Kobrin v. University of Minnesota

• Decision Date: 09 September 1994
• Docket Number: No. 93-2909,93-2909
• Citation: 34 F.3d 698
• Parties: 65 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 1624, 94 Ed. Law Rep. 80 Nancy J. KOBRIN, Appellant, v. UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA; The Regents of the University of Minnesota, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 698

34 F.3d 698

65 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 1624, 94 Ed. Law Rep. 80

Nancy J. KOBRIN, Appellant, v. UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA; The Regents of the University of Minnesota, Appellees.

No. 93-2909.

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit.

Submitted May 9, 1994.

Decided Sept. 9, 1994.

Kay Nord Hunt, Minneapolis, MN, argued (Andrea F. Rubenstein, on the brief), for appellant.

Mark Benjamin Rotenberg, Minneapolis, MN, argued, for appellee.

Before MAGILL, Circuit Judge, JOHN R. GIBSON, Senior Circuit Judge, and BOGUE, ^* Senior District Judge.

MAGILL, Circuit Judge.

Nancy Kobrin (Kobrin) appeals from the district court's order granting the University of Minnesota (University) summary judgment on Kobrin's Title VII discriminatory treatment and retaliation claims. Kobrin argues that the district court erred in concluding that she failed to produce evidence creating genuine issues of material fact on either claim. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings.

I. BACKGROUND

Kobrin began the Ph.D. program in the University's Department of Comparative Literature (Department) in 1978. Her thesis topic centered on semiotic analysis related to medieval Iberian culture. She also received psychoanalytical training as an advanced research fellow at the Institute for Psychoanalysis in Chicago. Kobrin received her Ph.D. in 1984.

Prior to receiving her Ph.D., Kobrin was recruited to serve as Acting Program Director for the University's Center for Humanistic Studies (CHS), an interdisciplinary institute that the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) established to promote research in the humanities. After receiving her degree, she remained at CHS with a new title, Program Coordinator. To receive that position, she had to apply, interview, and be selected after a national search. Under a consent decree entered into by the University in the Rajender ¹ case, the University must conduct a nationwide search to fill any academic, non-student position (Rajender search).

Kobrin served in a non-tenured, year-to-year position with CHS until 1988. While with CHS, she also taught courses in the Department. In 1988, however, CHS closed and Kobrin's position was eliminated. Around the same time, two Department faculty members resigned. On the recommendation of one of the departing professors, the Department hired Kobrin as a "lecturer." At the University, the term "lecturer" denotes a non-permanent, non-tenure track teaching position which can involve some administrative duties. Kobrin's lecturer position was funded by a CLA revolving fund of "soft money." Soft money is funds which are granted to a particular department for a particular purpose on an annual basis. Kobrin's last "Notice of Appointment" for the position stated that her job was to run from September 16, 1989 to June 15, 1990.

When the University changed Kobrin's title to lecturer, it informed her that the change triggered the need for a Rajender search. Kobrin objected to the need for a search on the ground that her new position was not substantively different from her CHS position. The deans of the CLA disagreed and concluded that a Rajender search was necessary because her new position was materially different than the old one. The University's Equal Opportunity Office granted the Department a one-year exemption from the search requirement because there was not enough time to conduct a search before the academic year began. The Equal Opportunity Office, however, made clear that Kobrin's position could not be continued without a search.

Meanwhile, in 1988, the CLA approved funding for two new faculty positions, one senior and one junior, in the Department. The Department formed a search committee consisting of three men and four women and advertised for a candidate with "a solid background in critical theory and at least one of the following areas: literature with an emergent critical interest; continental European literature of a period after 1600; media studies." Kobrin applied for the junior position. Out of about 100 applicants, the search committee narrowed the field to fourteen or fifteen semi-finalists, including Kobrin. The committee selected Prabhakara Jha, who had a strong background in literature with an emergent critical interest, for the junior position.

As to the senior position, the person that the committee selected rejected the job offer. Because it found no other suitable candidates, the committee received permission to hire an additional junior professor out of the original pool of candidates. After interviews with faculty members and evaluation of sample lectures to students and faculty, the Department selected Peter Canning to fill the second position. In July 1989, the chair of the search committee, Professor Ronald Sousa, sent Kobrin a letter advising her that the Department had selected Canning. The letter stated that Canning "works in areas of critical theory--especially psychoanalysis--and in French."

