Opinion ID: 3065021
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Renee Wrede

Text: In October 2002, one year after Boeing substantiated a sexual harassment claim Wrede had filed, she received lower RIF scores than most engineers in her skill code and was subsequently terminated.1 These scores were lower than the scores she had received in two previous RIF evaluations in April and July of 2002. Wrede scored high enough on the earlier RIFs to avoid vulnerability to discharge, but her scores in the October RIF dropped substantially, placing her at risk. Although several male engineers were also initially selected for termination, none was ultimately terminated in any of the three RIFs, because they either successfully contested their scores or found other employment within Boeing, sometimes with the assistance of their supervisors. [8] Both parties agree that the EEOC established a prima facie case of gender discrimination regarding Wrede under McDonnell Douglas, 411 U.S. 792, that Boeing has articulated a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for terminating Wrede (her low RIF scores), and that the EEOC has introduced circumstantial, but not direct, evidence that this reason for Wrede’s termination was pretextual. The parties dispute only whether the EEOC presented sufficiently “specific and substantial” circumstantial evidence that Wrede’s RIF scores were not credible to allow a jury to find pretext. 1 The district court granted summary judgment on Wrede’s Title VII retaliation claim because of the year that elapsed between her protected conduct and the adverse employment action. The EEOC has not appealed this decision. We therefore consider only Wrede’s discrimination claim. 11252 EEOC v. THE BOEING COMPANY [9] As it concedes, the EEOC must also overcome an inference arising from the fact that the same actors who made an adverse employment decision against Wrede in the October RIF had twice given her scores that were high enough to avoid vulnerability to discharge. While recent positive employment decisions made by the same actors who later make an adverse employment decision against an employee may give rise to “an inference that no discrimination took place,” Coleman v. Quaker Oats Co., 232 F.3d 1271, 1288 (9th Cir. 2000), the inference in this case is weaker than the “strong inference” against bias that arises when an employer who hires or promotes a plaintiff later takes an adverse employment action against her, see Coghlan, 413 F.3d at 1096. [10] Although a termination is rarely motivated by bias when it is initiated by the same actors who recently selected the same employee for the job or promotion in the first place, the logic differs when applied to less overtly “positive” employment decisions, such as refraining from firing an employee at the earliest opportunity or giving an employee a lukewarm evaluation, rather than a poor one. A supervisor who hires or promotes an employee affirmatively forwards the employee’s career; this affirmative enhancement of the employee’s career prospects is strong circumstantial evidence of a lack of bias on the supervisor’s part. In contrast, where a supervisor discharges an employee he did not affirmatively hire or promote by lowering her scores over time, rather than by firing her precipitously, there is no such strong circumstantial evidence of lack of bias. [11] A strong inference is also inappropriate here because none of the employees who the supervisors ranked lower than Wrede in the April and July RIFs ultimately suffered as a result: all six men had their RIFs cancelled or obtained transfers within Boeing, and none was laid off. Given that a jury could find the evidence suggested Wrede’s RIF scores were not credible, as discussed further below, a jury could infer that EEOC v. THE BOEING COMPANY 11253 Wrede suffered discrimination notwithstanding any inference arising from her supervisors’ prior employment decisions. [12] The EEOC has also produced evidence from which a jury could conclude that Wrede’s RIF assessment was pretextual. First, Wright assigned Wrede RIF scores in October indicating “no background or experience” in areas in which she had received higher scores in earlier RIFs, indicating at least some background or experience. Wrede also received significantly lower evaluations in several soft-skill categories, such as “communication/leadership,” in the October RIF than in the July RIF, even though Wright was unable to offer a nonconclusory explanation of any of the significant changes or to point to any concrete conduct, specific complaints, or written records indicating a change. Wright also contended Wrede had trouble communicating with her “dotted-line manager,” but was unable to recall who Wrede’s dotted-line manager was. Other specific and substantial circumstantial evidence also suggests Wright lacked legitimate justification for his scoring. Several of Wrede’s coworkers and managers offered detailed testimony regarding why the RIF assessments of Wrede’s skills were not credible. Coworkers’ and managers’ assessments of an employee’s skills and performance can be probative of pretext. See Abuan, 353 F.3d at 1174. Coworker testimony is particularly relevant here because it would allow a jury to infer that Boeing’s proffered reason for termination — a poor RIF evaluation — was not only inaccurate, but is simply unworthy of credence. Specifically, coworkers and managers familiar with Wrede’s work gave detailed testimony that Wrede was a good employee, that her skills warranted higher scores than she received, and that she performed better than several male survivors of the October RIF. Several managers even requested that Feuerstein transfer Wrede to their departments, but Feuerstein denied these requests. Furthermore, Wrede’s own 11254 EEOC v. THE BOEING COMPANY detailed testimony about why her low scores were not merely “wrong or mistaken,” but were “unworthy of credence,” is also evidence for the jury to consider. Tomasso v. Boeing Co., 445 F.3d 702, 708 (3d Cir. 2006) (internal quotation marks omitted). [13] Finally, Wrede, the only woman in her skill code, was laid off while every male employee identified for termination in all three RIFs ultimately remained at Boeing, sometimes due to the assistance of supervisors, assistance that was not made similarly available to Wrede. Feuerstein’s failure to treat Wrede the same as male employees and “the inexorable zero” female employees who remained in the department after the RIF are also probative of pretext. Int’l Bhd. of Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. 324, 342 n.23 (1977); see also Coghlan, 413 F.3d at 1095 (“[S]tatistical evidence is circumstantial evidence that could, if sufficiently probative, point to bias.”). All of this could lead a jury to conclude that Boeing’s asserted rationales were pretextual. [14] Because the EEOC has presented specific and substantial evidence in support of Wrede’s claim that Boeing’s asserted justification for her termination was pretextual, summary judgment on Wrede’s discrimination claim was erroneous. A jury could reasonably conclude that Wrede’s discharge resulted from discrimination on account of sex. For all of these reasons, the district court’s grant of summary judgment is reversed and the case is remanded for proceedings consistent with this Opinion. REVERSED AND REMANDED.