Opinion ID: 167100
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Application to Pippin's claims

Text: 88 In this case, Pippin has failed to establish evidence supporting a prima facie case of disparate impact. Pippin notes that the RIF itself, or how the RIF was applied, resulted in the termination of more over-forty workers than under-forty employees. However, absent any evidence of the comparables—i.e., the age of Burlington's other employees or even the age of the other employees in the San Juan Division—this statistic has little significance. See Sloat v. Rapid City Area Sch. Dist. No. 51-4, 393 F.Supp.2d 922, 935 (D.S.D.2005) (granting employer summary judgment where employee had failed to allege prima facie claim of disparate treatment under the ADEA because he failed to allege any statistics showing a disparate impact). 89 But, even if Pippin established a prima facie case, Burlington was entitled to summary judgment pursuant to the RFOA defense. Pippin claims the specific policy that led to a disparate impact on those employees over the age of forty was a policy of determining which employees to let go during the RIF based on prior job performance and skill set. Pippin couples that policy with Burlington's policy of honoring its prior commitment to hire several new employees fresh out of school to assert that Burlington's policies were not reasonable. 90 However, as a matter of law, these were not unreasonable policies. Certainly, relying on prior performance ratings and the determination of which employees have the skills most useful to the company going forward are reasonable criteria for any company to use in deciding which employees to keep and which to let go in a RIF. See Embrico, 404 F.Supp.2d at 829 (in dicta, noting that employer's reliance on employee's technical background to select employees for retention was reasonable). 91 Further, a decision by Burlington to honor its prior commitment to new hires in order to protect its hiring reputation at the schools involved is reasonable, as is the decision to keep new hires who have not yet been evaluated. 92 All of these decisions were based on reasonable factors other than age. Corporate restructuring, performance-based evaluations, retention decisions based on needed skills, and recruiting concerns are all reasonable business considerations. Pippin has not presented any evidence sufficient to withstand summary judgment to the contrary. Indeed, Pippin has cast no doubt on the reasonableness of these concerns at all. See Embrico, 404 F.Supp.2d at 830 (noting, in dicta, that employer would be entitled to summary judgment because employee was unable to contradict employer's evidence that its policy of relying on employees' technical background to determine which employees to retain was reasonable). Accordingly, we affirm the district court. Pippin has not set forth a valid disparate impact claim.