Aikens v. U.S. Postal Service Bd. of Governors

Citation665 F.2d 1057,214 U.S.App.D.C. 239
Decision Date08 September 1981
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (District of Columbia)

On Remand.

L. Harold Aikens, Jr. pro se.

Charles F. C. Ruff, U. S. Atty., John A. Terry and Elliot R. Warren, Asst. U. S. Attys., Washington, D. C., for appellee.

Before WILKEY, WALD and EDWARDS, Circuit Judges.

Opinion PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM:

This case is before us again because the Supreme Court vacated and remanded for reconsideration our decision that appellant had made out a prima facie case of racial discrimination in employment. 1 Applying the legal standards set forth below, we reverse the district court's grant of summary judgment to appellee and remand for further proceedings.

I. HISTORY OF THE CASE

Appellant Louis Aikens brought this Title VII action alleging that appellee United States Postal Service failed to promote him on account of his race. The district court granted summary judgment for the Postal Service because appellant failed to make out a prima facie case of racial discrimination. This court reversed on two grounds. First, the majority rejected the district court's legal conclusion that appellant's claim failed because he did not "prove that he was as qualified or more qualified than the individuals who were promoted or detailed." 2 Reviewing the evidence in the record, the majority determined that appellant had established a prima facie case of racial discrimination under the test set forth in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green. 3 Second, we found that the district judge had erred in holding that it was "critical" for appellant to offer "proof of discriminatory motive on the part of defendant." 4 Judge Wilkey dissented from the majority's finding that appellant had met his burden of establishing a prima facie case.

The Supreme Court granted the Postal Service's certiorari petition, vacated the judgment, and remanded the case back to this court for further consideration in light of Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine. 5 In Burdine, which dealt primarily with allocation of the burden of proof where the plaintiff has proved a prima facie case of discrimination, the Court set forth the basic requirements for establishing a prima facie case. Burdine in no way alters our conclusion that the district court erred in requiring appellant to prove discriminatory motive on the part of appellee. After considering Burdine's elaboration of the McDonnell Douglas test, however, we remand to the district court for consideration of whether appellant has proved a prima facie case of racial discrimination.

II. ANALYSIS

In Burdine the Supreme Court summarized the three stages in a Title VII case alleging discriminatory treatment:

First, the plaintiff has the burden of proving by the preponderance of the evidence a prima facie case of discrimination. Second, if the plaintiff succeeds in proving the prima facie case, the burden shifts to the defendant "to articulate some legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the employee's rejection." Third, should the defendant carry this burden, the plaintiff must then have an opportunity to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the legitimate reasons offered by the defendant were not its true reasons, but were a pretext for discrimination. 6

This case deals with the first stage, where the plaintiff must prove a prima facie case, i. e., "the establishment of a legally mandatory, rebuttable presumption" that the employer discriminated against him. 7 In McDonnell Douglas the Court stated that a plaintiff may establish a prima facie case by showing

(i) that he belongs to a racial minority; (ii) that he applied and was qualified for a job for which the employer was seeking applicants; (iii) that, despite his qualifications, he was rejected; and (iv) that, after his rejection, the position remained open and the employer continued to seek applicants from persons of complainant's qualifications. 8

The Court elaborated on this test in Burdine:

The burden of establishing a prima facie case of disparate treatment is not onerous. The plaintiff must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that she applied for an available position, for which she was qualified, but was rejected under circumstances which give rise to an inference of unlawful discrimination. The prima facie case serves an important function in the litigation: it eliminates the most common nondiscriminatory reasons for the plaintiff's rejection. See Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. 324, 358 & n.44, 97 S.Ct. 1843, 1866 n.44, 52 L.Ed.2d 396 (1977). As the Court explained in Furnco Construction Co. v. Waters, 438 U.S. 567, 577, 98 S.Ct. 2943, 2949, 57 L.Ed.2d 957 (1978), the prima facie case "raises an inference of discrimination only because we presume these acts, if otherwise unexplained, are more likely than not based on the consideration of impermissible factors." Establishment of the prima facie case in effect creates a presumption that the employer unlawfully discriminated against the employee. If the trier of fact believes the plaintiff's evidence, and if the employer is silent in the face of the presumption, the court must enter judgment for the plaintiff because no issue of fact remains in the case. 9

