Opinion ID: 185615
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Title VII Prima Facie Case

Text: 26 With respect to appellant's Title VII claims, the District Court concluded that Ms. Stella did not make out a prima facie case of discrimination because the FAA selected both male and female employees to fill the contested SES positions. Mem. Op. at 17-18. In so ruling, the court applied the wrong legal standard for a prima facie case of discrimination. Discrimination against federal employees on the basis of sex is prohibited by 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-16(a), while the more familiar § 2000e-2(a) governs discrimination by private employers. See Brown, 199 F.3d at 452. In both contexts, the legal analysis is the same: the familiar burden-shifting test of McDonnell Douglas. Id. 27 Under McDonnell Douglas, it is the plaintiff's burden to establish a prima facie case of discrimination by a preponderance of the evidence. 411 U.S. at 802, 93 S.Ct. at 1824; Tex. Dep't of Cmty. Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 252-53, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981). If the plaintiff establishes a prima facie case, the employer must then articulate a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for its actions. McDonnell Douglas, 411 U.S. at 802, 93 S.Ct. at 1824. The plaintiff must then demonstrate that the employer's stated reason was pretextual and that the true reason was discriminatory. Id. at 804, 93 S.Ct. at 1825; St. Mary's Honor Ctr. v. Hicks, 509 U.S. 502, 507-08, 113 S.Ct. 2742, 125 L.Ed.2d 407 (1993). 28 McDonnell Douglas involved a claim of racial discrimination in hiring. The Supreme Court explained that the plaintiff could establish his prima facie case of discrimination by showing that he belonged to a racial minority, that he applied and was qualified for an available position, that he was rejected despite his qualifications, and that, after his rejection, the employer continued to seek applicants who were no more qualified than plaintiff. 411 U.S. at 802, 93 S.Ct. at 1824. The Court never suggested that the plaintiff's prima facie case would automatically be extinguished if the position were filled by someone who was also a member of the plaintiff's protected class. The Court cautioned that, because the facts of Title VII claims vary, its specifications of the prima facie case in McDonnell Douglas might not be applicable to every factual situation. Id. at 802 n. 13, 93 S.Ct. at 1824; see also Swierkiewicz v. Sorema N.A., 534 U.S. 506, 122 S.Ct. 992, 997, 152 L.Ed.2d 1 (2002) (stating that the requirements of the prima facie case can vary depending on context and were `never intended to be rigid, mechanized, or ritualistic') (quoting Furnco Constr. Corp. v. Waters, 438 U.S. 567, 577, 98 S.Ct. 2943, 57 L.Ed.2d 957 (1978)). This court, like our sister circuits, requires a plaintiff to state a prima facie claim of discrimination by establishing that: (1) she is a member of a protected class; (2) she suffered an adverse employment action; and (3) the unfavorable action gives rise to an inference of discrimination. Brown, 199 F.3d at 452. 29 The District Court's holding that Ms. Stella was required to show that the SES positions were not filled by women finds no support in McDonnell Douglas. In International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. 324, 358 n. 44, 97 S.Ct. 1843, 52 L.Ed.2d 396 (1977), the Court explained the function served by the McDonnell Douglas formula. The Court stated that, under McDonnell Douglas, a plaintiff must show that his rejection is not attributable to the two most common legitimate reasons on which an employer might rely to reject a job applicant: an absolute or relative lack of qualifications or the absence of a vacancy in the job sought. Id. The Court further explained that [e]limination of these reasons for the refusal to hire is sufficient, absent other explanation, to create an inference that the decision was a discriminatory one. Id. The Court did not discuss the factor relied on by the District Court, and that factor is not relevant to the analysis set forth by the Court in Teamsters. 