Opinion ID: 765687
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Keathley's Evidence of Pretext and Age Discrimination

Text: 13 After Ameritech put forward a nondiscriminatory justification for her termination, Keathley can only avoid summary judgment by present[ing] evidence that considered in its entirety, (1) creates a question of material fact as to whether the defendant's proffered reasons are pretextual and (2) creates a reasonable inference that age was a determinative factor in the adverse employment decision. Hindman, 145 F.3d at 991. This second part of the summary judgment test sometimes may be satisfied without additional evidence where the overall strength of the prima facie case and the evidence of pretext'suffice[s] to show intentional discrimination. ' Widoe v. District #111 Otoe Cty. Sch., 147 F.3d 726, 731 (8th Cir. 1998) (quoting Rothmeier, 85 F.3d at 1337). The Supreme Court has stated that where the plaintiff provides evidence suggestive of intentionally mendacious pretext, that showing in combination with the prima facie case may... suffice to show intentional discrimination. Hicks, 509 U.S. at 511. However, as this court recently reaffirmed in Widoe, not every plaintiff who sufficiently calls into question the truthfulness of the defendant's proffered explanation survives summary judgment. 147 F.3d at 731 (citing Rothmeier, 85 F.3d at 1337). In some instances the circumstances of the case, though suggestive of pretext, will nonetheless be inconsistent with age discrimination. In Rothmeier itself, for example, the plaintiff's allegations concerning the motivation underlying the employer's pretext avoidance of an SEC investigation undercut rather than supported the employee's age discrimination claim. See 85 F.3d at 1338. By contrast, in Widoe we found that in the circumstances of that case, no analogous factual circumstances inconsistent with an inference of age discrimination were presented. See 147 F.3d at 731. 14 Reading the record in the light most favorable to Keathley, as we must at this stage, places this case squarely within those identified by Hicks as permitting the trier of fact to infer the ultimate fact of intentional discrimination. See 509 U.S. at 511. Appellant presents a point-by-point refutation of the problems identified by Ameritech as justification for her termination. While an exhaustive presentation of the factual disputes would necessitate an opinion of unwieldy length for this stage in the proceedings, several examples serve to illustrate the pattern. 15 Key factors in Keathley's termination were her tardiness to meetings and other company events and failure to check or empty her voice-mail account or return client messages. Mary Roberts, who worked with Keathley as an MCA throughout 1994, testified by affidavit that MCAs and supervisors frequently arrived late to those meetings without experiencing any negative repercussions. 6 Roberts stated that if Ameritech has a written policy on tardiness for sales meetings... I never saw it enforced... by management. (J. A. at 323.) Such evidence of disparate treatment is highly relevant to showing pretext. See Davenport v. Riverview Gardens Sch. Dist., 30 F.3d 940, 945 (8th Cir. 1994). In addition to evidence suggestive of disparate treatment, the record also calls into question the veracity of the memoranda themselves. In one instance where Keathley received a written reprimand for tardiness, her behavior was a function of her attempt to follow company policy by prioritizing customer needs. In another instance, Keathley testified that her then supervisor, Mike Franzoi, verbally excused her tardiness for a training class, yet she later received a written reprimand. In yet another instance, Keathley received a written reprimand for arriving late to a meeting despite the fact that she and Franzoi had agreed to start the meeting whenever she arrived. The conflicting stories, given the supporting affidavits attesting to Keathley's professionalism and Ameritech's enforcement of its policies, create a genuine issue of material fact. 16 Mary Roberts also testified that it was not uncommon for MCAs' voice-mail boxes to fill to capacity during periods when large accounts were being serviced and that she was never reprimanded when her own voice-mail box filled because of such commitments. Joan Luning similarly testified that MCAs could on occasion expect their voice-mail boxes to reach capacity while they were attempting to close a large corporate account. During the time period at issue, Keathley was conducting Ameritech Days in conjunction with the St. John's Hospital deal, which resulted in her landing what is now Ameritech's largest corporate account. She testified that because of the many large accounts she maintained, she received eighty to ninety phone calls per day during that period and could not answer them due to company prioritization policy. 7 Luning stated that to her knowledge, no MCA other than Keathley was ever reprimanded for failing to empty a voice-mail box. Such evidence of disparate treatment supports pretext. See Davenport, 30 F.3d at 945. 