Opinion ID: 2974559
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Circumstantial-Evidence Approach

Text: Burke-Johnson argues that McCoy’s testimony is sufficient to create an inference that Tirone was motivated by race discrimination in her selection of Cardona over Burke-Johnson. As an initial matter, McCoy testified that she was not involved in the hiring process for the Staff Assistant position, that she did not know what duties were encompassed by that position, and that she had no basis for comparing Burke-Johnson’s job performance with Cardona’s. By her own admission, then, McCoy is not equipped to opine on whether Cardona was better qualified to assume the Staff Assistant position. Burke-Johnson relies primarily on three statements that McCoy made at her deposition that, according to Burke-Johnson, give rise to a question of fact about the legitimacy of the Secretary’s proffered reasons for preferring Cardona. First, Burke-Johnson points to McCoy’s testimony wherein McCoy agreed with the statement that “race discrimination may have played a role in [Burke-Johnson’s] failure to achieve a promotion.” JA 426. Although it generally supports Burke-Johnson’s argument, this testimony is insufficient to submit Burke-Johnson’s claims to a jury because McCoy did not tie her view to Burke-Johnson’s failure to gain the Staff Assistant promotion, but only to Burke-Johnson’s general inability to get promoted. Where Burke-Johnson testified that she has applied and been turned down -9- No. 06-1251 Burke-Johnson v. Dep’t of Veterans Affairs for more than thirty promotions at the Ann Arbor VA, McCoy’s testimony is not sufficient to raise a genuine question of fact as to whether race discrimination was a motivating factor in the selection process for the particular position on which Burke-Johnson predicates her Title VII claim. Second, Burke-Johnson cites to McCoy’s affirmative response to a question about whether Tirone engaged in racial discrimination: Q: In your own words right now today looking back, your memory, your honest memory, is Jo Tirone someone who engaged in racial discrimination? A: At that time, yes. JA 505. McCoy’s “[a]t that time” reference was to February-May 2000 when McCoy alleged in her own EEOC complaint that she was subjected to racial discrimination by her superiors at the Ann Arbor VA. Burke-Johnson contends that McCoy’s testimony carries considerable weight because McCoy directly supervised Burke-Johnson and reported to Tirone on Burke-Johnson’s work activities and performance. In addition, McCoy asserted that she suffered racially discriminatory treatment at the hands of Tirone not long before Tirone allegedly discriminated against BurkeJohnson (Burke-Johnson was denied the Staff Assistant job in February 2001). Read as an isolated exchange, McCoy’s testimony that Burke-Johnson behaved in a racially discriminatory way “[a]t that time” might preclude summary judgment for the Secretary. After all, if the trier of fact believed McCoy’s testimony that Tirone discriminated against African-American employees around the time in which Burke-Johnson was denied the Staff Assistant promotion, it would not be a far leap to conclude that Tirone rejected Burke-Johnson on the basis of Burke- - 10 - No. 06-1251 Burke-Johnson v. Dep’t of Veterans Affairs Johnson’s race. Despite its probative value, McCoy’s testimony does not enable Burke-Johnson to withstand summary judgment because McCoy limited her opinion that Tirone engaged in racial discrimination to her—i.e., McCoy’s—own experiences at the Ann Arbor VA that prompted McCoy to file her own EEOC complaint. At least four times during her deposition, McCoy testified that she could only speak to her own experience. In fact, in a deposition question which just preceded that excerpted above, McCoy was asked whether “Tirone treated blacks and whites differently from each other.” McCoy answered, “I can only speak to my own situation at that time and that is what the record reflects for that time.” JA 505. Thus, viewed in context, McCoy’s testimony that Tirone engaged in racial discrimination “[a]t that time” is of minimal help to Burke-Johnson because McCoy confined her opinion to her “own situation” at the Ann Arbor VA. In other words, McCoy’s testimony does not give rise to an inference that Tirone discriminated against Burke-Johnson, or that Tirone discriminated generally against African-Americans. Even if true, McCoy’s testimony that Tirone discriminated against her cannot stand in as proof of a discriminatory animus towards BurkeJohnson. Third, Burke-Johnson notes that McCoy agreed that Tirone made comments that were “demeaning” or “hostile” to Burke-Johnson, or that tended to “deprive[] Ms. Burke-Johnson of her dignity.” JA 506. However, McCoy was not able to offer any examples. All McCoy was able to say was that these types of derisive remarks were “the general outcome” of her conversations with Tirone. Id. This is insufficient. See Wixson v. Dowagiac Nursing Home, 87 F.3d 164, 171 (6th Cir. 1996) (affirming the