Opinion ID: 774130
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to Train Because of Age.

Text: 41 Holtz alleges that when Cowan hired her, he promised to provide her with training as an accountant but that he later refused to do so because of her age. The district court granted summary judgment on this claim on the ground that Holtz failed to show that she was treated differently than were similarly situated co-employees. We conclude that the district court incorrectly applied the burden-shifting analysis applicable to discrimination claims. Properly applied, this analysis requires reversal. 42 1. Applicable Law. The ultimate issue in an ADEA case is whether the plaintiff has proved by a preponderance of the evidence that her age played a motivating role in, or contributed to, the employer's decision. Renz v. Grey Advert., Inc., 135 F.3d 217, 222 (2d Cir. 1997). Because direct evidence of discrimination -- a 'smoking gun'... attesting to a discriminatory intent, Rosen v. Thornburgh, 928 F.2d 528, 533 (2d Cir. 1991) -- is typically unavailable, plaintiffs and courts ordinarily proceed by way of the three-part burden-shifting analysis set forth in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 (1973). [T]he allocation of burdens [under the McDonnell-Douglas framework] and the creation of a presumption by the establishment of a prima facie case is intended progressively to sharpen the inquiry into the elusive factual question of intentional discrimination. Texas Dep't of Cmty. Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 255 n.8 (1981). 43 Under the McDonnell Douglas framework, the plaintiff must first establish a prima facie case of discrimination. See Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 142 (2000). An ADEA plaintiff meets that burden by showing that (1) she was within the protected age group, (2) she was qualified for her position, (3) she suffered an adverse employment action, and (4) that action took place in circumstances giving rise to an inference of discrimination. See Schnabel v. Abramson, 232 F.3d 83, 87 (2d Cir. 2000). By making out this 'minimal' prima facie case,... the plaintiff 'creates a presumption that the employer unlawfully discriminated,' and thus places the burden of production on the employer to proffer a nondiscriminatory reason for its action. James v. New York Racing Ass'n, 233 F.3d 149, 154 (2d Cir. 2000) (citations omitted). 44 If the defendant meets its burden, the McDonnell Douglas framework...disappear[s] and the sole remaining issue... [is] discrimination vel non. Reeves, 530 U.S. at 142-43 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). 2 The plaintiff must then meet her ultimate burden of proving that she was the victim of intentional discrimination without the benefit of McDonnell Douglas's intermediate burdens and presumptions. Id. at 143. 45 2. Analysis. As noted, the district court dismissed Holtz's failure-to-train claim because she failed to show that she was treated differently than were other similarly situated employees. It is true that evidence of disparate treatment may establish the inference of discrimination necessary to satisfy a plaintiff's prima facie case under McDonnell Douglas. See Abdu-Brisson, 239 F.3d at 467-68. But such evidence is not always necessary. See id. [A] plaintiff may rely on direct evidence of what the defendant did and said in satisfying her initial burden under McDonnell Douglas. Tarshis v. Riese Org., 211 F.3d 30, 35 (2d Cir. 2000); see also Abdu-Brisson, 239 F.3d at 468. We have held, for instance, that evidence that the employer had told the employee that he was being fired because of his age[,]... coupled with a firing (or refusal to hire) of a person in the protected age group, would support a finding that the firing was based on an impermissible criterion such as age. Stanojev v. Ebasco Servs., Inc., 643 F.2d 914, 921 (2d Cir. 1981). 46 Holtz has provided similar direct evidence in this case. She testified at her deposition that when Cowan discussed his plans to give Colleen Ryan new duties and give her more responsibilities,... he went on at some length about how he was grooming Colleen and training her and she was a good employee to invest in because she was a young girl, a young woman. Holtz testified further that on a different occasion Cowan called [her] in and told [her] how much he enjoyed training young women and he mentioned Colleen Ryan and Paula Aviles. Even more pointedly, Holtz testified that when she would raise the particular subject of her training and ask, 'When are we going to have these sessions in which you teach me the basics of accounting,' he would