Opinion ID: 785476
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Requirements of Plaintiff's Proof Using Circumstantial Evidence

Text: 15 Title VII makes an employer liable for discriminating against its employees based on race or gender, or for retaliating against an employee for having challenged such discrimination. 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-2(a), 2000e-3(a) (2000). Courts recognize that most discrimination and retaliation is not carried out so openly as to provide direct proof of it. Accordingly, an aggrieved party may use circumstantial evidence to assert a prima facie case of discrimination (or retaliation) by alleging 1) [she] belonged to a protected class; 2)[she] was qualified for the position; 3)[she] suffered an adverse employment action; and 4) the adverse employment action occurred under circumstances giving rise to an inference of discriminatory intent. Terry v. Ashcroft, 336 F.3d 128, 138, 141 (2d Cir.2003). Naturally, the employee has the burden to prove that his or her employer engaged in such conduct. Once the plaintiff's burden has been met, the burden shifts to the defendant, which is required to offer a legitimate, non-discriminatory rationale for its actions. Id. 16 We define an adverse employment action as a materially adverse change in the terms and conditions of employment. See Richardson v. New York State Dep't of Corr. Serv., 180 F.3d 426, 446 (2d Cir.1999). To be materially adverse, a change in working conditions must be more disruptive than a mere inconvenience or an alteration of job responsibilities. Terry, 336 F.3d at 138. Examples of such a change include termination of employment, a demotion evidenced by a decrease in wage or salary, a less distinguished title, a material loss of benefits, significantly diminished material responsibilities, or other indices ... unique to a particular situation. Id. 17 Having defined adverse employment action, we consider the evidence that appellant thinks entitles her to the relief of judgment as a matter of law. Were legal arguments arrows, the issues appellant raises could be said to have looked fine when they left the bow of counsel's brief. But when examined at journey's end most of them missed the mark, and none of them landed in the bull's-eye.
18 Plaintiff asserts that the adverse employment action in her case was the performance evaluation and its critical addendum. But she offered no proof that this evaluation had any effect on the terms and conditions of her employment. On the contrary, the negative evaluation remained in Sanders' file for only two weeks before being destroyed, and her promotion to the rank of Supervisor II was ultimately changed from provisional to permanent. A jury could therefore reasonably find that the evaluation did not, on its own, constitute a materially adverse action by her employer. Cf. Weeks v. New York State (Div. of Parole), 273 F.3d 76, 86 (2d Cir. 2001) (holding that a notice of discipline and a counseling memo by themselves were insufficient, as a matter of law, to constitute adverse employment action), abrogated on other grounds by Nat'l R.R. Passenger Corp. v. Morgan, 536 U.S. 101, 108-14, 122 S.Ct. 2061, 153 L.Ed.2d 106 (2002). 19 Further, appellant mistakenly puts reliance on two opinions from our sister circuits: Smith v. Secretary of Navy, 659 F.2d 1113, 1120-21 (D.C.Cir. 1981) and Hashimoto v. Dalton, 118 F.3d 671, 676 (9th Cir.1997). Not only are these cases factually distinguishable from appellant's, but they also come out of the District of Columbia Circuit and the Ninth Circuit, both of which have rejected our materially adverse standard in favor of a broader interpretation of adverse employment action. See Ray v. Henderson, 217 F.3d 1234, 1240-43 (9th Cir.2000) (discussing the circuit split on this issue). More importantly, while a negative job evaluation may constitute adverse employment action in certain circumstances even in this circuit, cf. Treglia v. Town of Manlius, 313 F.3d 713, 720 (2d Cir.2002), the question here is whether plaintiff's negative job evaluation must constitute adverse employment action as a matter of law. We do not think the employer's action reached that threshold.
20 At trial, appellant also maintained that the screening unit dispute and Milioti's allegedly male-only meetings constituted adverse employment action. Although she has not raised these arguments on appeal, we note that neither would have been successful. A reasonable juror could easily find that the exchange of the screening unit for a field unit was no more than an alteration of work responsibilities. See Terry, 336 F.3d at 138. While Sanders' alleged exclusion from critical meetings over a three or four month period might well be materially adverse, a reasonable juror could have credited Milioti's testimony that he continued to include Sanders in operational meetings, and that the meetings that included only male participants were unrelated to her office duties.
21 Appellant's transfer out of the cost containment section and into an allegedly crowded, run-down, and vermin-infested building might come closer to material adversity. But this too was not raised on appeal. Even if she had raised this argument on appeal, however, there was no evidence other than plaintiff's bare assertions to this effect that the transfer was undertaken for discriminatory or retaliatory reasons. The transfer occurred at a time when city-wide budget cuts had sparked a huge redeployment of personnel within Human Resources. Milioti testified that he played no role in the transfer, and that the decision was instead taken by the Agency's central personnel office. This was corroborated by a former personnel services director of the Agency, who testified that she was on the committee that oversaw the redeployment of thousands of personnel between 1994 and 1995. She stated that in-house EEO complaints played no role in these redeployments, and that the central personnel office decided whom to transfer based on budget constraints and staff seniority. Certainly a reasonable juror need not have linked the transfer with Milioti's allegedly discriminatory or retaliatory motives.