Viola v. Philips Medical Systems of North America

• Decision Date: 07 December 1994
• Docket Number: D,No. 350,350
• Citation: 42 F.3d 712
• Parties: 66 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 1764, 65 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 43,416 Nelson VIOLA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. PHILIPS MEDICAL SYSTEMS OF NORTH AMERICA & North American Philips Corporation, Defendants-Appellees. ocket 94-7174.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

Page 712

42 F.3d 712

66 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 1764,

65 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 43,416

Nelson VIOLA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. PHILIPS MEDICAL SYSTEMS OF NORTH AMERICA & North American

Philips Corporation, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 350, Docket 94-7174.

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

Argued Sept. 28, 1994.

Decided Dec. 7, 1994.

Brian A. Mangines, Mangines & Mangines, Fairfield, CT, for plaintiff-appellant.

Margaret M. Sheahan, Durant, Sabanosh, Nichols & Houston, P.C., Bridgeport, CT, for defendants-appellees.

Before WINTER, JACOBS, and CABRANES, Circuit Judges.

JACOBS, Circuit Judge:

After twelve years of employment, plaintiff-appellant Nelson Viola was dismissed during a company-wide reduction in work force. Viola's complaint alleges that his employers, the defendants Philips Medical Systems, N.A. and North American Philips Corp., unlawfully terminated his employment by reason of his age in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (the "ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. Sec. 621 et seq. The District Court for the District of Connecticut (Daly, J.) granted summary judgment to defendants, on the ground that Viola failed to offer any evidence that age was a factor in his discharge and thus failed to raise triable issues of fact that defendants' employment decision was motivated by age. Viola relies exclusively on the following circumstances to create an inference of age discrimination: an unsatisfactory evaluation of Viola's work entered shortly before the reduction in force; the transfer of a younger co-worker shortly before the reduction in force to replace one of the three persons then performing Viola's role; and the hiring of a new employee, within twelve months after Viola was let go, to perform many of Viola's former duties. We conclude that these circumstances suffice to require an employer to come forward with an age-neutral justification for the discharge. Here, the employer has rebutted Viola's prima facie case with evidence that Viola was fired in a company-wide reduction in force and selected for discharge on a basis consistent with company termination procedures that do not discriminate against older workers. Standing alone, the circumstances alleged by Viola fail to raise a jury question as to whether the real motivation for his discharge was Viola's age. We therefore affirm.

I. Background

Few events are in dispute. We recount here the facts bearing upon the issues to be resolved on appeal, cast in the light most favorable to Viola as the party against whom summary judgment has been granted.

Philips Medical Systems, N.A. ("PMSNA") hired Nelson Viola on September 24, 1979 to work in the stock room of its Spare Parts Department. Viola was then 46 years old. In 1981 Viola was promoted to Coordinator. In late 1987 Viola briefly assumed the position of Order Administrator; however, at his own request, Viola returned to the Spare Parts Division in January 1988 as an Expeditor. Viola remained an Expeditor until his discharge on January 1, 1991 at age 57.

During Viola's twelve year tenure, annual performance evaluations were prepared for employees as part of PMSNA's Performance Appraisal Program. Job performance was rated on a four-part scale--outstanding, excellent, fully effective or needs improvement. The performance trend was rated on a three-part scale--improving, stable or declining. The supervisor was instructed to contact the personnel department whenever an employee received a "needs improvement" evaluation and a "declining" performance trend. After each performance review, the employee read and signed the evaluation and was entitled to submit a written objection, explanation or amendment. Until September 20, 1990, Viola had consistently been rated as "fully effective". Viola received his last review three months prior to his termination. Supervisor James O'Connell advised Viola that he "need[ed] improvement" but that his performance was "improving". Viola did not file a written comment in response to this evaluation, although he had filed such comments following past reviews.

In November or December of 1990, the executive management of PMSNA undertook a reorganization plan calling for a general reduction in the work force. Termination of union employees was governed by the collective bargaining agreement. Termination of non-union employees was governed by guidelines devised for the reduction in force. Applying those guidelines, termination decisions would be made on the basis of function, performance and seniority. First, each manager was to identify functional areas that could be consolidated or pruned. Employees in those areas were selected for termination based on their performance reviews, with employees "need[ing] improvement" being the first to go. In the event of a tie, the more senior would be retained.