30 The point was made even more clearly in O'Connor v. Consolidated Coin Caterers Corp., 517 U.S. 308, 312, 116 S.Ct. 1307, 134 L.Ed.2d 433 (1996), an age discrimination case. In O'Connor, a unanimous Court found the fact that the plaintiff was replaced by someone outside the protected class not to be a proper element of the McDonnell Douglas prima facie case. Id. Courts of Appeals have applied the Supreme Court's holding in O'Connor to the sex discrimination context. In Pivirotto v. Innovative Systems, Inc., 191 F.3d 344, 347 (3d Cir.1999), the Third Circuit join[ed] seven other circuits in holding that a plaintiff claiming discriminatory firing need not prove, to make out a prima facie case, that she was replaced by someone outside the relevant class (footnote omitted). The court noted the Supreme Court's oft-recited qualification that an important function of the prima facie case is to weed out the most common lawful reasons for the defendant's action, such as the plaintiff's lack of qualifications or the elimination of the position altogether. Id. at 352 (citing Burdine, 450 U.S. at 253-54, 101 S.Ct. 1093-94). It also pointed out that even if a plaintiff was replaced by someone within her class, she could still demonstrate that the employer treated her worse than others because she was a member of the protected class. Id. at 353. She may have been treated differently from similarly situated male employees. Id. at 353-54. 31 Nearly every Court of Appeals to consider the issue, both before and after O'Connor, has agreed that the fact that an employer replaces a plaintiff with a person from within the same protected class is not, by itself, grounds for dismissing a Title VII claim. See Perry v. Woodward, 199 F.3d 1126, 1136-41 (10th Cir.1999), cert. denied, 529 U.S. 1110, 120 S.Ct. 1964, 146 L.Ed.2d 796 (2000); Nieto v. L & H Packing Co., 108 F.3d 621, 624 & n. 7 (5th Cir.1997); Carson v. Bethlehem Steel Corp., 82 F.3d 157, 158-59 (7th Cir.1996) (( per curiam ); Jackson v. Richards Med. Co., 961 F.2d 575, 587 n. 12 (6th Cir.1992); Cumpiano v. Banco Santander P.R., 902 F.2d 148, 154-55 (1st Cir.1990); Walker v. St. Anthony's Med. Ctr., 881 F.2d 554, 558 (8th Cir.1989); Meiri v. Dacon, 759 F.2d 989, 995-96 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 829, 106 S.Ct. 91, 88 L.Ed.2d 74 (1985); Howard v. Roadway Express, Inc., 726 F.2d 1529, 1534-36 (11th Cir.1984). But see Brown v. McLean, 159 F.3d 898, 905 (4th Cir.1998) (In order to make out a prima facie case of discriminatory termination, a plaintiff must ordinarily show that the position ultimately was filled by someone not a member of the protected class.), cert. denied, 526 U.S. 1099, 119 S.Ct. 1577, 143 L.Ed.2d 672 (1999). 32 This court has not faced the question directly until now. In answering it we hold, in conformity with the overwhelming majority of other circuits to consider the issue, that a plaintiff in a discrimination case need not demonstrate that she was replaced by a person outside her protected class in order to carry her burden of establishing a prima facie case under McDonnell Douglas. To the extent the prior decisions of this court have, when reciting the elements of a prima facie case in passing, created confusion on this point, we now clear up such confusion by answering the question we now squarely confront for the first time. Cf. Cones v. Shalala, 199 F.3d 512, 517 (D.C.Cir.2000) (stating in dictum that a plaintiff establishes a prima facie case by showing that she is female, that she was refused a position for which she applied and was qualified, and that the employer filled the position with a male) (quoting Kolstad v. Am. Dental Ass'n, 108 F.3d 1431, 1436 (D.C.Cir.1997), modified in part on other grounds, 139 F.3d 958 (D.C.Cir.1998) ( en banc ), vacated, 527 U.S. 526, 119 S.Ct. 2118, 144 L.Ed.2d 494 (1999)); cf. also Brown, 199 F.3d at 451 (approving the District Court's observation that a sex discrimination claim regarding lateral transfers would be baseless because two of the employees selected were women, without discussing the elements of the McDonnell Douglas prima facie case). 33 Thus, although women and men may have been promoted to the SES positions for which Ms. Stella applied, she may nonetheless be able to demonstrate that she received unfavorable treatment in the promotion process because she is a woman. There is no question that failure to promote is an adverse action for purposes of the prima facie case. See Burlington Indus., Inc. v. Ellerth, 524 U.S. 742, 761, 118 S.Ct. 2257, 141 L.Ed.2d 633 (1998). We reverse the District Court's holding that because women were promoted to SES positions, appellant could not carry her burden of establishing a prima facie case of discrimination. 34