 502. “[I]t is the employer’s motivation and intent, not its business judgment, that is at issue.” Id. ii) Selection-Process Evidence Without citing to any authority to support her position, Burke-Johnson argues that the selection process used by Tirone is indicative of discriminatory intent because Tirone lacked the necessary knowledge of Burke-Johnson’s skills and experience to meaningfully consider her for the Staff Assistant position. Although this precise issue does not appear to have been raised in the district court, we will entertain it because the parties’ briefing clearly frames the issue and no further factual development is required to dispose of it. Burke-Johnson is correct that Tirone was unable to testify in-depth about Burke-Johnson’s employment skills or performance within the VA, and the Secretary does not dispute that Tirone did not interview Burke-Johnson for the Staff Assistant position. Although it is conceivable that, in a proper case, a Title VII plaintiff might adduce evidence of pretext by showing that an employer’s review of her application was so cursory as to suggest that an impermissible consideration might be at work, this is not such a case. See Kline v. Tenn. Valley Auth., 128 F.3d 337, 340 (6th Cir. 1997) (noting that in the plaintiff’s prior appeal, the Court reversed the grant of summary judgment and remanded to the district court “to determine whether TVA in fact made a good faith determination that [the candidate actually hired] was better qualified for the job”). It is undisputed that a panel consisting of Tirone, Ventura, and a third unidentified person reviewed the applications of the three - 17 - No. 06-1251 Burke-Johnson v. Dep’t of Veterans Affairs persons who applied for the Staff Assistant job. Moreover, Tirone had sufficient familiarity with Burke-Johnson’s background and skills to be able to compare her with Cardona. Tirone testified that Burke-Johnson’s scope of responsibility was not as broad as Cardona’s and that Cardona had developed knowledge “beyond clinical issues or unit-specific patient-care issues” that made her the more desirable candidate. On this record, it cannot be said that the selection process gave short-shrift to Burke-Johnson’s application, or that even if Tirone and her colleagues did fail to give adequate consideration to Burke-Johnson’s skills, that that failure was based on Burke-Johnson’s race.