Court Opinion

ID: 9487595
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 12:21:29.044351+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:52:22.792930
License: Public Domain

MANION, Circuit Judge, dissenting.
When Biosound expanded its regulatory affairs department, it published the following advertisement in the newspaper.
Biosound, Inc., a leader in cardiovascular imaging and electrocardiography has an opportunity for a Manager of Regulatory Affairs in our Indianapolis home office. This position is responsible for assisting the President with regulatory compliance and GMP activities.
The ideal candidate will possess a degree in Electrical Engineering or equivalent and be familiar with FDA regulations effecting medical devices (501 submissions, initial reports, etc.) and GMP regulations. Candidate must be organized, research oriented, have an attention to detail, and be able to work independently.
If you are interested in this challenging and rewarding opportunity please submit your resume with salary requirements to: Biosound, Inc., Human Resources Department, 7990 Castleway Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46250.
Company president Gerald Richardson, who at the time was directly responsible for regulatory affairs, selected four finalists from a list of about thirteen valid applicants. Appellant Robert Courtney was one of the final four that Richardson interviewed. But when Nethercutt got the job, Courtney sued, alleging age discrimination. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Bio-sound. This court now reverses. Because I would affirm the decision of the district court, I respectfully dissent.
The court correctly states that “the key inquiry here is whether Courtney has produced evidence from which a rational juror could infer that Biosound was untruthful about its proffered reasons for not rehiring Courtney.” Opn. at 418. In other words, did Courtney offer evidence showing that a discriminatory reason motivated Biosound’s decision not to rehire him, or were Bio-sound’s proffered explanations for not rehiring him unworthy of credence? Opn. at 418. The court correctly knocks most of the wind out of the plaintiffs sails by affirming the district court on several key conclusions concerning alleged direct evidence of discrimination.1 It is with the court’s conclusion — on *425pretext — that Courtney “has produced sufficient evidence to cast doubt on Biosound’s reasons for its hiring decision” that I must disagree.
“[A] plaintiff may prove discrimination either directly, by proving that age was a determining factor in the employer’s decision, or indirectly, by proving that the employer’s proffered explanation is pretextual.” Perfetti v. First Nat. Bank of Chicago, 950 F.2d 449, 450 (7th Cir.1991). As noted, the court correctly concludes that Courtney failed to produce any direct evidence of discrimination. Thus, Courtney must produce evidence showing pretext to avoid summary judgment.
“To establish pretext, an employee must ultimately show by a preponderance of the evidence either ‘(1) that the employer was more likely motivated by a discriminatory reason, or (2) that the employer’s proffered reason is unworthy of credence.’ ” McCoy v. WGN Cont. Broad. Co., 957 F.2d 368, 372 (7th Cir.1992) (quoting Johnson v. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 783 F.2d 59, 63 (7th Cir.1986)). In this case, Courtney seeks to prove that Biosound’s proffered reasons for not hiring him were unworthy of credence. For summary judgment purposes, Courtney must therefore “ ‘produce evidence from which a rational fact finder could infer that the company lied’ about its proffered reasons for his dismissal.” Anderson v. Baxter Healthcare Corp., 13 F.3d 1120, 1124 (7th Cir.1994) (quoting Shager v. Upjohn Co., 913 F.2d 398, 401 (7th Cir.1990)).
Courtney’s production falls well short of demonstrating that Biosound’s proffered reasons for hiring Nethercutt are unworthy of credence. Biosound asserted, among other things, that it hired Nethercutt instead of Courtney because Nethercutt had superior communication skills. In support of this assertion, Biosound pointed to evidence that Nethercutt demonstrated excellent communication skills in writing samples and during his job interview, and that his employment references supported this conclusion. Bio-sound also presented evidence that demonstrated that Courtney’s communication skills were more negative. Specifically, Biosound presented evidence that FDA filings written by Courtney were of poor quality, unorganized, and that it was difficult to read and determine the object of the submissions.
