Opinion ID: 686419
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Harmless Error and Title VII

Text: 15 Our conclusion that the district court erred does not end our inquiry, however. We must next ask whether the district court's erroneous admission of the DL & A evidence prejudiced the outcome at trial or was harmless error. See FED.R.EVID. 103 (Error may not be predicated upon a ruling which admits ... evidence unless a substantial right of the party is affected.). 16 The harmless error inquiry involves an assessment of the likelihood that the error affected the outcome of the case.... '[I]f one cannot say, with fair assurance, ... that the judgment was not substantially swayed by the error, it is impossible to conclude that substantial rights were not affected.'  Jordan v. Medley, 711 F.2d 211, 218-19 (D.C.Cir.1983) (quoting Kotteakos v. United States, 328 U.S. 750, 765, 66 S.Ct. 1239, 1248, 90 L.Ed. 1557 (1946)). The application of the harmless error test is fact-specific, depending upon the balance of the evidence bearing upon the issue which the error arguably affected and the centrality of that issue to the ultimate decision. Jordan, 711 F.2d at 219. The proper inquiry is 'whether the error itself had substantial influence. If so, or if one is left in grave doubt, the [verdict] cannot stand.'  Williams v. U.S. Elevator Corp., 920 F.2d 1019, 1023 (D.C.Cir.1990) (quoting Kotteakos, 328 U.S. at 765, 66 S.Ct. at 1248). In order to decide whether the admission of the DL & A evidence was harmless error, then, we must look to the standards for determining whether Neuren's termination contravened Title VII and determine whether the judgment was substantially affected by admission of the DL & A evidence. 17 In Texas Dep't of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981), the Supreme Court described the three-step analysis with respect to the burden of proof in a Title VII case alleging discriminatory treatment. Id. at 252-53, 101 S.Ct. at 1093-94 (citing McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973)). First, the plaintiff has the burden of proving by the preponderance of the evidence a prima facie case of discrimination. Burdine, 450 U.S. at 252-53, 101 S.Ct. at 1093-94. In order to meet her prima facie case of sex discrimination in a discharge decision, the plaintiff must demonstrate (1) membership in a protected class, i.e., that she is a woman, (2) performance at or near the employer's legitimate expectations, (3) discharge, and (4) replacement by a person of equal or lesser ability who is not a member of a protected class or, alternatively, the position remains open after termination. Parton v. GTE North, Inc., 971 F.2d 150, 153 (8th Cir.1992). If the plaintiff succeeds in proving the prima facie case, the burden of production shifts to the defendant to articulate some legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the employee's termination. Burdine, 450 U.S. at 253, 101 S.Ct. at 1093-94. Finally, should the defendant meet this burden, the plaintiff must then demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that the legitimate reasons offered by the defendant were not its true reasons, but were rather a pretext for discrimination. Id. We evaluate the effect of admission of the DL & A evidence in light of this burden-shifting framework. 18 Although Burdine admonishes that the plaintiff's burden of establishing a prima facie case is not onerous, id., it is not clear that Neuren has met it here. Though she was a member of a protected class who was discharged and not replaced, she was only arguably performing near her employer's legitimate expectations. Nonetheless, we assume arguendo that the prima facie case was met. The burden then shifted to AMM & S to come forward with evidence of legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons for the discharge. 19 Apart from the disputed DL & A evidence, AMM & S produced substantial evidence that Neuren's discharge was for legitimate reasons. Specifically, AMM & S offered testimony regarding several partner evaluations prepared in 1991 in which each partner expressed serious concerns about Neuren's difficulties in meeting deadlines and getting along with co-workers. See Trial Transcript, October 5, 1993 (Afternoon Session), at 83-84, 86-94 (testimony of Barbara Murphy); see also Trial Transcript, October 6, 1993, at 55, 57-58 (testimony of Michael Schaumberg); id. at 105-110 (testimony of Vincent J. Adduci); Trial Transcript, October 7, 1993, at 65 (testimony of Louis Mastriani). When viewing this evidence separately from the DL & A evaluations, we can say with certainty that AMM & S met its burden of production to establish a legitimate business justification for Neuren's discharge. 20 Because it is clear that AMM & S met its burden of production, the burden shifted back to Neuren to demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that AMM & S's legitimate business justification was a pretext for unlawful discrimination. Burdine, 450 U.S. at 253, 101 S.Ct. at 1093-94. At trial Neuren attempted to establish pretext through both direct and indirect evidence of discrimination. Her direct evidence consisted of a statement in an evaluation by AMM & S partner Jeffrey Meeks in which Meeks described Neuren's interpersonal relations with staff by writing, Extremely difficult on secretarial and support staff. A bitch! Neuren also introduced indirect evidence of pretext to support her theory of disparate treatment of a similarly situated male associate. Her evidentiary offer consisted entirely of (1) the statement quoted above; (2) Neuren's own testimony describing as a racist the younger male associate who had been retained by the firm; (3) testimony by the firm's bookkeeper, who asserted her opinion that the male associate did not speak to her because she was black; and (4) a partner evaluation of the male associate describing problems with his writing style and billing practices. We consider each piece of evidence offered in determining whether Neuren met her burden of proof. 