Opinion ID: 3037066
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Departmental Fit

Text: In addressing MSU’s assertion that the anthropology department was looking for a candidate whose area of expertise involved the study of the relationship between human society and disease, Sarmiento claims that this rationale is suspect because neither of the 8 position announcements mentioned such a preference. As the District Court explained, however, the fact that MSU justified its decision by referring to Sarmiento’s failure to satisfy a departmental preference that was not precisely articulated in the position announcements is insufficient to show pretext, given the absence of evidence in the record indicating that MSU acted irrationally or arbitrarily in invoking that criterion. See Simpson v. Kay Jewelers, Div. of Sterling, Inc., 142 F.3d 639, 647 (3d Cir. 1998) (stating that a plaintiff challenging an employer’s reliance on a stated criterion must adduce “evidence from which a factfinder could reasonably infer that the plaintiff satisfied the criterion identified by the employer or that the employer did not actually rely upon the stated criterion”); see also Jackson v. Gonzales, 496 F.3d 703, 709 (D.C. Cir. 2007) (stating that “[t]he fact that an employer based its ultimate hiring decision on one or more specific factors encompassed within a broader and more general job description does not itself raise an inference of discrimination sufficient to overcome summary judgment”). Franke presented uncontradicted testimony that the hiring committee preferred a candidate “who showed a clear interest in the relation between human society and culture and patterns of health and disease” because such a candidate better fit the academic and pedagogical needs of the anthropology department and the university.3 MSU also 3 Sarmiento notes that the screening instrument directed members of the hiring committee to consider only three criteria when reviewing an application (i.e., closeness of fit to job description, academic achievement, and teaching performance, if applicable) and did not call for an evaluation of an applicant’s credentials with reference to the departmental preferences stated by Franke. We do not believe the contents of the screening instrument give rise to a reasonable inference of pretext, as there is no 9 explained why the finalists were better suited to the position than Sarmiento, and those reasons are fully recounted in Section III.A of the District Court’s opinion. Although Sarmiento challenges, in a conclusory fashion, the correctness of the hiring committee’s determination that his area of specialization made him less appropriate for the position than the three finalists, he does not cite to any evidence or any discrepancies in the record that would cause a reasonable factfinder to question the sincerity of MSU’s explanation. Sarmiento’s claim that MSU invoked this preference solely for the purpose of excluding his application is entirely conjectural.