Opinion ID: 167100
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Replacement by Goodwin

Text: 39 Next, Pippin argues that his replacement by Goodwin, a younger engineer, also eliminates the concept of a RIF. 40 Where an employee is selected for RIF termination solely on the basis of position elimination, qualifications become irrelevant and one way that employee can show pretext is to present evidence that his job was not in fact eliminated but instead remained a single, distinct position. Furr v. Seagate Tech., Inc., 82 F.3d 980, 988 (10th Cir.1996); see also Abuan v. Level 3 Commc'ns, Inc., 353 F.3d 1158, 1169 (10th Cir.2003). 41 Here, however, Burlington reduced its overall complement of petroleum engineers based on a combination of past performance and skill set matches. 8 The fact that Pippin's employment duties were assumed by another employee does not establish pretext. Moreover, Burlington established that Goodwin was an exceptional performer, receiving the highest possible rating in both 1999 and 1998. Indeed, Goodwin earned 100 percent of his eligible bonus in 1999 and 120 percent of it in 1998. 42