In late August 1989, soon after receiving the letter informing her that her position would terminate in June 1990, Kobrin filed a Rajender claim ² alleging sex discrimination against the Department in its hiring of Canning for the second junior position. ³ In June 1990, after the Department failed to renew her lecturer position, she filed a second Rajender claim. This second claim alleged that she was terminated in retaliation for filing her first claim.

Pursuant to the Rajender consent decree, a Special Master considered Kobrin's claims. The Special Master recommended that the district court grant the University's motion for summary judgment on both claims. First, he rejected Kobrin's sex discrimination claim, finding that she had failed to make out a Title VII prima facie case under McDonnell Douglas and that she had failed to show that the University's proffered reason for hiring Canning was pretextual. He also rejected her retaliation claim, concluding that there was no causal connection between her termination and her filing of the first claim and that the University had legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for terminating her. On appeal to the district court, Kobrin objected to the Special Master's recommendations. The district court, however, agreed with the Special Master's findings and granted the University summary judgment. Kobrin timely appealed.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Standard of Review

We review a district court's decision to grant summary judgment de novo. Summary judgment is appropriate only when there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The non-moving party is entitled to the benefit of all favorable inferences.

B. Failure to Hire Claim

Kobrin first argues that the district court erred in granting summary judgment to the University on her claim that the University violated Title VII by hiring Canning. She claims that there are factual disputes relating to the elements of her prima facie case and whether the University's articulated reasons for hiring Canning are pretextual.

In McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973), the Supreme Court "established an allocation of the burden of production and an order for the presentation of proof in Title VII discriminatory-treatment cases." St. Mary's Honor Ctr. v. Hicks, --- U.S. ----, ----, 113 S.Ct. 2742, 2746, 125 L.Ed.2d 407 (1993). McDonnell Douglas announced a three-step process for analyzing such cases. First, the plaintiff must establish a "prima facie" case of discrimination. In sex discrimination cases, the plaintiff makes out a prima facie case by proving: (1) that she is a member of a protected class; (2) that she was qualified for the position for which the employer was accepting applications; (3) that she was denied the position; and (4) that the employer hired a man for the position. See id. at ----, 113 S.Ct. at 2747. Establishing a prima facie case creates a presumption that the employer unlawfully discriminated against the plaintiff.

Once the plaintiff establishes a prima facie case, the defendant then has the burden of production of articulating a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for its employment decision. Id. If the defendant carries this burden of production, the presumption raised by the prima facie case is rebutted and drops from the case. Id. The plaintiff then has the opportunity to demonstrate that the proffered reason was not the true reason for the employment decision and that sex was. Id. The plaintiff retains the ultimate burden of persuading the trier of fact that she was the victim of intentional discrimination. Id. at ---- - ----, 113 S.Ct. at 2747-48.

The parties agree that Kobrin satisfies elements (1), (3), and (4) of the prima facie case. The district court found, however, that Kobrin had failed to create a genuine issue of fact as to element (2), i.e., whether she was qualified for the junior faculty position. The court found that although "Kobrin did in fact adduce some evidence that she is objectively qualified for th[e] position," she failed to create a fact issue as to whether "she is equally or more qualified than ... Canning." Dist.Ct.Order at 5 (June 17, 1993). The court focused on the Department's advertisement for the position, reasoning that Kobrin did not even argue that "her qualifications equalled or exceeded those of ... Canning in the relevant [academic] areas [specified in the advertisement]." Id.

We hold that the district court erred in its analysis of element (2) of the prima facie case. "For purposes of establishing a prima facie case, the plaintiff[ ] need only show [her] objective qualifications for the job." Legrand v. Trustees of the Univ. of Ark., 821 F.2d 478, 481 (8th Cir.1987) (citing Lynn v. Regents of the Univ. of Cal., 656 F.2d 1337, 1344-45 (9th Cir.1981), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 823, 103 S.Ct. 53, 74 L.Ed.2d 59 (1982)) (emphasis added), cert. denied, 485 U.S. 1034,...