Opinion ID: 9267
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Is there sufficient evidence of pretext?

Text: 32 Having found that appellant Davis successfully presented a prima facie case of age discrimination, we must next determine if CSC Logic's stated reason for the appellant's discharge was pretext. 18 33 According to CSC Logic, it discharged Davis for economic reasons. In challenging this explanation as pretext, Davis does not dispute that CSC Logic was in a financial crisis. Instead, most of his evidence on this point merely questions whether terminating the plaintiffs was the best solution to the company's financial problems. 34 Specifically Davis cites the following evidence: 1) the appellants were the only two employees laid off in April 1993; 2) the total number of employees at CSC Logic increased in the two months after the appellants' terminations; 3) according to financial projections created by Davis prior to his termination, appellants were not members of departments with over staffing problems; 4) after CSC Logic learned that it would lose its largest client, the company gave across the board raises, (including many to younger employees) and hired many new employees (most of whom were younger than the appellants); 5) the appellants' duties were not substantially affected by the loss of the major client; and 6) just before his termination, Davis had created a budget with a profit margin three percent higher than that required by the parent company, yet Kimzey claimed that additional cutbacks were necessary. 35 All of this evidence merely questions the prudence of CSC Logic's methods of cost cutting. As such, it is not compelling, particularly in light of evidence to the contrary. For example, although Davis and Brown were the only employees laid off in April 1993, CSC Logic laid off seventy-two other employees between March and June 1993. Furthermore, although CSC Logic did hire new employees and give across the board raises in 1992, they were the result of an unexpected windfall received when Ford extended its business with the company through the end of 1992. 36 After the windfall passed, CSC Logic made significant cutbacks in 1993, including: 1) renegotiating its office lease; 2) releasing excess office space; 3) eliminating contributions to employee insurance benefits reserve; 4) eliminating payments to the bad debt reserve; 5) reducing anticipated bonus payments; 6) eliminating expected salary increases; 7) reducing capital expenditures; 8) replacing leased printers; and 9) releasing 74 employees, including the appellants. 37 Although CSC Logic did hire some new employees in 1993, they were all in low-level positions. The company did not hire new management officers, or give raises to the existing management. Furthermore, the only evidence that CSC Logic hired employees in over-staffed departments or that there was no over-staffing in the appellants' departments comes from financial reports created by Davis himself. We are not surprised that when ordered to trim the budget, Davis did not find over-staffing in his own department. Additionally, arguing that there was no over-staffing in the financial department does not address the question of whether there was over-staffing in the executive ranks. 38 Similarly speculative is Davis's assertion that his duties were not substantially affected by the loss of the Ford account, and that he had created a budget with a high enough profit margin that further cutbacks were unnecessary. There is no precedent for requiring a financially strapped company to only make cutbacks in certain departments or in the specific manner suggested by the terminated plaintiff. In fact, Davis's plan suggested firing five or six employees, at a saving of only $200,000. By dismissing Brown and Davis, CSC Logic was able to save over $300,000, while dismissing fewer individuals. Guesswork and speculation simply cannot serve as a basis for sending a case to a jury. 19 39 We also note that Davis was hired at the age of 54, by the then 56 year old Kimzey. Davis was fired only four years later, also by Kimzey, who was then 60. This situation gives rise to an inference that age discrimination was not the motive behind Davis's termination. This same actor inference has been accepted by several other circuit courts, and we now express our approval. 20 The rationale behind this inference is best stated by the Fourth Circuit in Proud v. Stone: 21 40  '[c]laims that employer animus exists in termination but not in hiring seem irrational.' From the standpoint of the putative discriminator, '[i]t hardly makes sense to hire workers from a group one dislikes (thereby incurring the psychological costs of associating with them), only to fire them once they are on the job.'  22 41 The fact that the actor involved in both employment decisions is also a member of the protected class only enhances the inference. 23 By expressing our approval of this inference, we do not rule out the possibility that an individual could prove a case of discrimination in a similar situation. 24 We hold only that the facts in this particular case are not sufficiently egregious to overcome the inference that CSC Logic's stated reason for discharging Davis was not pretext for age discrimination. 25 Because Davis has failed to meet his evidentiary burden on the issue of pretext, his case must be dismissed.