MacDonald v. Delta Air Lines, Inc.

• Decision Date: 26 August 1996
• Docket Number: No. 95-4098,95-4098
• Citation: 94 F.3d 1437
• Parties: 71 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 1466, 5 A.D. Cases 1572, 18 A.D.D. 235, 8 NDLR P 296 Lennon H. MacDONALD, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. DELTA AIR LINES, INC., a Delaware corporation, and Delta Family Care Retirement Plan, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

Page 1437

94 F.3d 1437

71 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 1466, 5 A.D. Cases 1572,

18 A.D.D. 235, 8 NDLR P 296

Lennon H. MacDONALD, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. DELTA AIR LINES, INC., a Delaware corporation, and Delta Family Care Retirement Plan, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 95-4098.

United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit.

Aug. 26, 1996.

John Preston Creer, Salt Lake City, Utah, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Chris Wangsgard, Parsons Behle & Latimer, Salt Lake City, Utah, for Defendants-Appellees.

Before EBEL, KELLY, and HENRY, Circuit Judges.

HENRY, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff Lennon H. MacDonald appeals the district court's grant of the summary judgment motion of defendants Delta Air Lines, Inc, and Delta Family Care Retirement Plan on his age discrimination and disability discrimination claims. We exercise jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

The following are the undisputed facts in this case as set forth by the district court: Mr. MacDonald had been an airplane mechanic for Western Air Lines ("Western") for eighteen years when Western merged with Delta Air Lines ("Delta"). After the merger, he became a Delta mechanic on April 1, 1987. His duties as an aircraft mechanic included meeting arriving flights, checking with the crew to identify any mechanical problems, and preparing flights for timely departure.

As part of his duties in meeting arriving aircraft, Mr. MacDonald was assigned to an arrival gate in accordance with a schedule which was posted each morning on a mechanics' bulletin board. Under Delta's written policy, mechanics, including Mr. MacDonald, should be at the arrival gate five minutes before a flight arrived. If the aircraft crew had some mechanical problem to report, the assigned mechanic would correct the mechanical problem, if possible, before the plane took off. Additionally, the mechanic had the responsibility of visually inspecting the aircraft to detect possible mechanical problems and of determining if a flight should be delayed to repair mechanical malfunctions. After making a repair, the mechanic would document the repair in the computer log. Performance of these duties required fifteen to thirty minutes, even if the plane had no mechanical problems to report.

On June 29, 1993, Mr. Joseph F. Froehlich, Delta's general foreman of maintenance for Salt Lake City and the associated regional area, was observing operations at the D Concourse of the Salt Lake City Airport. At about 10:00 a.m., Mr. Froehlich noticed that Delta Flight 443 had arrived at Gate D3 and that no mechanic was present to meet the flight. Mr. Froehlich then walked down to the D Gate ready room, seeking an explanation for the absence of a mechanic at Gate D3. As he entered the room, he saw Mr. MacDonald sitting in the break area reading a newspaper or magazine. Mr. Froehlich went to the foreman's office and advised foreman Mark Werner that no mechanic was present at Gate D3. Mr. Werner investigated this report and discovered that Mr. MacDonald was the mechanic assigned to Flight 443. He located Mr. MacDonald in the break room reading a newspaper and told him to go work his assigned flight.

The next day, June 30, 1993, Mr. Froehlich called Mr. MacDonald into his office and asked him to write an incident report explaining why he did not meet Flight 443. Mr. MacDonald complied and submitted a report in which he indicated that he did not meet the flight due to an oversight of time on his part. After reviewing the incident report, Mr. Froehlich informed Mr. MacDonald that his reason was unacceptable. Mr. Froehlich then suspended Mr. MacDonald from employment pending further investigation, based on his failure to meet the flight and on his prior poor work performance.

Mr. Froehlich subsequently recommended that Delta terminate Mr. MacDonald's employment. On July 2, 1993, Mr. Ernie Menet, the Delta aircraft maintenance manager, submitted a written memorandum recommending that Mr. MacDonald be terminated based on his failure to meet the flight and on prior disciplinary problems. Delta management accepted this recommendation. On July 20, 1993, Delta offered Mr. MacDonald the choice of resigning or of being terminated. He subsequently resigned at age fifty-two.

II. DISCUSSION

We review de novo the district court's grant of summary judgment, applying the same standard as did the district court. E.g., Jones v. Unisys Corp., 54 F.3d 624, 627 (10th Cir.1995). Summary judgment is proper only "if 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 a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). "A fact is 'material' only if it 'might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law,' and a dispute about a material fact is 'genuine' only 'if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the non-moving party.' " Thomas v. IBM, 48 F.3d 478, 486 (10th Cir.1995) (quoting Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986)). We view the evidence and draw any inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to the party opposing summary judgment, here Mr. MacDonald. Id. at 484.

