Opinion ID: 460110
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Disparate Treatment on the Basis of Race

Text: 14 Lowe also contends that the City intentionally discriminated against her and that she is therefore entitled to proceed under Title VII on a disparate treatment theory. 4 In a Title VII disparate treatment case, a plaintiff must first establish a prima facie case of discrimination. If the plaintiff establishes a prima facie case, the burden then shifts to the defendant to articulate a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason for its employment decision. Then, in order to prevail, the plaintiff must demonstrate that the employer's alleged reason for the adverse employment decision is a pretext for another motive which is discriminatory. McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802-05, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 1824-26, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973); Diaz v. American Telephone & Telegraph, 752 F.2d 1356, 1358-59 (9th Cir.1985).
15 To establish a prima facie case of discrimination in a disparate treatment case, a plaintiff must offer evidence that give[s] rise to an inference of unlawful discrimination. Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 253, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 1094, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981); accord United States Postal Service v. Aikens, 460 U.S. 711, 103 S.Ct. 1478, 1481, 75 L.Ed.2d 403 (1983). A common way to establish an inference of discrimination is to show that the four requirements set forth in McDonnell Douglas are met: 16 1. that the plaintiff belongs to a class protected by Title VII; 17 2. that the plaintiff applied and was qualified for a job for which the employer was seeking applicants; 18 3. that, despite being qualified, the plaintiff was rejected; and 19 4. that, after the plaintiff's rejection, the position remained open and the employer continued to seek applicants from persons of comparable qualifications. 20 See McDonnell Douglas, 411 U.S. at 802, 93 S.Ct. at 1824. Satisfaction of the McDonnell Douglas criteria is sufficient to establish a prima facie case. Furnco Construction Corp. v. Waters, 438 U.S. 567, 575, 98 S.Ct. 2943, 2948-49, 57 L.Ed.2d 957 (1978); Diaz, 752 F.2d at 1359; Spaulding v. University of Washington, 740 F.2d 686, 700 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 105 S.Ct. 511, 83 L.Ed.2d 401 (1984); O'Brien v. Sky Chefs, Inc., 670 F.2d 864, 868 n. 1 (9th Cir.1982); Lynn v. Regents of the University of California, 656 F.2d 1337, 1340-41 (9th Cir.1981); White v. City of San Diego, 605 F.2d 455, 458 (9th Cir.1979). 21 As a Black, Lowe belongs to a class protected by Title VII. Both parties agree that she was qualified for the position because she passed the examination and that at some point she was rejected. Thus there is no disagreement that Lowe met the first and third parts of the McDonnell Douglas requirements for establishing a prima facie case. But in order to satisfy the remaining requirements it was necessary for Lowe to establish that an opening existed at the time she applied or afterwards, and that after she was rejected the City continued to accept applications from comparably qualified applicants. See Gay, 694 F.2d at 547; Chavez v. Tempe Union High School District, 565 F.2d 1087, 1091 (9th Cir.1977). 22 The City contends that Lowe failed to establish a prima facie case because no entry level job existed on the police force during the time the eligibility list which contained Lowe's name was active. According to the City, Lowe did not apply, for purposes of the McDonnell Douglas test, until the eligibility list which contained her name became effective. The City also contends that the automatic expiration of the eligibility list on February 1, 1983 did not constitute a rejection. We cannot accept either of the City's arguments. 23 McDonnell Douglas' § second prima facie case requirement relates only to whether there was an opening either when the plaintiff applied or at any time her application was pending. The City advertised job openings on the police force prior to the time Lowe filed her application and Logans acknowledged that there was an opening after the time Lowe completed the application process--the opening that Razo was subsequently hired to fill. The City does not contend that there was no opening at any relevant time prior to the date of Razo's employment. It is not relevant for purposes of this requirement whether the City had a legitimate reason for delaying the effective date of the eligibility list on which Lowe's name was placed. Any such reason might undermine the inference of discrimination raised once a prima facie case has been established, but the order of proof set forth in McDonnell Douglas does not permit us to consider rebuttal evidence at the prima facie case stage. Rather, in a Title VII disparate treatment case such evidence is considered during the next analytic steps when we evaluate the City's articulated nondiscriminatory reason for not hiring the plaintiff. Thus, Lowe applied when she filed her application; she clearly met the second requirement. 