Opinion ID: 75763
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: adell jones

Text: 30 Regarding Adell Jones, Prudential has conceded the existence of a prima facie case. Indeed, because Prudential insists that Jones reviewed the applications of all the operations staff in Fort Lauderdale, Jones and Prudential must have been aware of the potential employees who could fill the Dispatcher position. To rebut the prima facie case, Prudential asserts that Hyland was the most qualified candidate, which is a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for hiring Hyland. Once such a reason is articulated, Walker and Golub must overcome it by showing that the articulated reason was merely a pretext for discrimination. See Chapman, 229 F.3d at 1024-25. 31 Our pretext analysis focuses on a narrow question: Would the proffered evidence allow a reasonable factfinder to conclude that the articulated reason for the decision was not the real reason? See Chapman, 229 F.3d at 1024; Combs, 106 F.3d at 1528. Walker 5 and Golub 6 contend that Prudential's articulated reason is pretextual because each of them was more qualified than Hyland and because Prudential deviated from its hiring policies. We deal with each of these arguments in turn. 32
33 Walker and Golub argue that they were each more qualified than Hyland for the Dispatcher position in Orlando. To show pretext, however, Walker and Golub must show more than superior qualifications; rather, they must show that they were so much more qualified that the disparity virtually jumps off the page and slaps one in the face. See Lee v. GTE Fla., Inc., 226 F.3d 1249, 1253-54 (11th Cir.2000). 34 Conner informed Jones that the Dispatcher position was available on November 9. Though such a position might typically be posted, Jones needed to fill it immediately and decided to make the decision herself after first reviewing the personnel files of the operations staff. Jones reviewed the qualifications of all six of the Fort Lauderdale operations employees. She looked for someone who was trained in the position and could be productive immediately. She reviewed Golub's file and Walker's file, as well as Hyland's file. She granted no interviews. Though Jones did not remember how long the process took, she guessed that it took a week to two weeks. 35 Upon reviewing Golub's file, Jones would have learned that Golub had worked as a Dispatcher since December of 1990. When the Fort Lauderdale office closed, Golub would have had four years of experience as a Dispatcher. Jones also would have known that Hyland trained Golub for her dispatching position and that Golub worked as a backup Dispatcher to Hyland in the Fort Lauderdale office. On the other hand, Jones knew that Hyland had worked as Dispatcher in Fort Lauderdale for nine years and as Senior Dispatcher for six years. Based on this information, Jones could have concluded that Hyland was more qualified than Golub. 36 Golub argues, however, that she was more qualified than Hyland, since the Orlando Dispatcher position involved duties that are typically associated with a Salvage Clerk, and Golub was more qualified to be a Salvage Clerk. She bases her argument on the testimony of Hyland, who described his position as dispatcher salvage clerk. (R.2-78 at 5.) However, there is no evidence that Adell Jones knew that the Orlando Dispatcher position involved salvage duties. Her knowledge of the position came entirely from Conner's PROFS note asking for a dispatcher. (R.4-181-Ex. C at 3.) Furthermore, as Walker testified, the salvage function was less important than the dispatching function: What was interesting from that area is you had to be trained as a dispatcher, as a back-up dispatcher but there was no back-up training for salvage, so you knew where the importance was there, it was in dispatch. (R.1-32 at 55-56.) Jones's knowledge about the position and the candidates forecloses any inference of pretext based on the existence of extra duties. 37 Similarly, Jones's review of Walker's file would have revealed that Walker had served as a supervisor in the Fort Lauderdale office, a position with more responsibilities than Dispatcher. Although Walker had no experience as a Dispatcher, she claims that she should have been allowed to downbid. But Jones testified that she wanted a person who could be immediately productive in the Dispatcher position without training. Jones estimated that such training would take about three months. As Walker herself testified, the dispatching function can be vital to a claims office: [T]he dispatching is your life line. If you don't dispatch correctly, you don't get the cars to be seen or the homes to be seen and your claim operation kind of falls apart.... (R. 1-32 at 53.) Given this set of circumstances, Jones could have easily concluded that Walker was not more qualified than Hyland for the Dispatcher position. 