say, 'Oh, Laura, it's young women I like to train.' Holtz testified, moreover, that these incidents were not isolated. Throughout her employment, there were always kind of these [sic] references to how he liked training young women, she said. 47 Holtz's testimony is the only evidence in the record directly ascribing discriminatory intent to Cowan or RCI, and consists largely of her uncorroborated accounts of what Cowan said. We nonetheless conclude that her statements raise a genuine issue of fact as to the defendant's intent. See Owens v. New York City Hous. Auth., 934 F.2d 405, 410 (2d Cir.) (stating that employer's contention that discrimination plaintiff's proffered evidence of discriminatory comments is uncorroborated and not credible is a jury argument inappropriate on a motion for summary judgment), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 964 (1991); Sorlucco v. New York City Police Dep't, 888 F.2d 4, 7 (2d Cir. 1989) (The plaintiff may preclude summary judgment by producing evidence from which the trier of fact reasonably could draw an inference of discrimination.). 48 Having concluded that Holtz failed to make out a prima facie case because there was no evidence of disparate treatment, the district court proceeded no further in its McDonnell Douglas analysis, that is, it did not consider whether RCI had articulated a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for failing to train Holtz and, if so, whether Holtz nonetheless met her burden of raising a triable issue of fact as to whether RCI engaged in intentional discrimination. Without addressing these issues explicitly, RCI suggests that there was a legitimate explanation for Cowan's refusal to train Holtz in accounting, namely, that she was not qualified for a staff accounting position. Even if true, however, this assertion does not necessarily defeat Holtz's claim that because of her age, she was not given the training promised her when she was hired. Holtz's evidence that the promise was made and that age was at least a substantial part of the motivation for the denial of training is sufficient to defeat summary judgment. 49 The dissent asserts that Holtz's testimony regarding Cowan's comments is insufficient to carry her burden at the final stage of the McDonnell Douglas analysis. We understand the dissent to argue that as part of this burden, Holtz was required to show that RCI's proffered justification for not giving her accounting training was false by showing, for example, that others similarly situated but for age were given the training to which Holtz insists she was entitled. We disagree. 50 We first note that just as evidence of disparate treatment is not an essential element of a prima facie case of discrimination, see Abdu-Brisson, 239 F.3d at 467-68, such evidence is also not always necessary at the final stage of the McDonnell Douglas analysis. See, e.g., Owens, 934 F.2d at 410 (holding that evidence of remarks by employer reflecting discriminatory motive was sufficient to raise[] a triable issue as to whether the articulated reasons for [the employer]s conduct] were pretextual.). To defeat summary judgment within the McDonnell Douglas framework, moreover, the plaintiff is not required to show that the employer's proffered reasons were false or played no role in the employment decision, but only that they were not the only reasons and that the prohibited factor was at least one of the 'motivating' factors. Cronin v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., 46 F.3d 196, 203 (2d Cir. 1995); see also Reeves, 530 U.S. at 147; Bickerstaff v. Vassar College, 196 F.3d 435, 447 (2d Cir. 1999), cert. denied, 530 U.S. 1242 (2000); Fields v. New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, 115 F.3d 116, 120 (2d Cir. 1994). The plaintiff's burden in this regard may often be carried by reliance on the evidence comprising the prima facie case, without more. Cronin, 46 F.3d at 203. 51 Of course, RCI may still raise the defense articulated by the dissent -- that it would have refused to train Holtz regardless of her age. See Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, 490 U.S. 228 (1989); Grant v. Hazelett Strip-Casting Corp., 880 F.2d 1564, 1568-69 (2d Cir. 1989). But the validity of this defense is ordinarily for the jury to decide at trial rather than for the court to determine on a motion for summary judgment. See Cronin, 46 F.3d at 203. For the reasons set forth in the dissent, Holtz may have a distinctly uphill battle on these issues at trial. But we conclude that as to this claim, she is entitled to such a trial and that summary judgment was improperly granted to the defendant.