Opinion ID: 2966721
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Legitimate Expectations of Employer

Text: Next, to make out the third element of the prima facie case,10 Runnebaum must prove that he was meeting NationsBank's legitimate expectations at the time of his discharge. The record is replete with indications that Runnebaum did not meet NationsBank's legitimate expectations for his employment. He failed to submit required reports, to attend certain functions, and to take training classes or attend manager's meetings, as set forth in the July Memorandum. His continuing utter failure to attend to his assigned duties establishes that he was not meeting NationsBank's expectations for his performance. See Ennis, 53 F.3d at 61-62 (concluding that an ADA plaintiff could not prove that she satisfied her employer's legitimate expectations because her work was substandard); Ang v. Procter & Gamble Co., 932 F.2d 540, 548-49 (6th Cir. 1991) (ruling that failure to perform reasonable tasks at an employer's demand constitutes not satisfying legitimate employment expectations); Kephart v. Institute of Gas Tech., 630 F.2d 1217, 1223 (7th Cir. 1980) (per curiam) (holding that if an employee is not doing as he is told to do, then he is not performing his job). Moreover, during his tenure at NationsBank Runnebaum engaged in a pattern of unprofessional behavior. His conduct frequently veered from the merely unprofessional to the inappropriate and offensive. His penchant for racial and sexual slurs and his improper conduct at _________________________________________________________________ 10 The parties do not dispute that Runnebaum was discharged from his employment, the second element of the prima facie case. 27 business meetings and toward NationsBank clients cannot be considered to fall within the scope of NationsBank's legitimate expectations for his employment.11 Accordingly, we conclude that Runnebaum failed to establish the third element of the prima facie case. 3. Reasonable Inference of Unlawful Discrimination The fourth element that Runnebaum must satisfy to establish a prima facie case is that his termination transpired under circumstances that raise a reasonable inference of unlawful discrimination. For many of the same reasons that Runnebaum failed to establish the first and third elements, we conclude that he failed to establish the fourth element. Runnebaum was discharged for incompetent performance, lack of performance, and unprofessional conduct. The undisputed facts establish these reasons for his discharge, and Runnebaum attempts to ascribe discrimination to NationsBank's conduct. Given his short employment tenure at NationsBank, the troubles he encountered from the outset, his deficient performance, and his inappropriate conduct, no rational trier of fact could conclude that his termination raised a reasonable inference of unlawful discrimination. See Ennis, 53 F.3d at 62 (holding that because evidence of plaintiff's deficient performance was so pervasive, no rational trier of fact could conclude that her discharge occurred under circumstances giving rise to an inference of discrimination). We therefore conclude that Runnebaum failed to establish the fourth element of a prima facie case.