24 Lowe also satisfied the fourth McDonnell Douglas requirement. After February 1, 1983, the City no longer considered Lowe an active, eligible applicant. Yet, the City does not contend that it ceased hiring entry-level police officers at that time, or that it suddenly changed the qualifications required of eligible candidates. Rather, it explains that eligibility lists automatically expire after six months. As with its practice of delaying the effective dates of its eligibility lists, the City may have a legitimate reason for maintaining the lists for only six months. However, any such justification, like any justification the City asserts for delaying the effective dates of the lists, may be considered only when we evaluate the articulated nondiscriminatory reason for not hiring the plaintiff. Whatever its reason, the City rejected Lowe on February 1, 1983 and continued to accept applications from similarly qualified candidates. Lowe has thus satisfied the final part of the McDonnell Douglas four-part test and established a prima facie case of discrimination. 5 25 In addition, a plaintiff can establish a prima facie case of disparate treatment without satisfying the McDonnell Douglas test. See Diaz, 752 F.2d at 1361; Gay, 694 F.2d at 550. Lowe has provided evidence that suggests that the employment decision was based on a discriminatory criterion illegal under the [Civil Rights] Act. International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. 324, 358, 97 S.Ct. 1843, 1866, 52 L.Ed.2d 396 (1977). Logans' statement to Lowe regarding the composition of the Monrovia police force and her suggestion that Lowe apply in Los Angeles instead of Monrovia, when viewed in conjunction with the fact that no Blacks were employed by the Monrovia Police Department at the time Lowe applied, create an inference of discrimination sufficient to establish a prima facie case. 6 Because Lowe has met the four-part McDonnell Douglas requirements and alternatively because she has provided direct and circumstantial evidence of discriminatory intent, she established a prima facie case of disparate treatment on the basis of race. Thus the district court erred when it based its award of summary judgment on the ground on which it relied. 26
27 Because we are reviewing a district court's order granting summary judgment, we must examine the record to determine if there is any other basis for affirmance. Diaz, 752 F.2d at 1362. If the result below were correct, we would affirm even if the district court relied on an erroneous ground. Keniston v. Roberts, 717 F.2d 1295, 1300 & n. 3 (9th Cir.1983) (citing Helvering v. Gowran, 302 U.S. 238, 58 S.Ct. 154, 82 L.Ed. 224 (1937) ). In order to determine whether any other basis for affirmance exists, we must examine the portions of the record that relate to the second and third steps governing the order of proof in disparate treatment cases. 28 After Lowe established a prima facie case of employment discrimination, the burden shifted to the City to rebut the presumption of discrimination by articulating a nondiscriminatory reason for not hiring her. To accomplish this, the City was only required to set forth a legally sufficient explanation for rejecting Lowe's application. Burdine, 450 U.S. at 254-55, 101 S.Ct. at 1094-95; Teamsters, 431 U.S. at 359, 97 S.Ct. at 1866-67. The City's articulated reason for not hiring Lowe was that it followed a long-standing nondiscriminatory practice with respect to the creation and maintenance of eligibility lists. The City contends that under the procedures it follows no entry-level job opening existed during the time the eligibility list which contained Lowe's name was in effect. There may very well be administrative constraints that would justify the City's use of a delayed effective-date, automatic-expiration system for eligibility lists. It may also be that it is preferable for the City to hire experienced officers in some instances. In any event, we assume, arguendo, that the City succeeded in articulating a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason for failing to hire Lowe. 7 29 However, on a motion for summary judgment in a disparate treatment case, the defendant's articulation of a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason serves only to shift the burden back to the plaintiff to raise a genuine factual question as to whether the proffered reason is pretextual. See Burdine, 450 U.S. at 255-56, 101 S.Ct. at 1094-95. Lowe contends that the reason the City uses eligibility lists that have delayed effective dates and expire automatically is to mask its discriminatory hiring practices. She alleges that the City hires from eligibility lists if the candidates who rank high on the list are not Black but hires laterally when Blacks rank high on the lists. Lowe attempts to support this contention with a claim that Blacks are selected in a proportion smaller than their percentage in the pool of actual applicants. She alleges that six Blacks qualified on the eligibility lists between 1979 and 1982 but none were hired. 8 30 A disparate treatment plaintiff may rely on statistical evidence to establish a prima facie case, see Diaz, 752 F.2d at 1362, or to show that a defendant's articulated nondiscriminatory reason for the employment decision in question is pretextual, id. at 1363. As we explained in Diaz, 31 Statistical data is relevant because it can be used to establish a general discriminatory pattern in an employer's hiring or promotion practices. Such a discriminatory pattern is probative of motive and can therefore create an inference of discriminatory intent with respect to the individual employment decision at issue. 32 Id. While statistical data may be extremely useful in demonstrating that a defendant's articulated reason for an employment decision is pretextual, in this case, however, as we noted earlier, Lowe's assertions of racial disparities in hiring are not supported by a proper statistical record. See supra p. 1005 & note 3. 