The court concludes that this proffered reason was pretextual, because “during Courtney’s employment with Biosound, there was never any criticism of Courtney’s lack of communications skills under either management. Courtney received positive reviews by eight different supervisors, and at least one of the evaluations stated that he had ‘good rapport with all groups.’” Opn. at 421. Courtney’s evidence could raise an inference that Biosound was mistaken in its assessment of Courtney’s skills, as compared with Nethercutt. But that is not enough. Weihaupt v. American Medical Ass’n, 874 F.2d 419, 429 (7th Cir.1989). “As we have stated in the past, we again emphasize: [W]e do not sit as a super-personnel department that reexamines an entity’s business decisions.” Id. (internal citations omitted). Thus, however much emphasis Biosound puts on communication skills is a business decision, good or bad. Even if Biosound misjudged Nether-eutt and Courtney’s relative communications skills, such an alleged miscalculation is insufficient to present a jury question as to pretext. Id. And where such evidence is the only evidence of pretext, summary judgment is appropriate. Konowitz v. Schnadig Corp., 965 F.2d 230, 234 (7th Cir.1992) (evidence that employer believed one candidate’s communication abilities were better than plaintiff’s was a basis for summary judgment in favor of employer even where plaintiff claims this reason is a pretext for age discrimination).
The court also reasons that since the job advertisement failed to list “communication skills” as one of the preferred qualifications, reliance on this factor in hiring Nethercutt instead of Courtney created an inference of pretext. In considering a motion for summary judgment, however, a “court is not required to evaluate every conceivable inference which can be drawn from evidentiary matter, but only reasonable ones.” Parker v. Federal Nat. Mortg. Ass’n, 741 F.2d 975, 980 (7th Cir.1984). Moreover, the inferences must be legitimate and justifiable. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 *426S.Ct. 2505, 2513-14, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). It is unreasonable to conclude that a proffered reason for selecting one candidate over another is pretextual merely because a two-inch by three-inch advertisement with limited wordspace failed to mention that characteristic. See Palucki v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 879 F.2d 1568, 1571 (7th Cir.1989) (“The employee doesn’t get to write his own job description. An employer can set whatever performance standards he wants, provided they are not a mask for discrimination on forbidden grounds such as race or age.”). Cf. Wrenn v. Gould, 808 F.2d 493, 502 (6th Cir.1987) (variation between advertised job description and proffered reason did not demonstrate pretext). The fact that the job advertisement did not include “communication skills” and “clinical experience” as preferred qualifications does not support a reasonable inference of pretext. After all, Richardson interviewed only four of the fourteen applicants who made the list for consideration. If Richardson had some preordained excuse (age?) for not rehiring Courtney, why would he interview him? Courtney obviously met some of the qualifications. In fact, we can assume that each of the final four at least claimed the advertised preferences of being “organized, research oriented ... hav[ing] an attention to detail and ... able to work independently.” If ability to’ communicate emerged as the deciding factor in the interviews, so be it. That factor does not produce an inference of a pretext to cover up age discrimination.
Moreover, Biosound offered additional reasons for its selection of Nethereutt over Courtney. Specifically, Biosound asserted that it selected Nethercutt instead of Courtney because it became aware of problems concerning work Courtney had previously performed for Biosound. In this regard, Biosound presented evidence that an outside consultant had reviewed Courtney’s past work and determined that FDA filings Courtney prepared were of poor quality, unorganized, and that they were difficult to read and comprehend. Biosound also presented evidence that it was necessary to hire a consultant to correct deficiencies in Courtney’s work. Obviously this was not a totally disqualifying factor since Richardson interviewed him, but the information would legitimately weigh in the balance.
