Opinion ID: 2995448
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: e., proving intentional discrimination.

Text: See Hicks, 509 U.S. at 511 (stating that the McDonnell Douglas framework simply drops out of the picture). Although this court has stated that the prima facie case must be established and cannot be merely incanted, Coco v. Elmwood Care, Inc., 128 F.3d 1177, 1178 (7th Cir. 1997), [w]here the defendant has done everything that would be required of him if the plaintiff had properly made out a prima facie case, whether the plaintiff really did so is no longer relevant. Aikens, 460 U.S. at 715 (italics in original). As we have before, we elect to turn directly to pretext./4 See, e.g., Olsen v. Marshall & Ilsley Corp., 267 F.3d 597, 600 (7th Cir. 2001). Indirectly showing intentional discrimination by rebutting the employer’s reasons as pretext was not the only option available to Nawrot to establish a triable case under the McDonnell Douglas framework. See Burdine, 450 U.S. at 256; see also generally Aikens, 460 U.S. at 714 n.2. However, that is the path Nawrot has chosen. Without direct evidence of pretext (e.g., an admission), a plaintiff may show pretext by presenting evidence tending to prove that the employer’s proffered reasons are factually baseless, were not the actual motivation for the discharge in question, or were insufficient to motivate the discharge. Testerman v. EDS Technical Prods. Corp., 98 F.3d 297, 303 (7th Cir. 1996); Lenoir v. Roll Coater, Inc., 13 F.3d 1130, 1133 (7th Cir. 1994). But pretext requires more than a showing that the decision was mistaken, ill considered or foolish, [and] so long as [the employer] honestly believed those reasons, pretext has not been shown. Jordan v. Summers, 205 F.3d 337, 343 (7th Cir. 2000); see also O’Connor v. DePaul University, 123 F.3d 665, 671 (7th Cir. 1997) (On the issue of pretext, our only concern is the honesty of the employer’s explanation . . . .). We have warned repeatedly that we do not sit as a super-personnel department that reexamines an entity’s business decision and reviews the propriety of the decision. See, e.g., Stewart v. Henderson, 207 F.3d 374, 378 (7th Cir. 2000); Dale v. Chicago Tribune Co., 797 F.2d 458, 464 (7th Cir. 1986). With that admonishment, however, we have also stated that we need not abandon good reason and common sense in assessing an employer’s actions. Gordon v. United Airlines, Inc., 246 F.3d 878, 889 (7th Cir. 2001). Turning to this case, Nawrot has not demonstrated pretext in Bestfoods’ proffered legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for his termination. Bestfoods states that it terminated Nawrot because he harassed his co-worker, Ermalowicz, after having been specifically warned against contact with her, and after a formal reprimand and final written warning. In addition, Nawrot provided assistance to Ermalowicz in her arbitration against Bestfoods, disregarding his position as a manager in (and thus loyalty to) the company. Nawrot responds that the handshake incident, for which the final warning issued, was a product of his disability and that he could not be punished for his disability. But he forgets all of his prior misconduct--his remarks about Jehovah’s Witnesses, criticism of his supervisor in front of employees, arguments that escalated into shouting, statements about Ermalowicz in front of employees, and confrontation with a co-worker after those statements. Plus, he was actually terminated for harassing and stalking Ermalowicz and aiding her in the arbitration against Bestfoods. Nawrot disputes the factual bases for all the incidents, and argues that they could not have provided the basis for his termination. But all of his arguments are no more than his own self-serving interpretations of the incidents or denials that they ever occurred. They do not address whether Bestfoods honestly disbelieved his explanations and denials, even if incorrectly, or whether its determination that the incidents warranted termination were honestly held. And, it is Bestfoods’ belief that matters. After numerous documented occasions of inappropriate behavior, Bestfoods demanded that Nawrot straighten up and fly right, and instead he crashed and burned. He decided to harass Ermalowicz, despite Bestfoods’ request that he not have any contact with her. Nawrot says that his harassment of her did not occur at work. But why should that matter? It is up to Bestfoods to decide whether harassment of co-workers anywhere is conduct it is willing to accept from its employees. We need not be human resource specialists to know that problems outside of work easily spill over into and affect employees at work, as it did in this case. Bestfoods need not tolerate an employee who has a history of inappropriate conduct and who, despite its warning, purposefully continued to aggravate an already uneasy situation with his co-worker. We believe that Nawrot has failed to rebut Bestfoods’ legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for his termination as a pretext for discrimination.