Opinion ID: 26083
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Rejection of Montemayor's Academy application

Text: 12 The district court upheld the jury's determination that Chief Ojeda rejected Montemayor's application for admission to the Academy because she had complained about her initial interview experience. We concur with the district court's ruling that Montemayor presented sufficient evidence of pretext from which a reasonable jury could conclude that Montemayor was not admitted to the Academy because of her protected conduct. 13 The City contends that Montemayor's application was rejected because she had several blemishes on her record. These included (1) using an expired driver's license for identification purposes; (2) driving without insurance in 1993 and 1994; (3) suspension of her driver's license for driving without insurance; (4) a bad work history; (5) a poor attendance record in high school; (6) a poor academic record in high school; (7) a low grade point average in college; and (8) perceived dishonesty in answering whether she had been terminated from a job. Chief Ojeda deemed these offenses to constitute bad moral character and therefore found her to be unqualified to enter the training academy. 14 However, as the district court's well-reasoned order details, Montemayor introduced substantial evidence that other candidates with even worse backgrounds than Montemayor were allowed into the training academy. Furthermore, Chief Ojeda reiterated at trial that the deficiencies in Montemayor's application demonstrated that she did not know right from wrong. In sum, there was sufficient evidence from which a reasonable jury could find that the Chief harbored animus against Montemayor for her complaints, and this animus was the real reason for his decision not to admit her to the training academy. Therefore, we AFFIRM the district court's ruling denying judgment as a matter of law on this claim. 6 The $23,000 damages award is also upheld. See Migis v. Pearle Vision, Inc., 135 F.3d 1041, 1046 (5th Cir. 1998).