district court’s grant of summary judgment where the plaintiffs’ evidence - 11 - No. 06-1251 Burke-Johnson v. Dep’t of Veterans Affairs contained numerous allegations of disparate treatment “that [were] made in general, conclusory terms, but names, times and occasions [were] missing” and the affidavits were “filled with statements of the subjective beliefs of the affiants” that the defendant discriminated against its employees from Africa). More to the point, even assuming that Tirone did belittle Burke-Johnson, McCoy did not testify that these comments were based on Burke-Johnson’s race. What is left of McCoy’s testimony then is her general view that African-Americans encounter stiffer resistance than whites to advancement at the Ann Arbor VA. Even if true, this is too slender a basis upon which a reasonable factfinder could conclude that Burke-Johnson was not promoted to the Staff Assistant position due to her race, rather than the non-discriminatory reasons proffered by the Secretary. Burke-Johnson analogizes McCoy’s testimony to that of witnesses in Carter v. Univ. of Toledo, 349 F.3d 269 (6th Cir. 2003) and Hopson v. DaimlerChrysler Corp., 306 F.3d 427 (6th Cir. 2002) and argues that just as the Carter and Hopson witnesses’ statements were sufficient to defeat the defendants’ motions for summary judgment there, so is McCoy’s testimony sufficient to defeat the Secretary’s motion here. Contrary to Burke-Johnson’s assertion, both cases are distinguishable. In Carter, the plaintiff was an African-American visiting professor at the University of Toledo’s College of Education during the 1999-2000 academic year. 349 F.3d at 271. When she had not heard whether her contract would be renewed for the following year, the plaintiff contacted the university’s Vice Provost, who coordinated faculty hiring. Id. The plaintiff testified that the Vice Provost told her that the Interim Dean of the College of Education was “trying to whitewash the College of Education and I am not going to let her do this,” that the Interim Dean “was trying - 12 - No. 06-1251 Burke-Johnson v. Dep’t of Veterans Affairs to get rid of the black professors and that he was in a struggle with her involving the appointment of an additional black professor,” and that the personnel within the College of Education “were a bunch of racists.” Id. at 272. This Court reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment, holding that “if the jury were to believe that [the Vice Provost] in fact made the remarks attributed to him, then they might find that the University’s proffered reasons ‘did not actually motivate the defendant’s challenged conduct.’” Id. at 276. The descriptive quality of the Vice Provost’s comments contrasts sharply with McCoy’s inability to provide any examples of Tirone’s allegedly disparaging remarks about Burke-Johnson, but that alone does not distinguish Carter from this case. The Vice Provost in Carter broadly accused the Interim Dean of working to keep all African-Americans out of the College of Education, thus giving rise to an inference that the Interim Dean discriminated against the African-American plaintiff. McCoy, on the other hand, testified only about her “own situation” and did not testify that Tirone systematically discriminated against African-Americans at the Ann Arbor VA. Hopson is also unavailing. There, the plaintiff was a long-time DaimlerChrysler employee who applied for, but was denied, five different promotions for which DaimlerChrysler conceded he was qualified. 306 F.3d at 429. The plaintiff’s supervisor testified that, in his opinion, the plaintiff’s race was a motivating factor in the company’s refusal to promote him. Id. at 431. This Court treated the supervisor’s testimony as circumstantial evidence of discrimination because the supervisor was familiar with the company’s hiring practices and the plaintiff’s job strengths and therefore, “[i]n light of this knowledge, [the supervisor] was no doubt able to form a competent opinion regarding why [the plaintiff] was passed over for certain jobs.” Id. at 433, 437. - 13 - No. 06-1251 Burke-Johnson v. Dep’t of Veterans Affairs If the evidence adduced by the plaintiff in Hopson was limited to the testimony of his supervisor, Burke-Johnson would be on firmer ground in arguing that McCoy’s testimony is enough to defeat the Secretary’s summary judgment motion. But the Hopson evidence was not so limited. The Hopson Court also was troubled by the defendant’s proffered non-discriminatory reason—that in each of its non-promotion decisions involving the plaintiff, it had selected a better-qualified candidate—insofar as that reason “was vague, [and] failed to specify the manner in which the white employees were better qualified, or the degrees of difference in the [candidates’] annual evaluations.” Id. at 436. The Hopson record also contained statistical evidence that AfricanAmericans were under-represented in the positions to which the plaintiff was seeking a promotion. Id. at 437-38. The record compiled by Burke-Johnson is not so robust.
