Opinion ID: 1389898
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Owoseni's, Smith's, and Nichols's Failure to Upgrade Claims

Text: Owoseni, Smith, and Nichols also assert that the district court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of the University on their claim that the Department denied them two temporary upgrades from officer to sergeant because of their race, when the Department selected two white officers to fill those positions. An employee can support a Title VII claim for failure to promote in one of two ways, either by directly show[ing] that racial discrimination motivated the employment decision, or, as is more common, [by relying] on the indirect, burden-shifting method. Sublett v. John Wiley & Sons, 463 F.3d 731, 736-37 (7th Cir.2006). Owoseni, Smith, and Nichols have not offered any evidence of discriminatory upgrades under the direct method, and thus they proceed under the burden-shifting method. Under the indirect method, Owoseni, Smith, and Nichols bear the initial burden of establishing a prima facie case of race discrimination by showing that: (1) they are members of a protected group; (2) they were qualified for the position sought; (3) they were rejected for the position; and (4) the employee who was promoted was a member of a different race and was not better qualified than they. Id. at 737 (citing Johnson v. Nordstrom, Inc., 260 F.3d 727, 732 (7th Cir.2001)). If Owoseni, Smith, and Nichols carry their burden, then the University must set forth a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for its decision to upgrade the white officers, which if believed by the trier of fact, would support a finding that unlawful discrimination was not the cause of the employment action. Id. (quoting St. Mary's Honor Ctr. v. Hicks, 509 U.S. 502, 507, 113 S.Ct. 2742, 125 L.Ed.2d 407 (1993)). Finally, if the University succeeds in articulating a nondiscriminatory reason for its upgrade decisions, then Owoseni, Smith, and Nichols resume their original burden of proof and must establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the University's proffered reason is pretextual. Id. Owoseni, Smith, and Nichols potentially satisfy the first three elements of their prima facie case, in that they are black, they were arguably qualified for the upgrade to sergeant, and the Department rejected them for the upgrade. Their claim fails, however, because they did not offer sufficient evidence that they were equally or more qualified than the two white officers whom the Department upgraded to sergeant, Delmore and Royston. The only evidence Owoseni, Smith, and Nichols point to in the record regarding Delmore's and Royston's qualifications is found in their deposition testimony, which fails to set forth any details of the upgraded officers' qualifications. During his deposition, Nichols stated that he did not know Delmore's educational background, the amount of hands-on experience Delmore possessed, or the type of training Delmore had undergone. Nichols also testified that while he was aware that Royston had twenty years' experience with the University, he was not aware of Royston's educational background. Likewise, Smith stated during his deposition that I had no information on Officer Delmore. Smith further testified that he did not know Royston's qualifications and background other than what he learned during prior depositions, and he stated that he did not know the Department's criteria for determining upgrades. Owoseni also testified during his deposition that he could not recall anything regarding Delmore's qualifications or background, and he stated that the only thing he knew about Royston's background was that Royston had worked for the University for approximately twenty years before he was upgraded. We are unable to glean anything regarding Delmore's and Royston's qualifications from these statements, and Owoseni, Smith, and Nichols do not offer any additional evidence. Instead, they rely on their own subjective beliefs that they were as qualified or even more qualified for the upgrade than Delmore and Royston. We have repeatedly stated, however, that plaintiffs must offer more than mere self-serving appraisals. See, e.g., Dunn v. Nordstrom, Inc., 260 F.3d 778, 787 (7th Cir.2001) (stating that the plaintiff must present more than his own, subjective self-appraisal to create a genuine issue of fact); Fortier v. Ameritech Mobile Commc'ns, Inc., 161 F.3d 1106, 1114 (7th Cir.1998) (same); Gustovich v. AT & T Commc'ns, Inc., 972 F.2d 845, 848 (7th Cir.1992) (same). Owoseni, Smith, and Nichols thus failed to establish a prima facie case that the University discriminated against them based on their race when it denied them temporary upgrades to sergeant. Accordingly, the district court did not err in granting summary judgment to the University on this claim.