Opinion ID: 679955
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: ADEA Liability.

Text: 21 In a trio of related arguments, appellant maintains that plaintiff failed to establish a prima facie case of age discrimination, and that the evidence supports neither the jury's finding that appellant violated the ADEA nor its determination of willfulness. We deal sequentially with these assertions. 22 1. The Prima Facie Case. The claim that underlies appellant's first line of attack--that the case should not have reached the jury because plaintiff failed to establish a prima facie case--betrays confusion concerning the operation of the burden-shifting framework that applies in many employment discrimination cases (including this one). 23 The ADEA makes it unlawful for an employer to discharge any individual or otherwise discriminate ... with respect to ... terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's age. 29 U.S.C. Sec. 623(a). Due to the difficulties of unmasking intentional discrimination, a task that has been described as elusive, Texas Dep't of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 255 n. 8, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 1094 n. 8, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981), courts have crafted a burden-shifting framework to be used in cases where direct evidence of intentional discrimination is lacking. See id. at 255-56, 101 S.Ct. at 1094-95; see also McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802-05, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 1824-26, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). Under this framework, the initial burden is on the plaintiff, who must make a prima facie showing of discrimination. 24 The prima facie case requirement embodies a concept, not a mechanical exercise. Though its contours generally follow the McDonnell Douglas model, a prima facie case must be custom-tailored to fit both the particular animus (e.g., age discrimination, sex discrimination, race discrimination) and the particular type of employment decision involved (e.g., failure to hire, failure to promote, failure to retain). The case at bar is an ADEA case charging wrongful termination of employment. In such circumstances, the plaintiff can establish a prima facie case by adducing evidence that (i) he is a member of the protected class, i.e., over 40 years old, (ii) the quality of his work met the employer's legitimate expectations, (iii) the employer nevertheless cashiered him, and (iv) the employer sought a replacement with roughly equivalent occupational qualifications, thereby demonstrating a continuing need for the same services and skills. 7 See Vega v. Kodak Caribbean, Ltd., 3 F.3d 476, 479 (1st Cir.1993); Mesnick v. General Elec. Co., 950 F.2d 816, 823 (1st Cir.1991), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 2965, 119 L.Ed.2d 586 (1992); Hebert v. Mohawk Rubber Co., 872 F.2d 1104, 1110 (1st Cir.1989). 25 The burden of making out a prima facie case belongs to the plaintiff, but it is not onerous. Burdine, 450 U.S. at 253, 101 S.Ct. at 1094. All that is needed is the production of admissible evidence which, if uncontradicted, would justify a legal conclusion of discrimination. See St. Mary's Honor Ctr. v. Hicks, --- U.S. ----, ----, 113 S.Ct. 2742, 2747, 125 L.Ed.2d 407 (1993). However, it is important to remember that the contours of a prima facie case are flexible and situation-specific. Thus, in applying this rubric to the instant case, we must take into account a special wrinkle: here, plaintiff claims a constructive discharge as opposed to an outright dismissal. We have used the term constructive discharge to describe employer action that makes [work] so arduous or unappealing, or working conditions so intolerable, that a reasonable person would feel compelled to forsake his job rather than to submit to looming indignities. Vega, 3 F.3d at 480; see also Alicea Rosado v. Garcia Santiago, 562 F.2d 114, 119-20 (1st Cir.1977). A constructive discharge also may occur when an employer effectively prevents an employee from performing his job. See, e.g., Aviles-Martinez v. Monroig, 963 F.2d 2, 6 (1st Cir.1992) (finding constructive discharge when an employer, inter alia, removed all of [plaintiff's] files and then chastised him for not doing his work); Parrett v. City of Connersville, 737 F.2d 690, 694 (7th Cir.1984) (finding constructive discharge where supervisor removed all work and responsibilities from employee), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1145, 105 S.Ct. 828, 83 L.Ed.2d 820 (1985). 26 Silhouetted against this backdrop, appellant's argument seems misshapen in two respects. First and foremost, plaintiff succeeded in limning a prima facie case: he was in his late sixties; his immediate supervisor and his sole co-worker both praised his job performance; SIF's physicians believed that he was medically fit to resume his duties by November 9; he attempted to return to work on that date, yet appellant refused to reinstate him and thereafter spurned at least one other direct request for reinstatement; and appellant concedes that it had a continuing need for the position. This gusher of evidence possessed more than enough force to exceed the relatively low threshold on which the prima facie case requirement rests. 27 Second, the question posed by appellant's challenge is fundamentally irrelevant. Once a prima facie ADEA case has been established under the McDonnell Douglas framework, an inference of discrimination arises. See Mesnick, 950 F.2d at 823-25 (elucidating the burden-shifting framework). At this point, the burden switches to the employer to articulate a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason for the challenged action. This is a burden of production, not of persuasion; the employer merely must set forth, through the introduction of admissible evidence, reasons for its action which, if believed by the trier of fact, would support a finding that unlawful discrimination was not the cause of the employment action. St. Mary's, --- U.S. at ----, 113 S.Ct. at 2747 (internal quotation omitted); accord Woods v. Friction Materials, Inc., 30 F.3d 255, 259 (1st Cir.1994). 