Opinion ID: 688748
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Secondary Issues

Text: 45 Plaintiff also claims discrimination in defendants' failure to invoke the management job evaluation (MJE) procedure on her behalf, asking simply, Why did not Brown submit Plaintiff's job for an MJE? This would seem to be an odd question to be asked by the party with the burden of proof. It is no substitute for a preponderance of the evidence. Beyond this, we would make the following observations: (1) the MJE was not used to promote the state directors identified by plaintiff as comparative employees; (2) there is no evidence that Brown ever used MJE to promote anyone; (3) there is no evidence of any change in plaintiff's job vis-a-vis other regional attorneys, with the possible exception that she was allowed a paralegal; and (4) there is no evidence that the two men who were promoted via an MJE were similarly situated. Kindrick, as we have noted, was given lobbying responsibilities which took 80 percent of his time; and Newens had been an administrative support manager, to whom were assigned both human resources and financial duties. No genuine issue of material fact can be generated from this near vacuum. 46 Finally, plaintiff at some point allegedly learned of a flexible salary plan in the Legal Department and appeals the denial of her discovery requests to obtain it. Plaintiff had left that department in 1985. Whether, had she remained in it, she might have been eligible for promotion under a flex plan, seems entirely irrelevant to the present case. The possibility, suggested by plaintiff, that any Legal Department plan might have extended to attorneys in other departments strikes us as grasping at straws. Rulings on discovery, of course, are particularly within the district court's discretion. In this case, after all the discovery that had taken place, we would be hard put to be critical of putting a stop to further efforts. 47 Indeed, the time has come to put a stop to our own. 48 AFFIRMED.