Hidalgo v. Overseas Condado Ins. Agencies, Inc.

• Decision Date: 04 March 1997
• Docket Number: No. 96-2000,96-2000
• Citation: 120 F.3d 328
• Parties: 75 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 1027, 73 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 45,288 Manuel T. HIDALGO, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. OVERSEAS CONDADO INSURANCE AGENCIES, INC., Defendant, Appellee. . Heard
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

Page 328

120 F.3d 328

75 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 1027,

73 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 45,288

Manuel T. HIDALGO, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. OVERSEAS CONDADO INSURANCE AGENCIES, INC., Defendant, Appellee.

No. 96-2000.

United States Court of Appeals First Circuit.

Heard March 4, 1997.

Decided Aug. 11, 1997.

Andres Guillemard-Noble, San Juan, PR, with whom Joan S. Peters and Nachman, Santiago & Guillemard were on brief, for appellant.

Jorge E. Perez Diaz, Carolina, PR, with whom Pietrantoni Mendez & Alvarez, San Juan, PR, was on brief, for appellee.

Before TORRUELLA, Chief Judge, COFFIN, Senior Circuit Judge, and STAHL, Circuit Judge.

STAHL, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff-appellant Manuel T. Hidalgo appeals the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of defendant-appellee Overseas Condado Insurance Agencies, Inc. on Hidalgo's claim for damages and equitable relief pursuant to the Age Discrimination and Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 621-634. Finding that plaintiff-appellant failed to present evidence sufficient to meet his burden of persuasion concerning unlawful age animus, we affirm.

Background

On January 15, 1963, Hidalgo and two partners formed the Condado Insurance Agency, Inc. ("Condado"). Hidalgo subsequently became the sole shareholder. In September 1982, Hidalgo sold Condado to Royal Insurance Ltd. ("Royal"). After the sale, Royal retained Hidalgo as president of Condado. Some time later, Royal acquired Overseas Insurance Agencies, Inc., and, in 1988, merged this agency with Condado to form the Overseas Condado Insurance Agencies, Inc. ("Overseas"). In the process of the merger, Royal created the Condado Division of Overseas and named Hidalgo president of the Division. The Condado Division consisted of Hidalgo, Sagrario Maiz del Toro (Hidalgo's secretary) and Doris Rodriguez (Hidalgo's assistant). Dating from the sale of Condado to Royal, Hidalgo's functions included promoting and servicing all of Condado's existing accounts and acquiring new accounts.

On September 1, 1993, Hidalgo's sixty-fifth birthday, Hidalgo was to become eligible to retire and receive normal benefits under Overseas' retirement plan. Approximately five months before this date, on March 29, 1993, Victor Rios, President of Royal and Chairman of Overseas, sent Hidalgo a letter informing him that Overseas recognized that he would become eligible for normal retirement benefits on September 1, 1993, and that Overseas expected him to retire on that date "[i]n accordance with the company's established guidelines."

After receiving this letter, Hidalgo informed Rios that he did not intend to retire on September 1. On July 2, 1993, Rios sent Hidalgo another communication informing him that the Condado Division would cease to exist on September 1 because Overseas planned to integrate it into its "regular operation." In this same communication, Rios instructed Hidalgo that Overseas would wait until September 1 to allow him to "fully qualify for ... [his] pension plan," but that it did not intend to extend his employment contract after that date. On August 18, Hidalgo again informed Rios of his desire to remain as president of the Condado Division. Rios replied by offering Hidalgo an arrangement whereby he could function as an "independent producer" with his compensation based on commissions and bonuses. Hidalgo refused this offer.

Subsequently, Hidalgo filed complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") and the Department of Labor and Human Resources of Puerto Rico. On December 30, 1993, the Department of Labor issued Hidalgo a Notice of Right to Sue. On March 10, 1994, Hidalgo filed in federal district court the complaint which underlies this appeal. He alleged that Overseas dismissed him from his job because of his age and requested damages and equitable relief pursuant to the Age Discrimination and Employment Act ("ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. §§ 621-634. Hidalgo also invoked the district court's supplemental jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1367 for his state law claims seeking compensation for age-based discrimination, 29 P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 29, § 146 (1985).