Besides McCoy’s testimony, Burke-Johnson contends that there was other evidence that supports a finding of pretext. First, Burke-Johnson argues that the evidence does not show that Cardona was better qualified for the Staff Assistant position than her. She further claims that the process used to choose between the candidates for the Staff Assistant job was suspicious in that Tirone did not adequately investigate Burke-Johnson’s qualifications. The Secretary argues that Burke-Johnson has waived these arguments because she did not raise them in the district court. On reply, Burke-Johnson responds that these issues were encompassed by the proceedings below and that to the extent they were not, this Court should nonetheless consider them pursuant to Pinney Dock and Transport Co. v. Penn Central Corp., 838 F.2d 1445, 1461 (6th Cir. 1988), which held that an appellate court may exercise its discretion to - 14 - No. 06-1251 Burke-Johnson v. Dep’t of Veterans Affairs consider matters not raised below “to the extent the issue is presented with sufficient clarity and completeness and its resolution will materially advance the progress” of the litigation. i) Qualifications Evidence Although Burke-Johnson did not specifically discuss qualifications as evidence of pretext in her brief in opposition to the Secretary’s motion for summary judgment, the question of her qualifications relative to those of Cardona was sufficiently part of the proceedings below. BurkeJohnson alleged her superior qualifications in her complaint, the Secretary sought to rebut that contention in its opening summary-judgment brief, and the district court considered and dismissed it as evidence of pretext in its order. Thus, we will address this argument. In substance, Burke-Johnson claims that Tirone unduly emphasized “interpersonal skills” in the hiring process when it is not clear that interpersonal skills were an important qualification for a job that was primarily statistical in nature. Burke-Johnson further argues that the evidence does not show that her interpersonal skills are in fact lacking, and notes that until this litigation, Tirone signed McCoy’s performance evaluations of Burke-Johnson and did not record that Burke-Johnson suffered from any interpersonal-skill deficiencies. Finally, Burke-Johnson appears to argue that the depth and breadth of her experience within the Ann Arbor VA was at least as extensive as Cardona’s. Burke-Johnson has not produced sufficient evidence to substantiate her qualifications argument. The Supreme Court has stated that “qualifications evidence may suffice, at least in some circumstances, to show pretext.” Ash v. Tyson Foods, Inc., 126 S. Ct. 1195, 1197 (2006). In Bender v. Hecht’s Department Stores, 455 F.3d 612, 626 (6th Cir. 2006), this Court held that the probative value of qualifications evidence in terms of demonstrating pretext must be balanced against “the - 15 - No. 06-1251 Burke-Johnson v. Dep’t of Veterans Affairs principles that employers are generally ‘free to choose among qualified candidates,’ [quoting] Wrenn v. Gould, 808 F.2d 493, 502 (6th Cir. 1987), and that ‘[t]he law does not require employers to make perfect decisions, nor forbid them from making decisions that others may disagree with,’ [quoting] Hartsel v. Keys, 87 F.3d 795, 801 (6th Cir. 1996).” Thus,“[w]hether qualifications evidence will be sufficient to raise a question of fact as to pretext will depend on whether a plaintiff presents other evidence of discrimination.” Bender, 455 F.3d at 626. If there is a dearth of other evidence of discrimination, then to survive summary judgment, “the rejected applicant’s qualifications must be so significantly better than the successful applicant’s qualifications that no reasonable employer would have chosen the latter applicant over the former. Id. at 627. Burke-Johnson