In the fall of 1990, PMSNA employed three Expeditors in the Spare Parts Department: Trish O'Brien, Karen O'Donnell and Viola. When Ms. O'Brien's position became vacant, it was filled by Belinda Pacowta "sometime around or after December 1st in 1990." Ms. Pacowta, who was much younger than Viola, had originally been hired by PMSNA on April 3, 1989 as an Inventory Control Clerk. In April 1990 she received a performance appraisal of "fully effective" and "improving". Thus the complement of Expeditors at the time of the reduction in force consisted of Pacowta, O'Donnell and Viola.

Philip Castagna, the director-level manager in charge of the Spare Parts Department, identified four departmental positions to be eliminated, including one of the three Expeditors. Viola, having received a "needs improvement" rating on his most recent performance review, was singled out for termination. Thus, as a result of the 1990 reviews, Viola was dismissed on January 1, 1991 and Pacowta was retained.

As part of PMSNA's reorganization, the positions of Coordinator and Expeditor were consolidated into the single role of Coordinator Expeditor. In December, 1991, PMSNA hired a new employee as Coordinator Expeditor for the Logistics and Repair Department. The duties of this new employee in some part overlapped with Viola's work as an Expeditor.

On July 13, 1992, Viola filed a complaint alleging that PMSNA violated the ADEA by wrongfully terminating him on the basis of his age. PMSNA's March 29, 1993 motion for summary judgment was referred to Magistrate Judge Margolis on May 21, 1993. PMSNA contended that it had demonstrated that Viola's dismissal was part of a general reduction in the work force, conformed to its prescribed termination guidelines, and was not motivated by the plaintiff's age. In opposing defendant's motion, Viola relied almost exclusively on his own deposition, and argued that the circumstantial evidence summarized above was sufficiently "suspect" to defeat such a motion. Magistrate Judge Margolis recommended granting summary judgment in favor of PMSNA because Viola had failed to offer any evidence that age was a factor in his discharge and thus had failed to raise a genuine issue of material fact as to whether PMSNA's decision was discriminatory. The district court agreed and entered summary judgment in favor of defendants on January 5, 1994.

II. Discussion

The analytical framework for considering claims alleging wrongful termination under the ADEA is well-established. See Woroski v. Nashua Corp., 31 F.3d 105, 108 (2d Cir.1994) (citing Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Thurston, 469 U.S. 111, 121, 105 S.Ct. 613, 621-22, 83 L.Ed.2d 523 (1985) (stating that ADEA claims follow the same analytical framework as Title VII cases)). First, plaintiff must present a prima facie case of age discrimination. As first outlined in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973), plaintiff must show: " '(1) that he was within the protected age group, (2) that he was qualified for the position, (3) that he was discharged, and (4) that the discharge occurred under circumstances giving rise to an inference of age discrimination.' " Woroski, 31 F.3d at 108 (quoting Spence v. Maryland Casualty Co., 995 F.2d 1147, 1155 (2d Cir.1993)). Once the plaintiff has established a prima facie case, the employer must proffer a legitimate, non-discriminatory business rationale for its actions. Id. If the employer articulates an age-neutral reason for the termination, plaintiff must bear the ultimate burden of proving that the employee's age was the real reason for the discharge. Id. (citing Gallo v. Prudential Residential Servs., Ltd. Partnership, 22 F.3d 1219, 1225 (2d Cir.1994)).

Summary judgment is appropriate where "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). We review a district court's grant of summary judgment de novo, viewing the evidence "in a light most favorable to ... the non-moving party, and draw[ing] all reasonable inferences in his favor." Aslanidis v. United States Lines, Inc., 7 F.3d 1067, 1072 (2d Cir.1993). This case follows in a long line of cases brought by individual employees caught up in a reduction-in-force. See, e.g., Woroski, 31 F.3d 105; Gallo, 22 F.3d 1219; Montana v. First Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass'n of Rochester, 869 F.2d 100 (2d Cir.1989). Given the "minimal requirements" for establishing a prima facie case of employment discrimination, St. Mary's Honor Ctr. v. Hicks, --- U.S. ----, ----, 113 S.Ct. 2742, 2747, 125 L.Ed.2d 407 (1993), and the ease with which employers can point to the down-sizing procedure to justify any single termination, these cases often turn on whether a plaintiff has established that the rationale offered was a mere pretext for age discrimination. To defeat the employer's motion for summary judgment, "a plaintiff must show that there is a material issue of fact as to whether (1) the employer's...