On June 24, 1994, Overseas filed a Motion to Dismiss or for Summary Judgment. On June 20, 1996, the district court (Casellas, J.), treating the motion as a motion for summary judgment, determined that Hidalgo failed to establish one of the elements necessary to state a prima facie case of employment discrimination under the ADEA. Notwithstanding this determination, the court further ruled that Hidalgo failed either to prove that Overseas' articulated legitimate reasons for his dismissal were a "mere pretext" or to provide evidence of discriminatory animus on Overseas' behalf. The court also refused to exercise pendent jurisdiction over Hidalgo's state law claims. Consequently, the court disposed of Hidalgo's complaint in its entirety. This appeal ensued. ¹

Standard of Review

"[O]ur review of a grant of summary judgment is de novo, [and] we, like the district court, are obliged to review the record in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, and to draw all reasonable inferences in the nonmoving party's favor." LeBlanc v. Great Am. Ins. Co., 6 F.3d 836, 841 (1st Cir.1993). " 'An inference is reasonable only if it can be drawn from the evidence without resort to speculation.' " Mulero-Rodriguez v. Ponte, Inc., 98 F.3d 670, 672 (1st Cir.1996) (quoting Frieze v. Boatmen's Bank of Belton, 950 F.2d 538, 541 (8th Cir.1991)). The district court's award of summary judgment is appropriate when "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). "[T]o defeat a properly supported motion for summary judgment, the nonmoving party must establish a trial-worthy issue by presenting 'enough competent evidence to enable a finding favorable to the nonmoving party.' " LeBlanc, 6 F.3d at 842 (quoting Goldman v. First Nat'l Bank of Boston, 985 F.2d 1113, 1116 (1st Cir.1993)). "An appellate panel is not restricted to the district court's reasoning but can affirm a summary judgment on any independently sufficient ground." Mesnick v. General Elec. Co., 950 F.2d 816, 822 (1st Cir.1991).

Discussion

Hidalgo makes two primary arguments. ² He first argues that the district court erred in determining that he failed to establish a prima facie case of age discrimination under the ADEA. He then contends that the district court improperly concluded that he did not prove that Overseas' reasons for dismissing him were pretextual and that Overseas' actions derived from discriminatory animus. We address these contentions in turn.

In an ADEA discrimination action, the plaintiff bears the ultimate " 'burden of proving that his years were the determinative factor in his discharge, that is, that he would not have been fired but for his age.' " Mesnick v. General Elec. Co., 950 F.2d 816, 823 (1st Cir.1991) (quoting Freeman v. Package Mach. Co., 865 F.2d 1331, 1335 (1st Cir.1988)). "[W]hen there is little overt evidence of age discrimination, the case usually follows the ritualized burden-shifting paradigm" set forth in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802-05, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 1824-25, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). LeBlanc, 6 F.3d at 842. Pursuant to McDonnell Douglas, a plaintiff must present a prima facie "showing of certain standardized elements suggestive of possible discrimination." Id.

In this circuit, McDonnell Douglas ' burden shifting paradigm assumes a slightly different form in age discrimination cases depending on whether or not the dismissal represented part of a reduction in force. If the plaintiff was not dismissed as part of a reduction in force, the plaintiff establishes a prima facie case by demonstrating the following: "(1) [he] was at least forty years of age, (2)[he] met the employer's legitimate job performance expectations, (3)[he] experienced adverse employment action, and (4)[he] was replaced by a person with roughly equivalent job qualifications." Goldman, 985 F.2d at 1117. With respect to the fourth element necessary to establish a prima facie case in a nonreduction in force scenario, "[i]t is enough for [the] plaintiff to show that the employer sought some form of replacement performance, which would demonstrate its 'continued need for the same services and skills.' " Kale v. Combined Ins. Co. of Am., 861 F.2d 746, 760 (1st Cir.1988) (quoting Loeb v. Textron, Inc., 600 F.2d 1003, 1013 (1st Cir.1979)); see Keisling v. SER-Jobs for Progress, Inc., 19 F.3d 755, 760 (1st Cir.1994); Vega v. Kodak Caribbean, Ltd., 3 F.3d 476, 479 (1st Cir.1993). "A replacement need not be sought from outside the company, of course, nor need he be designated formally as such." Loeb, 600 F.2d at 1013 n. 11; see Keisling, 19 F.3d at 760.

If the employer dismissed the plaintiff as part of a reduction in force, the plaintiff "need not show replacement by someone with equivalent job qualifications. Instead, to satisfy element (4), the plaintiff may demonstrate either that 'the employer did not treat age neutrally or that younger persons were retained in the same position.' " LeBlanc, 6 F.3d at 842 (quoting Hebert v. Mohawk Rubber Co., 872 F.2d 1104, 1111 (1st Cir.1989)). ³

The district court granted summary judgment in Overseas' favor because it found that Hidalgo had failed to make out a prima facie case of age discrimination. Although the court regarded this case as presenting a reduction in force scenario, it considered whether Hidalgo's claim had merit under the law governing a non-reduction in force scenario as well. The district court concluded specifically that Overseas did not have a continuing need for someone of Hidalgo's skills, that Hidalgo failed to establish that Overseas did not treat age neutrally, and that Overseas did not retain younger persons in the...