Opinion ID: 394822
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Ultimate Burden of Persuasion

Text: 21 Plaintiff's final and related objection is simply that the defendant never gave a good reason for selecting Staples over her. Again, the Supreme Court's decision in Burdine makes clear that the defendant need not produce evidence that the person selected was better qualified than the plaintiff. Instead, the ultimate burden of persuasion remains on the plaintiff to establish unlawful discrimination. In Lieberman v. Gant, 630 F.2d 60 (2d Cir. 1980), the Second Circuit correctly forecast the result and rationale of Burdine. Judge Friendly's statement for the court on this issue demonstrates the error of plaintiff's contention. 22 It is enough for the defendants in the second phase of the case to bring forth evidence that they acted on a neutral basis. They do not have the burden of establishing that their basis was sound; rather the burden then falls on the plaintiff to demonstrate that it is pretextual. One way of doing this, of course, would be to show that the asserted neutral basis was so ridden with error (or arbitrary) that defendant could not honestly have relied upon it. 23 Id. at 65 (footnote omitted). I find no reason to overturn the magistrate's conclusion that plaintiff failed to carry her ultimate burden of persuasion.III. CONCLUSION 24 After examining the decision of the magistrate in conjunction with the evidence of record, we find no reason to disturb the judgment for the defendants. Although the selection process employed by the Army certainly lacked sophistication, I agree with the magistrate that the promotion of a male over the plaintiff as a result of this process did not violate Title VII. Furthermore, although the magistrate's opinion could have been more finely tuned, I do not uncover any error inuring to the detriment of the plaintiff. We therefore affirm the judgment for the defendants. 25 It is so ordered. 26