Opinion ID: 3048853
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the district court’s misapplication of st.

Text: MARY’S HONOR [8] The district court did not apply the proper law governing proof of pretext, but, rather, imposed a heavier burden on Noyes at summary judgment. According to the district court, to show pretext, Noyes had to “show[ ] both that [Kelly Services’ proffered] reason was false, and that discrimination was the real reason.” (emphasis by district court). This formulation can be traced to the following statement in St. Mary’s Honor Center v. Hicks, 509 U.S. 502 (1993), which addressed a merits determination rather than summary judgment: “[A] reason cannot be proved to be ‘a pretext for discrimination’ unless it is shown both that the reason was false, and that discrimination was the real reason.” Id. at 515 (emphases omitted). Taken out of context, this statement would appear to support an enhanced burden to show pretext. However, considered in the proper procedural posture, St. Mary’s Honor clearly does not alter the burden on summary judgment. In St. Mary’s Honor, the Supreme Court considered the quantum of proof necessary for a plaintiff to prove that an employer’s articulated reasons were pretextual, such that a court may direct a finding as a matter of law that intentional discrimination occurred. Id. at 505, 508-10 (addressing findings of fact and conclusions of law made after a bench trial); see also Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 154 (2000) (Ginsburg, J., concurring) (“Whether the defendant was in fact motivated by discrimination is of course for the finder of fact to decide; that is the lesson of St. Mary’s Honor Center v. Hicks.”). The showing required to direct a NOYES v. KELLY SERVICES 6305 finding on the ultimate fact of intentional discrimination is obviously different and more difficult than the burden imposed on a plaintiff to raise a triable issue of fact as to pretext sufficient to defeat summary judgment. [9] Because of its misreading of St. Mary’s Honor, the district court required Noyes to prove that Kelly Services’ articulated nondiscriminatory reasons were “false” and that intentional discrimination was the “real reason” for promoting Jilesen over Noyes. This approach misconstrues the burden on Noyes to raise a triable issue of fact regarding pretext. We reiterate that at the summary judgment stage, a plaintiff may raise a genuine issue of material fact as to pretext via (1) direct evidence of the employer’s discriminatory motive or (2) indirect evidence that undermines the credibility of the employer’s articulated reasons. Raad, 323 F.3d at 1194 (reaffirming two options for proving pretext by direct or indirect evidence) (citing Godwin, 150 F.3d at 1220-22).