Opinion ID: 220659
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Superior Qualifications

Text: Dulin's argument that his qualifications were clearly superior to those of Sanders was similarly unsupported by the evidence. The bar for showing pretext through superior qualifications is high; differences in qualifications are generally not probative evidence of discrimination unless those disparities are of such weight and significance that no reasonable person, in the exercise of impartial judgment, could have chosen the candidate selected over the plaintiff for the job in question. Celestine v. Petroleos de Venezuela SA, 266 F.3d 343, 357 (5th Cir.2001) (internal quotation omitted). Dulin elicited testimony that Sanders was an attorney admitted in Mississippi, practicing in Greenwood, that she had been appointed by the Mississippi governor to serve as a state judge for at least one year, that she had possibly worked with the Rural Service. In addition, the three Board members who testified stated that they were pleased with her performance as Board attorney, especially in comparison to Dulin's, because she was much more attentive and proactive about alerting them to possible legal issues and offering her legal opinion. Dulin failed to present any other evidence of Sanders's qualifications or lack thereof that would enable the jury to determine that the disparities in qualifications are so significant that no impartial person could have selected Sanders to replace Dulin. See id.