38 Walker and Golub, then, were not so much more qualified than Hyland that the disparity jumps off the page and slaps one in the face. Indeed, the evidence suggests that Hyland was more qualified than Walker and Golub, since he had experience and training in the position and presently occupied it in the Fort Lauderdale office. The disparities in qualifications, then, do not suggest that Jones discriminated against Walker and Golub. Cf. Hill v. Seaboard Coastline R.R., 885 F.2d 804, 810 (11th Cir.1989) ([A]n inference [of discrimination] is not justified where the plaintiff's qualifications are inferior to those of the nonminority employee favored by the job decision, but may be justified when the applicants' qualifications are equivalent.). 39 There is some evidence, however, that suggests that Jones was not as thorough in her review as she testified. 7 In her deposition, Jones first indicated that she did not remember how long the process took. She was then asked to give her best estimate, to which she responded that [t]he entire process probably took a week to two weeks. (R.3-130 at 46.) She again reiterated that her response was just an estimate. Hyland, on the other hand, testified that he was offered the dispatcher position about three weeks before the closing of the office approximately but that I can't be exact. (R.2-78 at 10.) 40 Walker and Golub interpret this testimony to indicate that Hyland was offered the job on November 11, which was two days after Jones received the PROFS note from Conner. If the offer was made to Hyland on November 11, Walker and Golub argue, then it was really Conner and not Jones who made the hiring decision. If Conner really was the decision-maker, as we discussed above, there is no evidence that he discriminated against Walker and Golub because he was not aware of their existence. On the other hand, Hyland's testimony could indicate that Jones spent only two days reviewing the personnel files rather than one to two weeks. Even if Jones spent only two days reviewing the files of the six members of the operations staff, this is insufficient evidence to show that she did not base her decision on qualifications. 41
42 Walker and Golub argue that Prudential deviated from its hiring policies, thus resulting in circumstantial evidence of discrimination. The bending of established rules may, of course, be suggestive of discrimination. See Morrison v. Booth, 763 F.2d 1366, 1374 (11th Cir.1985). In this case, however, Walker and Golub have not shown that Prudential departed from its usual hiring procedures. 43 First, Walker and Golub argue that the Orlando Dispatcher position should have been posted. However, the testimony of Tippy Rogers and Adell Jones establishes that the decision regarding whether to post a job was within the discretion of the Human Resources Department. Jones also testified that she decided not to post the job opening because the opening occurred so late in the process. Since there is no evidence regarding how long the posting process took, it is not clear whether the posting procedures could have been completed between November 9 and December 5. Based on this evidence, then, we cannot say that Jones's decision not to post the position violated a clearly established personnel policy. 44 Moreover, Walker and Golub cite Prudential's deviation from its affirmative action policy as evidence of pretext. Though the content of Prudential's affirmative action policy is not clearly established in the record, Walker and Golub contend that the policy encouraged the promotion of females and minorities and that hiring a male rather than a female for the Dispatcher position violated this policy. However, as we said in Liao v. TVA, 867 F.2d 1366 (11th Cir.1989), the failure to give a preference under such a plan cannot be used to support an allegation of discrimination in employment decisions. Id. at 1369. Any deviation from Prudential's plan in this case does not constitute evidence of pretext. 45 We are left, therefore, with a single shred of evidence to support Walker and Golub's assertion of pretext, namely that Jones took two days, rather than one or two weeks, to review the personnel files of the six members of the Fort Lauderdale operations staff before deciding that the Senior Dispatcher was more qualified than the others to serve as Dispatcher in the Orlando office. This shred of evidence, without more, is insufficient to establish that Prudential's articulated reason was pretextual. Therefore, summary judgment in favor of Prudential was appropriate. Cf. Reeves, 530 U.S. at 148, 120 S.Ct. at 2109 ([A]n employer would be entitled to judgment as a matter of law ... 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.).