Court Opinion

ID: 9468401
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 02:14:03.03664+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:40:51.298213
License: Public Domain

MIKVA, Circuit Judge,
concurring in the result:
I agree that there is no basis for reversing the judgment for the defendants. I do not agree that Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981), is dispositive of this case. Burdine properly put to rest the mischievous notion that once a prima facie case was established by a Title VII complainant, the employer had to prove that the person hired or promoted was more qualified than the complainant. Even under Burdine, however, there is a burden that the employer must satisfy to overcome a prima facie case. Although an employer need not convince the court that it chose the better applicant, it must present an explanation that is not only “clear and reasonably specific,” but also sufficient to allow “the trier of fact rationally to conclude that the employment decision had not been motivated by discriminatory animus.” Burdine, 101 S.Ct. at 1096. In the case at bar, the magistrate found that burden satisfied.
The extra difficulty presented by this case is the magistrate’s gratuitous finding that the plaintiff was more qualified than the person hired. Employers usually act in their own best interests, and it is somewhat incongruous to find that the employer chose a less-qualified man, rather than a more-qualified woman, but did not do so for discriminatory reasons. Although it may be difficult to convince a trier of fact that an employer selected a less-qualified person for a non-discriminatory reason, such behavior is not actionable. In any case, as Judge Tamm’s opinion makes clear, the basis for finding St. Peter more qualified is tenuous at best, and the magistrate was ultimately convinced by the evidence that no discriminatory intent was present. In the posture of this appeal and applicable law, therefore, we need not address either the pertinence or the adequacy of the finding of superior qualifications.