28 If, as in this case, the employer meets the burden of production, the inference arising from the plaintiff's prima facie case drops from the case. St. Mary's, --- U.S. at ----, 113 S.Ct. at 2747 (quoting Burdine, 450 U.S. at 255 n. 10, 101 S.Ct. at 1095 n. 10). The plaintiff, who retains the burden of proof throughout, then must persuade the trier of fact that he has been victimized by intentional discrimination. See id. at ---- - ----, 113 S.Ct. at 2748-49. In this campaign, the facts that comprised plaintiff's prima facie case may be considered, but the inference of discrimination originally attributable to those facts no longer pertains. See id. at ----, 113 S.Ct. at 2749; Mesnick, 950 F.2d at 823. To carry the devoir of persuasion on this ultimate issue, the plaintiff must identify probative evidence suggesting that the reason given by the employer for the employment action is pretextual, and, moreover, that it is a pretext for age discrimination. 8 See e.g., Mesnick, 950 F.2d at 823-24; Medina-Munoz v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 896 F.2d 5, 9 (1st Cir.1990); Freeman, 865 F.2d at 1336. 29 As can readily be seen from this analysis, when, as now, an employment discrimination action has been submitted to a jury, the burden-shifting framework has fulfilled its function, and backtracking serves no useful purpose. To focus on the existence of a prima facie case after a discrimination case has been fully tried on the merits is to unnecessarily evade[ ] the ultimate question of discrimination vel non. United States Postal Serv. Bd. of Govs. v. Aikens, 460 U.S. 711, 713-14, 103 S.Ct. 1478, 1481, 75 L.Ed.2d 403 (1983); see also Mesnick, 950 F.2d at 824-25. By like token, our evaluation of post-trial motions seeking relief from a jury's verdict in such a case is similarly confined to the ultimate question of discrimination. Consequently, to wander afield in pursuit of appellant's phantom prima facie case argument is a bit like undertaking early morning calisthenics: it might be good exercise, but it certainly is not essential to the business of the day. 30 For these reasons, appellant's first argument is unavailing. 31 2. Sufficiency of the Evidence. The heart of appellant's ADEA challenge is its claim of evidentiary insufficiency. We have combed the record and detect a surfeit of evidence from which a rational jury could have concluded that appellant transgressed the law. 32 The evidence--much of which is highlighted in Part II(B), supra--is copious enough that a lengthy exegesis, laden with exquisite detail, would serve no useful purpose. It suffices to say that, although appellant articulated a plausible, nondiscriminatory reason for refusing to reinstate plaintiff--it contended that he had not sufficiently recovered from his injuries to resume his duties on November 9, 1990--the jury rejected that explanation. And the jury's skepticism has strong roots in the record. 33 It is undisputed that appellant refused to reinstate Sanchez on November 9. Thus, the jury had to determine whether that refusal constituted a constructive discharge, as Sanchez contended, or whether, as appellant contended, it constituted a bona fide personnel decision based on Sanchez's incomplete recovery from his injuries. The jury did not have to make this determination in a vacuum. It heard evidence, for example, about Catinchi's serial reprimands of plaintiff--reprimands that, given Soto's testimony, the jury could have believed to be bogus. The jury also heard evidence about a promotion that seemed to be no promotion at all, but more like the kiss of death. The jury plausibly could have thought the entire Aguadilla affair to have been a subterfuge aimed at forcing plaintiff's resignation. Then, too, the jury heard evidence about the SIF's assessment of plaintiff's health status and supportably could have found Gonzalez's contrary views to be pretextual, particularly in light of his refusal to sign a letter to the SIF explaining why plaintiff had not been reinstated. Last, but surely not least, after having refused to reinstate Sanchez, Gonzalez questioned him about his age and made other age-related remarks that the jury reasonably could have construed as evincing bias. Indeed, if the jury credited plaintiff's version of this conversation--as it had a right to do, especially since Gonzalez, though available, was never called to testify at trial--Gonzalez's statements comprise potent evidence of age-based animus. 34 We will not trespass on the reader's indulgence. Here, a perceptive jury, making permissible credibility choices and drawing lawful inferences, could conclude that appellant embarked on a course of conduct designed to purge plaintiff from the work force; that the sudden offer of a sham promotion was a step in the plot; that, after the promotion ploy failed, plaintiff's injury presented appellant with a fresh opportunity to reach its goal; that appellant turned plaintiff away on November 9 despite its knowledge that plaintiff had recuperated sufficiently to perform his job, thereby constructively discharging him; and that appellant's actions were motivated by a discriminatory animus directed at plaintiff's age. In short, a reasonable factfinder easily could have resolved liability as did the jurors in this case without perpetrating a miscarriage of justice. Hence, appellant has not surmounted the daunting obstacles posed by the standards of review governing the district court's denial of its post-trial motions. 35