Opinion ID: 5949
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Comparative Qualifications for the Position

Text: 46 The district court found that Odom was clearly better qualified than Price for the Prevention Team Leader position in terms of his performance and experience. 20 Generally, a court's belief that an unprotected applicant who has been promoted is less qualified than a protected applicant who has been passed over, will not in and of itself support a finding of pretext for discrimination. If, however, the passed over applicant who is protected against discrimination is clearly better qualified for the position in question, a finding of pretext masking discrimination can be supported by the promotion of the less qualified person. 21 In considering the relative qualifications here, the district court placed those of Odom and Price side-by-side and found: 47 45. Inspector Odom was better qualified for the position than Inspector Price when comparing them according to the stated qualifications and attributes sought in the vacancy announcement and as stated by the review panel members. These qualifications and attributes included leadership abilities, oral and written communication skills, and technical knowledge or skills of the position. 48 46. Inspector Odom had previously led task forces, had been assigned the training of junior inspectors, and had previously served as a team leader. Additionally, Inspector Odom had several commendation letters in his personnel file for various work that he had performed in the criminal arena, some of which he had supervised. 22 49 When we conduct a like comparison of the two applicants' qualifications, however, we are led to the conclusion that the district court clearly erred in finding that Odom was clearly (as distinguished from merely ) better qualified for the position than was Price. Rather, as readily conceded by the Service's attorney at oral argument, the record supports the conclusion that Odom and Price were similarly qualified for the position. We simply do not find support for the district court's conclusion that Odom's qualifications were so greatly or significantly superior to Price's to make Odom clearly better qualified. 50 Price had significant recent experience in several of the criminal areas that were most relevant to the new position. As noted above, Odom's experience had not been primarily on the criminal side of the inspection service; to the contrary, his had been almost entirely on the audit side. Most of the work for which Odom had been primarily responsible during the several years preceding to the application process simply was not relevant to the new position. 51 Odom contends that the fact that he was a career audit specialist did not matter, and that the Service's assertion of the irrelevance of his specialty and his experience was merely a pretextual explanation. We disagree. The review panelists' testimony demonstrates what follows naturally to us: The fact that Odom's primary experience did not match the position sought was legitimately relevant and significant to the panel's determination. 52 Additionally, Price had a college degree while Odom did not. 23 Based on raw numbers, Odom had participated in more instructional courses and programs than had Price; but that was to be expected, given the greater length of time that Odom had worked for the Service. Their respective statements of specific qualifications are quite different, but neither is particularly more impressive than the other. A careful and objective comparison of Price's and Odom's applications reveals no glaring distinction that would support a finding that Odom was clearly better qualified than [Price] for the Prevention Team Leader position. 24 53 We also remain cognizant of the fact that the evaluation of applicants (and applications) for high level positions in any discipline--business, industry, government, military, or education--involves both objective and subjective elements. We also recognize that subjectivity has a potentiality for abuse by those evaluators who would use it to shield improprieties in the selection process, possibly even as a pretext for discrimination. On the other hand, as a general rule judges are not as well suited by training or experience to evaluate qualifications for high level promotion in other disciplines as are those persons who have trained and worked for years in the field of endeavor for which the applicants under consideration are being evaluated. 54 Therefore, unless disparities in curricula vitae are so apparent as virtually to jump off the page and slap us in the face, we judges should be reluctant to substitute our views for those of the individuals charged with the evaluation duty by virtue of their own years of experience and expertise in the field in question. We cannot here disabuse ourselves of the conclusion that the district court clearly erred in substituting its comparative evaluation of the two candidates for that of the review panel to find that Odom's credentials were so obviously and substantially superior to Price's that Odom was clearly better qualified for the job than was Price. We find that neither singly nor collectively do Odom's qualifications leap from the record and cry out to all who would listen that he was vastly--or even clearly--more qualified for the subject job than was Price. The district court's finding to the contrary was clear error.