has not met this standard. Even if it is true that her interpersonal skills were not lacking and that her experience within the VA was as well-rounded as Cardona’s, these were just two of the factors that Tirone considered in the selection process. Tirone also pointed to the importance of overall knowledge of patient-care services, organizational skills, decision-making skills, and computer skills. Burke-Johnson has not shown that her skills in these other areas exceeded Cardona’s, let alone, in light of the insufficiency of McCoy’s testimony, that they so far surpassed Cardona’s skills that Tirone’s selection of Cardona was unreasonable. Finally, although we recognize that “subjective reasons provide ‘ready mechanisms for discrimination,’” Burke-Johnson has not adduced any evidence showing that Tirone did not actually regard excellent interpersonal skills as an important qualification for the Staff Assistant job. Hedrick v. Western Reserve Care Sys., 355 F.3d 444, 461 (6th Cir. 2004) (internal citation omitted). Even had Burke-Johnson shown that interpersonal skills are irrelevant to the Staff Assistant’s duties, she - 16 - No. 06-1251 Burke-Johnson v. Dep’t of Veterans Affairs could not defeat summary judgment because in a Title VII case “we look to the employer’s motivation, not the applicant’s perceptions, or even an objective assessment, of what qualifications are required for a particular position.” Wrenn, 808 F.2d at 502. “[I]t is the employer’s motivation and intent, not its business judgment, that is at issue.” Id. ii) Selection-Process Evidence Without citing to any authority to support her position, Burke-Johnson argues that the selection process used by Tirone is indicative of discriminatory intent because Tirone lacked the necessary knowledge of Burke-Johnson’s skills and experience to meaningfully consider her for the Staff Assistant position. Although this precise issue does not appear to have been raised in the district court, we will entertain it because the parties’ briefing clearly frames the issue and no further factual development is required to dispose of it. Burke-Johnson is correct that Tirone was unable to testify in-depth about Burke-Johnson’s employment skills or performance within the VA, and the Secretary does not dispute that Tirone did not interview Burke-Johnson for the Staff Assistant position. Although it is conceivable that, in a proper case, a Title VII plaintiff might adduce evidence of pretext by showing that an employer’s review of her application was so cursory as to suggest that an impermissible consideration might be at work, this is not such a case. See Kline v. Tenn. Valley Auth., 128 F.3d 337, 340 (6th Cir. 1997) (noting that in the plaintiff’s prior appeal, the Court reversed the grant of summary judgment and remanded to the district court “to determine whether TVA in fact made a good faith determination that [the candidate actually hired] was better qualified for the job”). It is undisputed that a panel consisting of Tirone, Ventura, and a third unidentified person reviewed the applications of the three - 17 - No. 06-1251 Burke-Johnson v. Dep’t of Veterans Affairs persons who applied for the Staff Assistant job. Moreover, Tirone had sufficient familiarity with Burke-Johnson’s background and skills to be able to compare her with Cardona. Tirone testified that Burke-Johnson’s scope of responsibility was not as broad as Cardona’s and that Cardona had developed knowledge “beyond clinical issues or unit-specific patient-care issues” that made her the more desirable candidate. On this record, it cannot be said that the selection process gave short-shrift to Burke-Johnson’s application, or that even if Tirone and her colleagues did fail to give adequate consideration to Burke-Johnson’s skills, that that failure was based on Burke-Johnson’s race.