Mr. MacDonald claims that Delta fired him in violation of both the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 621-634, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101-12213. However, because Mr. MacDonald has failed to establish a prima facie case under either act, meaning that no reasonable jury could return a verdict in his favor, we uphold the district court's grant of summary judgment to the defendants on both claims.

A. The Age Discrimination Claim

Under the ADEA, an employer cannot "discharge any individual ... because of such individual's age." See 29 U.S.C. § 623(a)(1). Thus, for Mr. MacDonald to establish a claim under the ADEA, he must show that Delta's decision to fire him was motivated, at least in part, see James v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 21 F.3d 989, 992 (10th Cir.1994) (explaining that the plaintiff is not required to show that the employer was motivated only by the plaintiff's age), by his age. See, e.g., Hazen Paper Co. v. Biggins, 507 U.S. 604, 610, 113 S.Ct. 1701, 1706, 123 L.Ed.2d 338 (1993); Jones, 54 F.3d at 630; Thomas, 48 F.3d at 484. There are two methods for showing that an ADEA defendant held the requisite discriminatory intent. First, the plaintiff may present direct proof of the defendant's discriminatory intent. Mr. MacDonald has offered no direct evidence showing that Delta fired him because of his age; therefore, he must proceed in the second manner, by presenting circumstantial evidence that indirectly proves Delta's discriminatory motive in firing him, see Jones, 54 F.3d at 630; Thomas, 48 F.3d at 484.

Where an ADEA plaintiff presents only circumstantial evidence of discrimination, we apply the analysis outlined in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802-03, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 1824-25, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973) (a Title VII case). See, e.g., Jones, 54 F.3d at 630; Thomas, 48 F.3d at 484. For a plaintiff-employee to establish a prima facie case of age discrimination, the McDonnell Douglas analysis requires a showing that "(1) the employee belongs to the protected age group; (2) the employee's job performance was satisfactory; (3) the employee was discharged; and (4) the employee was replaced by a younger person." Thomas, 48 F.3d at 484.

1. The Establishment of the First Three Elements of the ADEA Claim

The parties do not dispute that Mr. MacDonald has established the first and third elements of a prima facie case under the ADEA. When Delta forced him to resign, effectively firing him, he was fifty-two, bringing him within the ADEA's protected class of individuals, those "who are at least 40 years of age," 29 U.S.C. § 631(a).

As to the second element, the defendants argue that Mr. MacDonald has not shown that his "job performance was satisfactory" in light of his past adverse employee evaluations and his failure to meet his assigned flight on June 29, 1993. See Thomas, 48 F.3d at 484. However, we conclude that there is sufficient evidence in the record to create a genuine issue of material fact as to whether Mr. MacDonald was a satisfactory airplane mechanic. This evidence includes the following: On March 5, 1993, four months before Mr. MacDonald's termination, Mr. Larry Rogers, who was Mr. MacDonald's supervisor at the time, completed a personnel evaluation of Mr. MacDonald. See Aplt's App., Ex. D at 83. In all categories evaluated, he gave Mr. MacDonald a rating of "standard." Id. He stated that Mr. MacDonald "continue[d] to improve in his use of the computer system and the tech manuals ... [and] continue[d] to make the effort to improve from the below standard rating he was given." Id. at 84. Mr. Rogers recommended that Mr. MacDonald "be taken off the monthly evaluation list," describing Mr. MacDonald as "dependable, cooperative and always willing to help out when asked." Id.

In addition to Mr. Rogers's "standard" evaluation, the evidence regarding the frequency of a mechanic missing an assigned flight and the punishment imposed for doing so shows that a reasonable jury could conclude that, despite missing his assigned flight, Mr. MacDonald was a satisfactory airplane mechanic. Mr. Mark Werner, a Delta foreman at the Salt Lake City airport, testified in his deposition that occasionally "there is an airplane that arrives and a mechanic isn't there to start his work on it." See Aple's Supp.App., Ex. F at 233. Both he and Mr. Tom Orges, a Delta supervisor, testified in their depositions that they were unaware of any employee, other than Mr. MacDonald, having been fired for missing an assigned flight. See id. at 238-39; Aple's Supp.App., Ex. E at 228-29. Further, Mr. MacDonald stated in his affidavit that he had ...