Court Opinion

ID: 9847667
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 04:04:50.926239+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:17:26.552995
License: Public Domain

SHEPHERD, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and concurring in the judgment.
Richey’s violation of the City’s policy against intimidating or abusing other employees is an independent and legitimate basis for terminating his employment, regardless of whether he knowingly made a false complaint against another employee. Accordingly, I see no need to address the more difficult issue, whether this case is sufficiently factually distinguishable from Gilooly v. Mo. Dept. of Health & Senior Servs., 421 F.3d 734 (8th Cir.2005). Rather, I would affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment on Richey’s retaliation claims solely on the ground that Richey has failed to offer any evidence that the City’s workplace intimidation justification was pretextual.
Here, the City proffered two reasons for Richey’s termination: (1) his violation of the City’s policy against false complaints and (2) his violation of the policy against intimidating or abusing other employees. This court has not articulated a rule to be applied where an employer offers multiple nondiscriminatory reasons for an allegedly retaliatory employment action. I submit that the Seventh Circuit has correctly de*787termined, “[W]hen a defendant has offered multiple nondiscriminatory reasons for [an alleged discriminatory action], showing that one of these reasons is pretextual is not enough, although there may be circumstances where ‘multiple grounds offered by the defendant ... are so intertwined, or the pretextual character of one of them so fishy and suspicious, that the plaintiff could withstand summary judgment.’ ” Fischer v. Avanade, Inc., 519 F.3d 393, 403-04 (7th Cir.2008) (quoting Russell v. Acme-Evans Co., 51 F.3d 64, 70 (7th Cir.1995)). The Third, Sixth, and Ninth Circuits have issued similar rulings. See Odima v. Westin Tucson Hotel Co., 991 F.2d 595, 600 (9th Cir.1993) (vacating the judgment and remanding “[b]ecause [the district court’s] finding that one of [the employer’s] proffered reasons was pretextual does not in itself support the district court’s ultimate conclusion that [the employer] had discriminated against [the employee]”); Logue v. Int’l Rehab. Assocs., Inc., 837 F.2d 150, 155 (3rd Cir.1988) (finding that “if an employer articulates several alternative and independent legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons, the falsity of one does not necessarily justify finding the remaining articulated reasons pretextual.”); Cooley v. Carmike Cinemas, Inc., 25 F.3d 1325, 1329 (6th Cir.1994) (holding that “[w]here two or more alternative and independent legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons are articulated by the defendant employer, the falsity or incorrectness of one may not impeach the credibility of the remaining articulated reason(s).” (quoting Sims v. Cleland, 813 F.2d 790, 793 (6th Cir.1987))).
This approach is sound because “it is not merely the falsity or incorrectness of the articulated reason that gives rise to the conclusion of pretext” but “the resulting absence of legitimate explanation for the suspect employment decision that warrants the finding of discrimination.” Sims, 813 F.2d at 793. When an employer proffers multiple nondiscriminatory justifications for an allegedly retaliatory action, a showing of pretext as to one does not necessarily “result[ ] [in the] absence of [a] legitimate explanation.... ” See id. Such a showing would only be sufficient if the remaining nondiscriminatory reason(s) are tied to the invalid reason. See Fischer, 519 F.3d at 404; Russell, 51 F.3d at 70.
Applying the Seventh Circuit’s rule here, in order for this court to find that the district court’s grant of summary judgment on Richey’s retaliation claims was improper, Richey must make a showing of pretext with respect to both of the City’s reasons unless the reasons are not sufficiently independent. See Fischer, 519 F.3d at 404; Russell, 51 F.3d at 70. I agree with the majority that Richey has provided no evidence that the angry outbursts reason is not to be believed. See ante at 785-86. Furthermore, these facts do not run afoul of the independence requirement. See Fischer, 519 F.3d at 404; Russell, 51 F.3d at 69-70. Admittedly, Connie Knott is both the subject of Richey’s sexual harassment allegation and the one who reported Richey’s angry outburst that played a part in his termination. However, Richey had a long and serious history of anger control issues preceding Knott’s report in March 2004, including a similar complaint from Knott’s predecessor in 2002 and a 1999 incident in which Richey allegedly threatened to kill himself, his wife, and his supervisor. In light of Richey’s history, Jim Fisher, the City’s Parks and Recreation Director who recommended Richey’s termination, stated that he would have done so, even absent Richey’s allegedly false accusation. Therefore, I would affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment on the retaliation claims but only on the ground that Richey presented insufficient evidence that his *788termination for violating the City’s policy against intimidating other employees was a pretext for discrimination.
I concur in part and concur in the judgment.