The issue here concerns the second part of the McDonnell Douglas test, the question of the plaintiff's qualifications for the positions sought. The district court found "that plaintiff has failed to present a prima facie case of racial discrimination in that plaintiff failed to prove that he was as qualified or more qualified than the individuals who were promoted or detailed." 10 In light of McDonnell Douglas and Burdine, this was plain error. The Supreme Court has never stated that establishment of a prima facie case must include proof that plaintiff was "as qualified or more qualified" than the persons hired or promoted. Such a demonstration may be essential at the third stage of the litigation, where the plaintiff has the ultimate burden of persuading the factfinder that the Government has offered no true nondiscriminatory reasons for its action. But this standard is not applicable to the prima facie case.

This is not to suggest that the required prima facie showing of plaintiff's qualifications is without meaning. The Supreme Court has noted that, as part of a prima facie case, the plaintiff must demonstrate that his rejection did not stem from "an absolute or relative lack of qualifications." 11 A plaintiff who demonstrates that he possesses the absolute minimum qualifications for a job, therefore, does not necessarily make out a prima facie case; if the employer has indicated that certain additional qualifications are necessary or preferred, the plaintiff must demonstrate that he has those qualifications as well.

If the plaintiff succeeds in presenting a prima facie case, the burden of production shifts to the employer. Burdine makes clear that the employer need only articulate (not prove) a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for rejecting the plaintiff. The opinion in Burdine also states that the employer's reason must be stated "with sufficient clarity so that the plaintiff will have a full and fair opportunity to demonstrate pretext"; 12 often the employer may meet this burden simply by stating that the applicant hired or promoted was more qualified in a particular respect than the plaintiff. The second stage of the McDonnell Douglas formulation allows the employer quickly to "frame the factual issue" on which the plaintiff must prevail in order to prove discrimination. 13 To succeed in his or her claim, the plaintiff must prove at the third stage that the employer's proferred nondiscriminatory reason for its action was merely a pretext for actual discrimination. This burden of proving discrimination never shifts, but "remains at all time with the plaintiff." 14

We recognize that Title VII cases involving professional and managerial positions raise uniquely difficult issues not found in cases involving lower-level jobs. Most abilities of a successful manager-especially the...

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14 cases
  • Ferguson v. EI duPont de Nemours and Co., Inc.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Delaware
    • 24 Marzo 1983
    ...who were not members of the protected group were indeed promoted in the same time frame. Aikens v. United States Postal Service Board of Governors, 665 F.2d 1057, 1059 (D.C.Cir.1981); Bundy v. Jackson, 641 F.2d 934, 951 (D.C.Cir.1981). Once established, the prima facie case raises an infere......
  • E.E.O.C. v. Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit
    • 11 Enero 1983
    ...previously been employed by the defendant consideration for employment. This was, also, the holding in Aikens v. U.S. Postal Service, Bd. of Governors, 665 F.2d 1057, 1059 (D.C.Cir.1981), cert. granted, 455 U.S. 1015, 102 S.Ct. 1707, 72 L.Ed.2d 132, 47 wherein the Court "A plaintiff who dem......
  • Williams v. Akron
    • United States
    • Ohio Supreme Court
    • 14 Diciembre 2005
    ...Aikens to prove that he was at least as qualified as successful applicants for promotion. Aikens v. United States Postal Serv. Bd. of Governors (1981), 665 F.2d 1057, 214 U.S.App.D.C. 239. {¶ 17} In its appeal to the Supreme Court, the Postal Service again alleged that Aikens had failed to ......
  • Nichelson v. Quaker Oats Co.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Western District of Tennessee
    • 22 Junio 1983
    ...Nichelson was initially employed as a production worker and promoted to laboratory technician. See Aikens v. U.S. Postal Service Bd. of Governors, 665 F.2d 1057 (D.C. Cir.1981). She has three years of college education. Nichelson applied for the supervisory job which was created in 1980. Sh......
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