Opinion ID: 187050
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Standard of Review and Legal Standard for Title VII Claims

Text: We review the District Court's grant of summary judgment de novo. Mastro v. Potomac Elec. Power Co., 447 F.3d 843, 849 (D.C.Cir.2006). Summary judgment is appropriate only if there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and . . . the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. FED.R.CIV.P. 56(c). The inquiry performed is the threshold inquiry of determining whether . . . there are any genuine factual issues that properly can be resolved only by a finder of fact because they may reasonably be resolved in favor of either party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). In determining whether there are genuine factual issues in dispute, we must draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party. Id. at 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505. Insofar as we are treating the District Court's decisions to strike two of appellant's claims as dismissals under Rule 12(b)(6), [o]ur standard of review under Federal Rules 12(b)(6) and 56 is the same: de novo. Wilson v. Peña, 79 F.3d 154, 160 n. 1 (D.C.Cir.1996). Under McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973), Title VII discrimination claims are assessed pursuant to a simple three-step framework: First, the plaintiff has the burden of proving by the preponderance of the evidence a prima facie case of discrimination. Second, if the plaintiff succeeds in proving the prima facie case, the burden shifts to the defendant to articulate some legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the [action in question]. Third, should the defendant carry this burden, the plaintiff must then have an opportunity to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the legitimate reasons offered by the defendant were not its true reasons, but were a pretext for discrimination. Tex. Dep't of Cmty. Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 252-53, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981) (quoting McDonnell Douglas, 411 U.S. at 802, 93 S.Ct. 1817). To establish a prima facie case of discrimination, a claimant must show that (1) she is a member of a protected class; (2) she suffered an adverse employment action; and (3) the unfavorable action gives rise to an inference of discrimination. Brown v. Brody, 199 F.3d 446, 452 (D.C.Cir.1999). To establish a prima facie case of retaliation, a claimant must show that (1) she engaged in a statutorily protected activity; (2) she suffered a materially adverse action by her employer; and (3) a causal connection existed between the two. Id.; see also Burlington N. & Santa Fe Ry. Co. v. White, 548 U.S. 53, 126 S.Ct. 2405, 2414-15, 165 L.Ed.2d 345 (2006) (finding that Title VII's anti-retaliation provision prohibits all materially adverse actions, not merely those harms that are specifically employment-related). In either situation, as the Supreme Court has made clear, [t]he burden of establishing a prima facie case . . . is not onerous. Burdine, 450 U.S. at 253, 101 S.Ct. 1089. Indeed, just two years after Burdine was decided, the Court emphasized, in strikingly clear terms, that [t]he prima facie case method established in McDonnell Douglas was never intended to be rigid, mechanized, or ritualistic. . . . Where 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. The district court has before it all the evidence it needs to decide whether the defendant intentionally discriminated against the plaintiff. U.S. Postal Serv. Bd. of Governors v. Aikens, 460 U.S. 711, 715, 103 S.Ct. 1478, 75 L.Ed.2d 403 (1983) (internal citation and quotation marks omitted). In this case, the District Court had before it hundreds of pages of documents, testimony from various witnesses that was provided during the investigation of appellant's claims by BBG's Office of Civil Rights, and depositions taken after the lawsuit was filed. So there is no doubt here that appellee aimed to articulate[] legitimate reasons for [the allegedly discriminatory or retaliatory actions] and proffered evidence in support of those reasons. George v. Leavitt, 407 F.3d 405, 411 (D.C.Cir.2005). Given this record, we need not address the Government's contentions that [appellant] failed to make out a prima facie case. Id. Rather, following the Court's direction in Aikens, we will proceed to the ultimate question of discrimination vel non. Id. (internal quotation marks omitted).