Court Opinion

ID: 9720534
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 08:34:28.290849+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:19.274359
License: Public Domain

FUKUTO, J., Concurring
I concur in the holding affirming the judgment of the trial court, and also in the observations about the limited role of the courts in overseeing personnel decisions made in the private sector. I do not fault plaintiff for filing this action, however, because plaintiff undeniably made a prima facie case of unlawful discrimination by proving that after she turned down MetPath’s offer, MetPath offered the same promotion to War-dell, a nonminority male, at a substantially higher salary.
*429MetPath came forward, however, with a full and satisfactory reason for its higher offer to Wardell. It then became plaintiff’s burden to show what facts she would prove at trial to undermine the justification MetPath advanced. It was plaintiff’s total failure to meet this burden that resulted in dismissal of her case without trial. Unless she shows the motion is premature because she needs additional discovery, a plaintiff facing a summary judgment motion is not permitted to take the position that she will prove her case at trial by proof of facts which she is not yet ready to reveal. By way of overcoming MetPath’s showing, all plaintiff was prepared to offer was (i) her opinion that she considered herself more highly qualified than Wardell and (ii) her inadmissible hearsay testimony that several coworkers had told her they shared her opinion. The trial court correctly found this evidence insufficient as a matter of law.