21 Neuren argues that Meeks' written evaluation of her provides strong direct evidence of sex discrimination, in that it refers to her as a bitch. We disagree. Although this pejorative term may support an inference that an employment decision is discriminatory under different circumstances, see Walsdorf v. Board of Commissioners for the East Jefferson Levee District, 857 F.2d 1047, 1049, 1054 (granting Title VII relief to female employee based upon evidence which included statement by supervisor that Ain't no bitch going to get this job.), in itself, the term is not always conclusive of sex discrimination. See Williams v. KETV TV, Inc., 26 F.3d 1439, 1441 n. 2 (8th Cir.1994) (affirming judgment for employer on sex and race discrimination despite evidence at trial that personnel involved in hiring decision referred to plaintiff as a black bitch.); Moulds v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 935 F.2d 252, 253-54 n. 1, 256-57 (11th Cir.1991) (affirming judgment for employer on sex and race discrimination despite evidence at trial that employer told plaintiff she would have to be more of a bitch to become manager). 22 In this case, when considered in conjunction with the accompanying commentary that Neuren was extremely difficult on secretarial and support staff, Meeks' evaluation of Neuren, though possibly inappropriately phrased, was obviously grounded in gender-neutral concerns about Neuren's interpersonal relations with co-workers, rather than discriminatory considerations. Viewed in its totality, in fact, Meeks' evaluation further supports AMM & S's theory that Neuren was dismissed for her difficulties in getting along with others in the firm. Without other evidence that gender was a factor in her evaluation, this crude word choice does no more to meet Neuren's burden of proof than would any other gender-specific noun. 23 Neuren's indirect evidence offered to demonstrate disparate treatment is equally inadequate. According to Neuren, her limited evidence to the effect that the firm retained a racist male attorney of whom partners had concerns about his writing and billing practices demonstrates that AMM & S did not treat a similarly situated male attorney in a like manner. Obviously disparate treatment in employment decisions is the very essence of sex discrimination. See, e.g., Palmer v. Baker, 905 F.2d 1544 (D.C.Cir.1990). But Neuren's evidence fails to demonstrate disparate treatment for two reasons: (1) evidence of the firm's response to the male associate's alleged racism was inconclusive, and (2) the evidence as a whole demonstrated that Neuren was not similarly situated to the male associate. 24 Neuren attempted to paint the male associate as a racist in order to demonstrate that the firm was unwilling to dismiss a male associate who had similar interpersonal difficulties. She testified that the male associate regularly made racist remarks to her and that she reported that problem to AMM & S partner Adduci. She attempted to support her testimony by offering the testimony of Katherine Callwood, who asserted that the associate spoke to her infrequently because she was black. Neuren's evidentiary offer fails to establish that the partnership was unresponsive to the male associate's alleged problems, however. First, Callwood admitted that she never communicated her concerns about the associate's alleged racism to any AMM & S partner, and that she usually worked with her office door closed and locked so that no one could have spoken frequently to her. At most Callwood's testimony evinces personal opinion regarding the male associate's alleged racism without demonstrated foundation. Further, even if her testimony were fully factual, it is irrelevant in establishing that AMM & S did nothing to deal with the problem because she never communicated the problem to any partner. 25 Second, Adduci testified that Neuren's allegations were immediately discussed with the male associate, that he was warned that racist behavior was grounds for immediate termination, and that no other employee besides Neuren had ever alleged racism on the part of the male associate. Adduci further testified that, several years before Neuren joined the firm, AMM & S had fired a male associate specifically because he made racist comments. Even assuming that the male associate had behaved in a racist manner, an assumption which is no more than speculative, then Adduci's testimony rebuts Neuren's theory that the firm was unresponsive to the male associate's difficulties in getting along with others. 26 In order to show that she was similarly situated to the male employee, Neuren was required to demonstrate that all of the relevant aspects of her employment situation were nearly identical to those of the male associate. Pierce v. Commonwealth Life Ins. Co., 40 F.3d 796, 802 (6th Cir.1994). Neuren offered no evidence to demonstrate identity of their situations. 27 First, as discussed above, she presented little credible evidence that the male associate had difficulty getting along with others in the firm. In fact, Barbara Murphy testified at trial that the male associate got along better with co-workers than Neuren. Second, it is undisputed that the male associate was lower in seniority than Neuren; thus, the partners weren't as pressed to make a decision regarding his partnership prospects as they were with Neuren. Finally, Neuren offered partner evaluations of the male associate's work which showed that AMM & S partners were concerned with the associate's legal writing abilities and his tendency to stretch work out when he was not otherwise busy, but these are problems entirely different than Neuren's. Neuren was dismissed for repeated difficulties in meeting deadlines and problems in her relations with staff. Both were viewed as serious difficulties by the firm management, especially in light of the small, personal environment in the firm. The evaluations of the male associate highlight unrelated criticisms which the firm viewed as less serious. Neuren's offer thus failed to demonstrate disparate treatment because the male associate was not similarly situated. 28 While the DL & A evidence may have had some effect on the jury's weighing of the evidence, we can say with certainty that the DL & A evidence did not have a substantial impact on the result at trial. Even without consideration of the DL & A evidence, AMM & S provided substantial evidence to meet its burden of production regarding its legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons for Neuren's dismissal, and Neuren provided insufficient evidence to meet her burden of establishing pretext by a preponderance of the evidence.