Opinion ID: 3169763
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Pretext Prong

Text: To establish pretext, an employee must specifically respond to the employer’s explanation and produce sufficient evidence for a reasonable factfinder to conclude that the employer’s stated reason is pretextual. See Combs v. Plantation Patterns, 106 F.3d 1519, 1529 (11th Cir. 1997) (explaining that the plaintiff must present “sufficient evidence to demonstrate the existence of a genuine issue of fact as to the truth of each of the employer’s proffered reasons for its challenged action”). A reason is not pretextual unless the employee shows both that the given reason was false and that discrimination was the real reason. Brooks v. Cty. Comm’n of Jefferson Cty., 446 F.3d 1160, 1163 (11th Cir. 2006). To survive summary judgment, the plaintiff must “come forward with evidence, including the previously produced evidence establishing the prima facie case, sufficient to permit a reasonable factfinder to conclude that the reasons given by 8 Case: 14-14596 Date Filed: 01/14/2016 Page: 9 of 22 the employer were not the real reasons for the adverse employment decision.” Chapman v. AI Transp., 229 F.3d 1012, 1024 (11th Cir. 2000) (en banc) (quoting Combs, 106 F.3d at 1528). The plaintiff must meet the employer’s reason “head on” and rebut it. Wilson, 376 F.3d at 1088.