The court rejects these proffered reasons, concluding that there is a reasonable inference that criticism of Courtney’s “prior performance was an afterthought to justify passing over him.” Opn. at 422. In support of this inference, the court cites to performance evaluations which referred to Courtney’s knowledge of regulatory affairs as a strength. These performance evaluations, all of which were prepared in years between 1979 and 1989, do not call into question Bio-sound’s proffered reason. The evidence Bio-sound presented demonstrated that it did not learn of problems with Courtney’s prior work until the consultant discovered them in 1991- — after Courtney had left the company. Where an employer advances specific reasons for an employment decision, rebuttal evidence should focus on those reasons. Lenoir v. Roll Coater, Inc., 13 F.3d 1130, 1133 (7th Cir.1994). Courtney has failed to present any evidence calling into doubt Bio-sound’s rebanee on subsequently discovered flaws in Courtney’s work. It is simply unreasonable to infer from prior job evaluations that reliance on such later discovered flaws is pretextual, especially after subsequent interviews displayed disparate communication skills. See Weihaupt, 874 F.2d at 428-29 (evidence of prior job evaluations is insufficient to create genuine issue of material fact as to whether employee’s lack of ability was pretextual reason for employment discrimination).
Courtney also failed to present any evidence rebutting Biosound’s contention that it hired another consultant to redo an FDA application that he prepared inadequately. The court addresses this issue by focusing on evidence that tends to show that it was not Courtney’s fault that the application was rejected. The court then reasons that evidence creates an inference that “Biosound did not honestly believe that Courtney was responsible for the mishap but only claimed that the mishap was Courtney’s fault as an excuse not to hire him.” Opn. at 423. This conclusion is unsupported by the law of this circuit. This court has consistently held that evidence which calls into question an employee’s *427fault for deficient performance is insufficient to create a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the employer actually fired the employee for that deficient performance. Anderson, 13 F.3d at 1125 (evidence that an “employee’s performance is satisfactory because he was not entirely responsible for several admitted mishaps, does not create a material issue of fact” as to pretext); Karazanos v. Navistar Intern. Transp. Corp., 948 F.2d 332, 337-38 (7th Cir.1991) (evidence that performance problems were fault of another is insufficient to create factual issue as to whether poor performance was pretext for employment decision); Weihaupt, 874 F.2d at 429 (evidence putting into question whether employee’s deficient performance was his fault is insufficient to create a genuine issue of material fact as to pretext). Therefore, in this ease, Courtney cannot avoid summary judgment by presenting evidence that he was not at fault for the inadequate FDA application.
Where a plaintiff claims that an employer’s proffered reason for an employment decision is “unworthy of credence” it is tempting to think that only a jury — the judge of credibility — can consider that issue. Perfetti v. First Nat. Bank of Chicago, 950 F.2d 449, 452 (7th Cir.1991). That is not the law, however, and contrary to rumor, this court has not gone so far as to imply that defendants seeking summary judgment on a question of pretext need not apply. Id. Rather, even if the plaintiff rebuts the employer’s rebuttal — “not in the sense of demolishing it but in the sense of contesting it with his own, contrary evidence” — “[the] district court must still make a judgment as to whether the evidence, interpreted favorably to the plaintiff, could persuade a reasonable jury that the employer had discriminated against the plaintiff. If not, the court must grant the employer’s motion for summary judgment.” Palucki, 879 F.2d at 1570. See also Karazanos, 948 F.2d at 338 (“Summary judgment is designed to head off a trial if the opposing party ‘does not have a reasonable prospect of prevailing before a reasonable jury — that is, a jury that will base its decision on facts and law, rather than on sympathy or antipathy or private notions of justice.’ ”) (quoting Palucki 879 F.2d at 1572). Perfetti 950 F.2d at 452 (“unworthy of credence” claim must go to the jury only if substantial evidence supports such a finding). In this case, the evidence, even when considered in the light most favorable to Courtney, fails to create a reasonable inference that Biosound did not honestly believe in the reasons it offered for hiring Nethereutt instead of Courtney. Accordingly, Biosound is entitled to summary judgment on Courtney’s age discrimination claim. I would therefore affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment.

. The court correctly concluded that (1) Garrett’s interview notes referring to Nethercutt as “young”; (2) management discussions of Courtney's age and health before his earlier termination; (3) the request for Courtney to sign a release; and, (4) a chart showing 1987-1992 hiring trends, were not valid bases for attributing discriminatory intent to Biosound. Opn. at 418-20.