Opinion ID: 777682
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Management experience preferred.

Text: 19 3. Minimum three years experience in third party reimbursement requirements (i.e., Medicare, Medicaid, Champus, HMO's, PPO's, and Commercial). 20 4. Excellent communication skills. 21 5. Basic knowledge of computers required. 22 6. Prefer ICD-9 coding knowledge. 23 7. H-BOSS experience highly desirable. 24 It is undisputed that neither candidate satisfied all of these requirements. Neither had three years experience in a hospital business office or in third party reimbursement requirements. Neither had college business courses or courses in medical terminology management, although Dennis did have EMS training. 25 At the same time, Dennis arguably satisfied the written requirements as a whole better than Bridge, who had some limited management experience elsewhere, but who had less hospital experience and lacked familiarity with ICD-9 coding (a system for coding diagnoses for insurance purposes) and H-BOSS (Registration's computer data base). Except for three years' job experience, Dennis also met all of the criteria listed as mandatory. 26 The fact that Bridge was hired despite himself lacking several formal qualifications listed as required demonstrates that they were not mandatory in the actual case. Rather, the job description was at most treated as a list of desirable qualifications. Because Dennis demonstrated that she satisfied this aspirational list at least as well as Bridge, she produced sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to conclude that she was qualified for the job. 2. Pretext 27 Colleton's primary argument is that the case presented by Dennis was based solely on prima facie evidence of the candidates' qualifications and evidence tending to disprove Hiott's claimed reasons for hiring Bridge. Colleton claims that this was insufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to find discrimination. Again, we disagree. 28 Under the McDonnell Douglas framework, once an employer has met its burden of producing a legitimate nondiscriminatory explanation for its decision, the plaintiff is afforded the opportunity to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the legitimate reasons offered by the defendant were not its true reasons, but were pretext for discrimination. Texas Dept. of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 253, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981). That is, Dennis could attempt to establish that she was the victim of intentional discrimination by showing that the employer's proffered explanation is unworthy of credence. Id. at 256, 101 S.Ct. 1089. The first thrust of Colleton's argument is that Dennis failed to make a sufficient showing that Colleton's proffered reason for hiring Bridge was false. 29 Dennis did provide sufficient evidence of falsity. First, she provided evidence that Hiott offered inconsistent justifications for his promotion of Bridge. At deposition, Hiott claimed that it was only Bridge's managerial experience that made him a superior candidate. 1 At that time, he was unable to recall many details about the hiring process. However, when testifying at trial over a year and a half later (and after Bridge had moved to a position in information technologies within the hospital), Hiott's memory of the details of the hiring process seemed to dramatically improve, and he asserted that it was both managerial experience and computer knowledge that set Bridge apart. Both of these explanations, of course, differed from the written job qualifications, giving them the flavor of post-hoc rationalizations. 2 The fact that an employer has offered inconsistent post-hoc explanations for its employment decisions is probative of pretext, EEOC v. Sears Roebuck, 243 F.3d 846, 852-53 (4th Cir.2001), and indeed the district court reports that the jury did appear to take note of these inconsistencies, asking to rehear relevant portions of Hiott's trial testimony and deposition. 30 Equally importantly, Dennis' evidence of the unequal way in which Hiott conducted the promotion process could have persuaded the jury that Bridge did not give Dennis fair consideration but rather discriminated against her. While Hiott appeared to take the initiative with Bridge, seeking out his candidacy and intensively interviewing him, he did not even look into Dennis' in-house work experience, training or evaluations. Hiott claimed to dismiss Dennis' application for lack of management experience without knowing the full extent of that experience. Dennis also presented evidence tending to suggest that the other female applicant, Williams, may have been denied fair consideration despite the fact that she was the only candidate possessing all of the written job qualifications. In light of this evidence, the jury could reasonably have concluded that Hiott never gave Dennis fair consideration because