17 Ameritech cited insufficient attention to detail in dealing with specific client accounts as an additional ground for dismissal. While the record presents specific complaints by Ameritech pertaining to client accounts, it is also replete with glowing client assessments of Keathley's exceptional service and attention to detail. Ameritech characterizes an exchange involving Keathley and a customer service representative as badgering an employee in front of a client. According to Keathley, however, she merely advised the employee that she had been quoting an incorrect price. The client apparently viewed the exchange similarly, as it later wrote Keathley a recommendation praising her complete[] professional[ism]. (J. A. at 363.) Mary Roberts testified that during periods when MCAs landed a large corporate account, tension between MCAs and customer service representatives was common, but that to her knowledge no representative other than Keathley was ever reprimanded due to such relational problems. Again, the conflicting evidence creates an issue of material fact precluding summary judgment. 18 Distinct from the permissible inference of discrimination flowing from the allegedly contrived nature of Ameritech's proffered explanation for her termination, Keathley has also presented evidence that creates a reasonable inference that age discrimination was the determinative factor in her termination. The district court found that the firing of older employees during the reorganization period of September 1994 to October 1995 was not sufficient to create an inference of impermissible age discrimination. While we agree that timing alone does not create a presumption of age discrimination, see Nelson v. J. C. Penney Co., 75 F.3d 343, 346-47 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 813 (1996), it may lend force to contemporaneous evidence of age discrimination, depending on the quality of that evidence, see Quiroga v. Hasbro, Inc., 934 F.2d 497, 501 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 940 (1991) (holding that inference cannot be based on timing alone but must take into account other evidence); Caudill v. Farmland Indus., Inc., 919 F.2d 83, 86-87 (8th Cir. 1990) (stating that inference based on temporal proximity between filing of age discrimination complaint and firing would be rank speculation given force of other evidence presented). During the reorganization period highly successful salespersons over the age of 45 were replaced by individuals under the age of 35. This pattern ' is certainly not conclusive evidence of age discrimination in itself, but it is surely the kind of fact which could cause a reasonable trier of fact to raise an eyebrow, and proceed to assess the employer's explanation for this outcome. ' Ryther v. KARE 11, 108 F.3d 832, 844 (8th Cir. 1997) (en banc) (quoting Morgan v. Arkansas Gazette, 897 F.2d 945, 951 (8th Cir. 1990) (citation omitted)). 19 Here, the evidence permits an inference that the dismissal of older sales representatives and subsequent reassignment of their accounts to significantly younger representatives was a function of age discrimination. Despite the existence of legitimate grounds for termination, Ameritech's account of its reasons for terminating older, successful salespersons, remains suspicious. 8 According to Mary Roberts, Mike Franzoi called her into his office at some point prior to November 19, 1994 to ask if she could handle one of Keathley's accounts. Roberts was puzzled and asked why he was making such an inquiry. Franzoi replied that he did not know, but again asked if she could handle the account. (J. A. at 325.) As related above, in response to complaints of younger sales representatives concerning a lack of accounts, Connie Taylor expressed frustration with the status quo and stated that management was trying to put together lists for the younger employees. Perhaps most significant, however, is evidence suggesting that Ameritech's stated reason for firing Keathley was a sham. At the time of her termination, Keathley was told by Franzoi that the decision was due in part to her failure to land a large contract with St. John's Hospital. In fact, Keathley had obtained the contract and delivered it to Franzoi four days earlier. In order to cover up this inconsistency, Franzoi removed Keathley's name from the contract and had St. John's sign a second contract. 9 When deposed on the subject, Franzoi could offer no explanation for the decision to backdate the contract, or for that matter as to why a second contract was necessary at all, other than to state that December 15 was the date he understood Ameritech's relationship with St. John's to have begun. (See J. A. at 482-83.) Though Ameritech in its brief asserts that the second contract was necessary because Keathley had mishandled the deal, an affidavit given by St. John's Hospital's director of finance and accounting the individual who signed both contracts for St. John's indicates that the only difference of which he was aware between the earlier contract and the one subsequently presented by Mr. Franzoi is that the later contract substituted the name of Lori Kinder one of Keathley's replacements for that of Barbara Keathley. A reasonable interpretation of the events leading up to Keathley's dismissal, considering the evidence in its entirety, is that Ameritech dismissed an older sales representative in order to replace her with younger representatives. Thus summary judgment was inappropriate as to Keathley's age discrimination claim. 20