Opinion ID: 78563
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Estes

Text: Randall Estes was appointed as Division Engineer for the Sixth Division on May 31, 2003. The Department argues that Brown failed to establish a prima facie case with respect to Estes because he was not promoted but merely given a lateral transfer, and because Brown was neither objectively qualified nor as or more qualified than Estes. As a preliminary matter, it is doubtful whether Brown, who did not have CESA status at the time, could have been objectively qualified for this CESA-level position. [9] More importantly, however, there was undisputed evidence that Estes was not promoted. In a failure-to-promote case, the plaintiff must show that other employees of similar qualifications who were not members of the protected group were indeed promoted at the time the plaintiff's request for promotion was denied. Chappell-Johnson v. Powell, 440 F.3d 484, 488 (D.C.Cir.2006) (emphasis added) (citation omitted). But Estes was moved from one Division Engineer position to another, retained the same job classification, and received no pay increase. There was no promotion. While Brown's attorneys suggested that Estes' transfer nonetheless was invalid in that it amounted to a mere reshuffling of white employees who had benefitted from past discrimination, there was no evidence that Brown even was seeking the particular position that Estes received, or that the transfer of Estes from one division to another reduced Brown's chances of receiving a promotion. The evidence therefore did not support a claim of discrimination with respect to the promotion of Estes.