he had already decided for other reasons not to promote her, and that his proffered explanations for his choices were merely post-hoc pretexts covering a predisposition favoring Bridge as a male. 31 Finally, Dennis also presented sufficient evidence for the jury to have concluded that Bridge's management and computer skills were overplayed by Hiott. Bridge's only verified management experience consisted of managing a small Family Dollar store for eleven months more than four years earlier. He received an F in the only computer course he ever took. While it is certainly possible, as Colleton argued, that this grade was not reflective of his computer knowledge at the time he was hired, this was an issue for the trier of fact. On review, we are limited to concluding that the jury could have determined based on the facts at trial that Hiott did not hire Bridge due to his allegedly superior skills. 3 32 In disputing this conclusion, Colleton would have us apply a test allegedly derived from Deines v. Texas Dept. of Protective Services, 164 F.3d 277, 280-81 (5th Cir.1999), requiring a plaintiff to make an evidentiary showing that the superiority of her qualifications are so substantial as to jump off the page and slap [you] in the face before a jury may find pretext. See also Lee v. GTE Florida, Inc., 226 F.3d 1249, 1254 (11 Cir.2000). This argument misapprehends either the holdings of Deines and Lee or Dennis' evidence of pretext. Deines and Lee require judges and juries in those Circuits to be slapped in the face only when the sole evidence of pretext is the superior qualifications of the plaintiff. While Dennis, like most Title VII plaintiffs, argues that her qualifications were superior or at least equal to those of the person given preference over her, the jury's finding of pretext does not stand or fall on this claim. 33 The second thrust of Colleton's argument is that even if the jury could disbelieve Hiott's explanations, Dennis' evidence — limited as it was to her prima facie case and facts tending to discredit those explanations — was still insufficient to support her ultimate burden of demonstrating discrimination. 34 In analyzing this issue, we are guided by the Supreme Court's decision in Reeves, which holds that [i]n appropriate circumstances, the trier of fact can reasonably infer from the falsity of the explanation that the employer is dissembling to cover up a discriminatory purpose. 530 U.S. at 147, 120 S.Ct. 2097. See also St. Mary's Honor Center v. Hicks, 509 U.S. 502, 511, 113 S.Ct. 2742, 125 L.Ed.2d 407 (1993). The Reeves court noted that the factfinder's rejection of the employer's legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for its action does not compel judgment for the plaintiff. 530 U.S. at 146, 120 S.Ct. 2097. However, [t]he factfinder's disbelief of the reasons put forward by the defendant (particularly if disbelief is accompanied by a suspicion of mendacity) may, together with the elements of the prima facie case, suffice to show intentional discrimination. Id. at 147, 120 S.Ct. 2097. This follows both from the strength of the prima facie evidence in creating an inference of discrimination, and the general principle of evidence law that the factfinder is entitled to consider a party's dishonesty about a material fact as affirmative evidence of guilt. Id. (internal quotations omitted). 4 35 In fleshing out how to apply this rule, Reeves also provides two examples of situations when a plaintiff's showing may not be enough to support a jury verdict in its favor: [A]n employer would be entitled to a judgment as a matter of law if the record conclusively revealed some other, non-discriminatory reason for the employer's decision, or if the plaintiff created only a weak issue of fact as to whether the employer's reason was untrue and there was abundant and uncontroverted independent evidence that no discrimination had occurred. Id. at 148, 120 S.Ct. 2097 (underlining added). We note that these examples are not meant to be exhaustive. Reeves specifically leaves open the possibility that other circumstances could entitle an employer to judgment as a matter of law. Thus, it instructs more broadly that factors on which the appropriateness of a judgment as a matter of law will depend in any case will include the strength of the plaintiff's prima facie case, the probative value of the proof that the employer's explanation is false, and any other evidence that supports the employer's case and that properly may be considered on a motion for judgment as a matter of law. Id. at 148-49, 120 S.Ct. 2097. 