Opinion ID: 2790185
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Gender Discrimination Discharge Claim

Text: Plaintiff claims that the Hospital discriminated against her because of her gender when it fired her. Because no direct evidence of gender discrimination exists on this record, we apply the burden-shifting framework of McDonnell Douglas. The latter requires (1) Plaintiff to first make out a prima facie, (2) after which the burden shifts to the Hospital to articulate a non-discriminatory reason for its employment action, (3) with the burden thereafter shifting back to Plaintiff to offer evidence of pretext. Crawford, 482 F.3d at 1308. To make a prima facie case, Plaintiff must first show that she “(1) was a member of a protected class, (2) was qualified for the job, (3) suffered an adverse employment action, and (4) was replaced by someone outside the protected class or that her employer treated similarly situated employees outside of her class more favorably.” Cuddeback, 381 F.3d at 1235. 18 Case: 13-14848 Date Filed: 03/31/2015 Page: 19 of 31 The district court found that Plaintiff failed to establish a prima facie case of gender discrimination for her employment termination because she did not present comparator evidence that a similarly-situated male employee was treated more favorably when presented with similar accusations of misconduct. We agree. “In order to be considered ‘similarly situated,’ the compared employees must have been ‘involved in or accused of the same or similar conduct,’ yet ‘disciplined in different ways’ for that conduct.” Smith v. Lockheed-Martin Corp., 644 F.3d 1321, 1346 (11th Cir. 2011). There is no evidence on the record that similar reports of misconduct were made against any other employees, so Plaintiff has failed to present comparator evidence sufficient to make a prima facie case. Plaintiff argues that her lack of comparator evidence does not doom her claim because we have held that “establishing the elements of the McDonnell Douglas framework is not, and never was intended to be, the sine qua non for a plaintiff to survive [] summary judgment;” instead, a plaintiff will survive summary judgment if she presents a “convincing mosaic of circumstantial evidence that would allow a jury to infer intentional discrimination.” Smith, 644 F.3d at 1328. But Plaintiff has not presented a “convincing mosaic” of evidence suggesting that her employment termination was motivated by her gender. In Smith, there was substantial evidence of discriminatory racial animus, including documented racial tensions following a workplace shooting resulting from racism 19 Case: 13-14848 Date Filed: 03/31/2015 Page: 20 of 31 against black employees. Id. at 1329–30. Any evidence of gender-motivated animus is entirely lacking in this case. Moreover, even assuming that Plaintiff established a prima facie case of gender discrimination, the allegations of misconduct made against Plaintiff amply supply an adequate non-discriminatory, non-pretextual reason for firing her. Mr. Kendrick informed the Hospital’s executive team of the racist and anti-Semitic remarks that Plaintiff allegedly made, such as “listen to the stupid nigger,” and “that’s all we need another fucken (sic) South African Jew.” In fact, Plaintiff admitted during her deposition that she might have “teasingly” referred to one of her colleagues as a “fucking Jew.” Investigator Black’s report showed that at least two witnesses reported feeling physically afraid of Plaintiff, and numerous witnesses reported that Plaintiff made threatening statements, including: (1) she would “leave in a trail of blood”; (2) there “will be causalities (sic) in this group”; and (3) she was “leaving this place with a boom and will bring down the group.” Plaintiff responds that she never made any of those comments, but significantly, the question is not whether Plaintiff actually engaged in the alleged misconduct. Rather, it is whether the Hospital in good faith believed the reports of misconduct. See Alvarez v. Royal Atl. Developers, Inc., 610 F.3d 1253, 1266–67 (11th Cir. 2010) (the “question is whether her employers were dissatisfied with her for [] non-discriminatory reasons, even if mistakenly or unfairly so”); Elrod v. 20 Case: 13-14848 Date Filed: 03/31/2015 Page: 21 of 31 Sears, Roebuck & Co., 939 F.2d 1466, 1470 (11th Cir. 1991) (inquiry is limited to whether employer believed plaintiff was guilty of misconduct and if so, whether that was reason behind discharge; that employee did not actually engage in misconduct is irrelevant). Here, the Hospital had received multiple reports of Plaintiff’s inflammatory remarks and aggressive personality. It took these reports seriously enough to initiate a formal investigation. Plaintiff has provided no reason to suspect that the Hospital did not honestly believe the truth of the allegations against Plaintiff. That being so, the serious misconduct alleged by co-workers easily constitutes a nondiscriminatory reason for terminating Plaintiff’s employment. Accordingly, her discriminatory termination claim fails.