Opinion ID: 2773584
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Title VII and ADEA Pay Discrimination

Text: Ms. Riser also asserted a claim of pay discrimination based on gender under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(1), and pay discrimination based on age under the ADEA, 29 U.S.C. § 623(a)(1). 2 Under both Title VII and the ADEA, a plaintiff has the ultimate burden of proving her employer intentionally discriminated against her. Adamson v. Multi Cmty. Diversified Servs., Inc., 514 F.3d 1136, 1145 (10th Cir. 2008). A plaintiff can establish this by either direct evidence or circumstantial evidence that creates an inference of intentional discrimination. Id. Where a plaintiff seeks to use circumstantial evidence to show discriminatory intent, the burden-shifting framework of McDonnell Douglass 2 We note that, contrary to Ms. Riser’s assertion that EPA violations automatically constitute Title VII violations, Aplt. Reply Br. 27, this court has held that EPA and Title VII claims have distinct elements and thus are evaluated separately. See Sprague, 129 F.3d at 1361 n.3; Tidwell v. Fort Howard Corp., 989 F.2d 406, 409–10 (10th Cir. 1993). - 15 - Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 (1973) applies. Adamson, 514 F.3d at 1145. First a plaintiff must establish a prima facie case of pay discrimination. If the plaintiff succeeds, the burden shifts to the defendant to articulate a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for its actions. If the defendant does so, the burden shifts back to the plaintiff to show that his or her protected characteristic was “a determinative factor in the defendant’s employment decision” or that the defendant’s explanation was merely pretextual. Id. The district court dismissed Ms. Riser’s pay discrimination claims, finding that she failed to establish a prima facie case, and that even if she did, she failed to show that QEP’s articulated reason for the pay disparity was pretextual. Riser, 2014 WL 257434, at . To establish a prima facie case of pay discrimination under Title VII, Ms. Riser must show she “occupies a job similar to that of higher paid males.” Sprague, 129 F.3d at 1363 (quoting Meeks v. Computer Assocs. Intern., 15 F.3d 1013, 1019 (11th Cir. 1994)). Under the ADEA, she must show she was paid less than similarly situated younger employees. Almond v. Unified Sch. Dist. No. 501, 665 F.3d 1174, 1181 (10th Cir. 2011). QEP concedes that job similarity requirements under Title VII and the ADEA are less stringent than under the EPA. Aplee. Br. 39. Thus, because of the substantial similarity between Ms. Riser’s job and the jobs of Mr. Chinn and Mr. Bryant, discussed above, Ms. Riser has established a prima facie case of pay discrimination under Title VII and the ADEA. - 16 - QEP has articulated a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for the pay disparity between Ms. Riser and Mr. Chinn and Mr. Bryant: its pay classification system. Aplee. Br. 39–40. Thus, the burden of production shifts back to Ms. Riser to show that QEP’s compensation scheme was pretextual or that gender or age was a “determinative factor” in QEP’s decision to pay Ms. Riser less money. This court has recognized that “[p]retext can be shown in a variety of ways,” and “there is no one specific mode of evidence required to establish the discriminatory inference.” Conroy v. Vilsack, 707 F.3d 1163, 1172 (10th Cir. 2013) (citation omitted). Pretext can be shown by “such weaknesses, implausibilities, inconsistencies, incoherencies, or contradictions in the employer’s proffered legitimate reasons for its action that a reasonable factfinder could rationally find them unworthy of credence and hence infer that the employer did not act for the asserted non-discriminatory reasons.” Morgan v. Hilti, Inc., 108 F.3d 1319, 1323 (10th Cir. 1997) (citation omitted); see also Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 148 (2000) (“[A] plaintiff’s prima facie case, combined with sufficient evidence to find that the employer’s asserted justification is false, may permit the trier of fact to conclude that the employer unlawfully discriminated.”). Here, a reasonable juror could conclude that inconsistencies in the application of QEP’s pay classification system render its proffered reason for the pay disparity between Ms. Riser and Mr. Chinn and Mr. Bryant unworthy of - 17 - belief. QEP’s compensation system yielded a salary for Ms. Riser that was 31% less than Mr. Chinn’s and 39% less than Mr. Bryant’s, despite the fact that she was performing the bulk of both of their responsibilities at the same time. Her pay grade was not based on the fleet administration or facilities management duties her supervisors knew she was performing, but instead on QEP’s assessment of the work administrative assistants typically perform. And although she raised concerns with her pay grade and title to Mr. Bench on multiple occasions, these concerns were ignored. A reasonable juror could certainly conclude that such evidence renders QEP’s alleged explanation for the pay disparity unworthy of credence. Thus, we reverse the district court’s grant of summary judgment to QEP on Ms. Riser’s Title VII and ADEA pay discrimination claims.