Opinion ID: 76700
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Cuddeback's Gender Discrimination Claim

Text: 18 To establish a prima facie case of discriminatory discharge, the plaintiff must show that she (1) was a member of a protected class, (2) was qualified for the job, (3) suffered an adverse employment action, and (4) was replaced by someone outside the protected class. Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 142, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 2106, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000) (applying the familiar McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework in an age discrimination case). Once a plaintiff has established a prima facie case of discrimination, the burden shifts to the employer to offer a nondiscriminatory legitimate reason for the adverse employment action. McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802-04, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 1824-25, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). The burden then shifts back to the plaintiff to show that the employer's stated reason was a pretext for discrimination. Id. If the plaintiff does not satisfy her burden of establishing a genuine issue of material fact that the employer's reason was pretextual, the grant of summary judgment in favor of the employer is proper. See Combs v. Plantation Patterns, 106 F.3d 1519, 1529 (11th Cir.1997). 19 This court may affirm a judgment on any legal ground, regardless of the grounds addressed and relied upon by the district court. See National R.R. Passenger Corp. v. Roundtree Transp. and Rigging, 286 F.3d 1233, 1263 (11th Cir.2002) (explaining that an appellate court may affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment as long as the judgment entered is correct on any legal ground regardless of the grounds addressed, adopted, or rejected by the district court) (internal quotation and citation omitted). 20 Cuddeback established a prima facie case of gender discrimination by showing that (1) she is a female; (2) she was qualified for the job; (3) the University terminated her employment; and (4) someone outside the protected class replaced her. See Nix v. WLCY Radio/Rahall Communications, 738 F.2d 1181, 1185 (11th Cir. 1984). Because a male, Hirohito Yamaguchi, took over Cuddeback's research duties when she was terminated, the district court erred in finding Cuddeback failed to establish a prima facie case. See Rollins v. TechSouth, Inc., 833 F.2d 1525, 1529 (11th Cir.1987). However, the grant of summary judgment in the University's favor was otherwise proper because the record clearly demonstrates that Cuddeback failed to establish pretext. 5 21 The University met its burden of showing a nondiscriminatory reason for the employment action by proffering that Cuddeback was terminated for performance issues. Cuddeback then attempted to show that the University's reason was pretextual by arguing that the University's statements were inconsistent. For example, Cuddeback argues that the abrupt change in Dr. Wang's opinion of her performance, the lack of any convincing explanation for the sudden negative view of her performance, the lack of any meaningful opportunity for her to improve any perceived deficiencies in her performance, and the lack of support for Dr. Wang's views by other faculty members all evidence pretext. However, the record clearly shows that the change in Dr. Wang's opinion occurred over a span of at least five months; Dr. Wang performed the evaluation detailing the deficiencies in early March and listed ways for Cuddeback to improve; Dr. Wang began discussing the deficiencies in Cuddeback's work with her as early as January; Cuddeback admits that she did not go to the lab after April 20, 2000; and Cuddeback did not inform Dr. Wang of the reasons for her absence. Therefore, we conclude from the record that Cuddeback failed to demonstrate that the University's nondiscriminatory reasons were pretextual. Accordingly, the district court's grant of summary judgment was proper.