33 Nevertheless, we conclude that there is a genuine issue of material fact with respect to whether the reasons or motivations for the City's actions were in fact discriminatory. A plaintiff may succeed in persuading the court that she has been the victim of intentional discrimination ... either by directly persuading the court that a discriminatory reason more likely motivated the employer or indirectly by showing that the employer's proffered explanation is unworthy of credence. Burdine, 450 U.S. at 256, 101 S.Ct. at 1095. In order to do so, the plaintiff need not necessarily offer evidence beyond that offered to establish a prima facie case. Id. at 255 n. 10, 101 S.Ct. at 1095 n. 10. The trier of fact may consider the same evidence that the plaintiff has introduced to establish a prima facie case in determining whether the defendant's explanation for the employment decision is pretextual. See id. Diaz, 752 F.2d at 1363 n. 8. 34 In other civil rights contexts, we have made it clear that the decision as to an employer's true motivation plainly is one reserved to the trier of fact. Peacock v. DuVal, 694 F.2d 644, 646 (9th Cir.1982) (quoting Nicholson v. Board of Education Torrance Unified School District, 682 F.2d 858, 864 (9th Cir.1981) ). This notion--that the question of an employer's intent to discriminate is a pure question of fact, Pullman-Standard v. Swint, 456 U.S. 273, 287-88, 102 S.Ct. 1781, 1789-90, 72 L.Ed.2d 66 (1982), to be left to the trier of fact--is well-established, id. at 288, 102 S.Ct. at 1789-90 (citing Dayton Board of Education v. Brinkman, 443 U.S. 526, 534, 99 S.Ct. 2971, 2977, 61 L.Ed.2d 720 (1979); Commissioner v. Duberstein, 363 U.S. 278, 286, 80 S.Ct. 1190, 1197, 4 L.Ed.2d 1218 (1960); United States v. Yellow Cab Co., 338 U.S. 338, 341, 70 S.Ct. 177, 179, 94 L.Ed. 150 (1949) ), and clearly applies in Title VII cases. Id. Moreover, an employer's true motive in an employment decision is rarely easy to discern. As we have previously noted, [w]ithout a searching inquiry into these motives, those [acting for impermissible motives] could easily mask their behavior behind a complex web of post hoc rationalizations. Peacock, 694 F.2d at 646. 35 As explained above, a plaintiff may establish a prima facie case of disparate treatment by satisfying the McDonnell Douglas four-part test, thereby creating a rebuttable presumption of discriminatory treatment, or by presenting actual evidence, direct or circumstantial, of the employer's discriminatory motive. When a plaintiff does not rely exclusively on the presumption but seeks to establish a prima facie case through the submission of actual evidence, very little such evidence is necessary to raise a genuine issue of fact regarding an employer's motive; any indication of discriminatory motive--including evidence as diverse as the [defendant's] reaction, if any, to [plaintiff's] legitimate civil rights activities; and treatment of [plaintiff] during his prior term of employment; [defendant's] general policy and practice with respect to minority employment, McDonnell Douglas, 411 U.S. at 804-05, 93 S.Ct. at 1825-26--may suffice to raise a question that can only be resolved by a factfinder. Once a prima facie case is established either by the introduction of actual evidence or reliance on the McDonnell Douglas presumption, summary judgment for the defendant will ordinarily not be appropriate on any ground relating to the merits because the crux of a Title VII dispute is the elusive factual question of intentional discrimination, Burdine, 450 U.S. at 255 n. 8. See, e.g., Foster v. Arcata Associates, Inc., 772 F.2d 1453, 1459 (9th Cir. 1985) (courts generally cautious about granting summary judgment in Title VII cases where intent involved); Sweat v. Miller Brewing Co., 708 F.2d 655, 657 (11th Cir. 1983) ( 'granting of summary judgment is especially questionable'  in employment discrimination cases (quoting Hayden v. First National Bank, 595 F.2d 994, 997 (5th Cir. 1979))); McKenzie v. Sawyer, 684 F.2d 62, 67 (D.C. Cir. 1982) (factual disputes in most Title VII cases preclude summary judgment). Moreover, when a plaintiff has established a prima facie inference of disparate treatment through direct or circumstantial evidence of discriminatory intent, he will necessarily have raised a genuine issue of material fact with respect to the legitimacy or bona fides of the employer's articulated reason for its employment decision. 36 According to the plaintiff's sworn affidavit, Logans, the Personnel Division Manager for the City, made a point of telling Lowe that the Monrovia police force had no women and no Blacks. Logans then encouraged Lowe to apply for a position as a police officer in Los Angeles rather than Monrovia. Logans explained that Lowe should do so because the Los Angeles police force was literally begging for minorities and especially females. One clear inference that could reasonably be drawn from this statement is that the Monrovia police force was not begging for--or even interested in--such applicants. 37 Viewing all the evidence, including Logans' statements, in the light most favorable to Lowe and resolving all inferences in her favor, as we must, we conclude that there is a genuine issue of material fact regarding the City's motive in failing to hire Lowe. 9 Accordingly, we cannot affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment as to the Title VII race discrimination claim.