36 At the same time, while not exhaustive, the examples provided in Reeves do preclude us from ordering judgment as a matter of law when a defendant has merely made a lesser evidentiary showing of the very same factors they include. That is, such a judgment requires a more conclusive evidentiary showing by Colleton than the mere presentation of circumstances suggesting possible alternatives to both discrimination and its proffered nondiscriminatory reason for preferring Bridge. They also require more than the mere presentation of less than abundant and uncontroverted evidence that discrimination did not occur in combination with a weak showing of pretext by Dennis. To grant judgment as a matter of law under such circumstances would be to intrude on the jury function by substituting our own judgment for that of the finder of fact. 37 In light of this guidance, we conclude that Colleton does not satisfy the threshold for judgment as a matter of law. The circumstances of Dennis' case suggest some possible alternatives to both Hiott's explanation and gender discrimination; namely that Dennis' reputed affair actually did block her promotion as Wray warned it would, or that Hiott's relation to Bridge's wife played a prominent role in his decision. 5 However, the evidence of a possible third explanation was far from conclusive. Nor do we find the testimony that a number of senior managers elsewhere at the hospital were women and that Hiott did once hire a woman as registration supervisor so substantial as to constitute abundant and uncontroverted evidence that Hiott acted lawfully in this case. Even together, these showings were not sufficient to compel a rational jury weighing the credibility of testamentary evidence to find that there was no discrimination against Dennis. We therefore find no sufficient basis to order judgment as a matter of law. B. MOTION FOR A NEW TRIAL 38 Colleton next appeals the district court's denial of its motion for a new trial. Unlike the procedure under Rule 50(b), on a motion for a new trial under Rule 59(e) a district court is permitted to weigh the evidence. Bristol Steel & Iron Works, Inc. v. Bethlehem Steel Corp., 41 F.3d 182, 186 (4th Cir.1994). The court should grant a new trial only if 1) the verdict is against the clear weight of the evidence, 2) is based on evidence which is false, or 3) will result in a miscarriage of justice, even though there may be substantial evidence which would prevent the direction of a verdict. Knussman v. Maryland, 272 F.3d 625, 639 (4th Cir.2001) (quoting Atlas Food Sys. & Servs., Inc. v. Crane Nat'l Vendors, Inc., 99 F.3d 587, 594 (4th Cir.1996)). We review the district court's decision not to order a new trial for clear abuse of discretion and will not reverse absent exceptional circumstances. Bristol Steel, 41 F.3d at 186. 39 Colleton's argument on appeal for a new trial largely mirrors that of its appeal for a judgment as a matter of law. In addition to repeating its arguments about the insufficiency of the evidence, it also attacks the district court's instructions to the jury. Specifically, it would have us find the instructions on pretext, which included language taken directly from Reeves, insufficient because they did not include: 1) an instruction that Dennis was required to establish her superiority as a candidate and including the slap in the face test, and 2) a counterbalancing instruction emphasizing that the jury was not required to conclude Colleton had discriminated when other alternatives to its proffered explanation were available. The instructions stated: 40 If you find that the defendant has stated a valid reason, then you must decide in favor of the defendant unless the plaintiff proves by a preponderance of evidence that the stated reason was not the true reason but it is only a pretext or excuse for discriminating against the plaintiff because of her sex. 41 A pretextual reason could be a sham reason; a reason that is false or a reason that is true, but not the real reason. While the jury's rejection of defendant's legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for its action does not compel judgment for the plaintiff, in appropriate circumstances, the jury can reasonably infer from the falsity of explanation that the employer is hiding the truth in order to cover up intentional discrimination. The plaintiff's prima facie case combined with sufficient evidence to find that the employer's asserted justification is false, may permit the jury to conclude that the defendant unlawfully discriminated. 42 The fact that you might think that the employer misjudged the qualifications of the applicants does not in and of itself expose the defendant to Title VII liability, although this may be probative of whether the employer's reasons are pretext for discrimination. 43 As we found no basis in the evidence for ruling that the jury's findings were unreasonable, we also find that the district court did not abuse its discretion in preserving that ruling and denying Colleton's motion for a new trial. The jury instructions were not improper because they clearly and correctly stated the law and made clear that the jury could, but did not have to, infer discrimination if it disbelieved Colleton's explanation for Hiott's decision.