Robinson v. Alabama Cent. Credit Union

• Decision Date: 23 March 2007
• Docket Number: 1051327.
• Citation: 964 So.2d 1225
• Parties: Anthony ROBINSON v. ALABAMA CENTRAL CREDIT UNION.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

964 So.2d 1225

Anthony ROBINSON v. ALABAMA CENTRAL CREDIT UNION.

1051327.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

March 23, 2007.

Cinda R. York of Campbell, Waller & Poer, LLC, Birmingham, for appellant.

James N. Nolan and Kary Bryant Wolfe of Walston, Wells & Birchall, LLP, Birmingham, for appellee.

STUART, Justice.

Anthony Robinson appeals the summary judgment entered by the Jefferson Circuit Court in favor of his former employer, Alabama Central Credit Union ("ACCU"), on his age-discrimination claim brought pursuant to the Alabama Age Discrimination and Employment Act, § 25-1-20 et seq., Ala.Code 1975 ("the AADEA"). We affirm.

I.

On February 15, 2000, Robinson was hired by ACCU for the position of "Vice President for Marketing and Business Development." Robinson was interviewed and selected for the position by Ron Haas, president and chief executive officer of ACCU; Haas would also serve as Robinson's direct supervisor during Robinson's tenure with the company. At the time of his hiring, Robinson was 48 years old.

Robinson's performance evaluations for the years he was employed by ACCU were generally satisfactory; however, they did note that there was room for improvement in some areas. Nevertheless, Robinson received merit pay raises and bonuses during this time.

In early 2004, ACCU hired an outside consultant, Glen Blickenstaff of Human Strategies, Inc., to advise management on issues related to employee development, performance management, and strategic planning. Blickenstaff worked with the ACCU senior management team, which included Robinson, to develop a comprehensive business plan and to improve the business's efficiency. This process ultimately resulted in Haas's decision, made sometime in the late summer of 2004, to restructure the senior management team. First, the position of vice president of operations was eliminated; in its place two regional vice-president positions were created. Joe Kiser, the then senior vice president, was also promoted to the newly created position of executive vice president and chief operating officer.

In approximately late September 2004, after consultation with Kiser and Blickenstaff, Haas decided to terminate Robinson's employment and to eliminate the position of marketing vice president on the senior management team. On October 4, 2004, Haas met with Robinson and terminated Robinson's employment with ACCU. Robinson was 52 years old at the time. On October 18, 2004, ACCU announced that Jennifer Denholm, who was 25 years old at the time, had been promoted to the newly created position of "Marketing and Business Development Coordinator."

On March 25, 2005, Robinson sued ACCU in the Jefferson Circuit Court alleging that the termination of his employment was an unlawful act of age discrimination prohibited by the AADEA. ACCU filed an answer denying the substance of Robinson's claim and, on March 2, 2006, moved for a summary judgment. Robinson responded and, on March 27, 2006, the trial court granted ACCU's motion and entered a judgment in its favor. Robinson moved the trial court to alter, amend, or vacate its judgment pursuant to Rule 59(e), Ala. R. Civ. P.; however, the trial court denied that motion. Robinson appealed.

II.

"This Court's review of a summary judgment is de novo. Williams v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 886 So.2d 72, 74 (Ala.2003). We apply the same standard of review as the trial court applied. Specifically, we must determine whether the movant has made a prima facie showing that no genuine issue of material fact exists and that the movant is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Rule 56(c), Ala. R. Civ. P.; Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Alabama v. Hodurski, 899 So.2d 949, 952-53 (Ala.2004). In making such a determination, we must review the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmovant. Wilson v. Brown, 496 So.2d 756, 758 (Ala.1986). Once the movant makes a prima facie showing that there is no genuine issue of material fact, the burden then shifts to the nonmovant to produce `substantial evidence' as to the existence of a genuine issue of material fact. Bass v. SouthTrust Bank of Baldwin County, 538 So.2d 794, 797-98 (Ala. 1989); Ala.Code 1975, § 12-21-12."

Dow v. Alabama Democratic Party, 897 So.2d 1035, 1038-39 (Ala.2004).

Additionally, we note that this Court has not yet considered the burden of proof applicable to an AADEA claim. However, federal courts considering the issue have noted that the purpose and prohibitions of the AADEA are similar to those of the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq. ("ADEA"), and concluded that ADEA principles should therefore govern in AADEA cases as well. See, e.g., Bonham v. Regions Mortgage, Inc., 129 F.Supp.2d 1315, 1321 (M.D.Ala.2001); see also § 25-1-29, Ala.Code 1975 (expressly adopting as part of the AADEA the remedies, defenses, and statutes of limitations applicable to the ADEA). Accordingly, the federal courts have applied to AADEA claims the same evidentiary framework applied to federal age-discrimination claims. We agree that this framework, which was articulated by the Supreme Court of the United States in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973), and Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981), is the proper means by which to review an AADEA claim. The evidentiary framework was summarized as follows in Dooley v. AutoNation USA Corp., 218 F.Supp.2d 1270, 1278 (N.D.Ala.2002):

"`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.'

"Burdine, 450 U.S. at 252-53, 101 S.Ct. 1089 (citations omitted). At all times, plaintiff bears the burden of persuasion on the ultimate question of whether the defendant acted with an unlawful motive. St. Mary's Honor Ctr. v. Hicks, 509 U.S. 502, 511, 113 S.Ct. 2742, 125 L.Ed.2d 407 (1993). If the plaintiff does not proffer sufficient evidence to create a genuine issue of material fact regarding whether each of the defendant employer's articulated reasons is pretextual, the employer is entitled to judgment as a matter of law on the plaintiff's claim. See Combs v. Plantation Patterns, 106 F.3d 1519, 1529 (11th Cir. 1997)."

Thus, in reviewing the summary judgment in favor of ACCU, we must determine whether Robinson established a prima facie case of age discrimination and, if so, whether ACCU articulated a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for discharging Robinson and, if so, whether Robinson then presented substantial evidence to create a genuine issue of material fact as to whether ACCU's proffered reason for his discharge is pretextual.

III.

ACCU, in its motion for a summary judgment, argued both that Robinson failed to establish a prima facie case and that, even if he did establish a prima facie case, he failed to establish that ACCU's stated reason for his discharge was pretextual. In granting the motion, the trial court based its decision on the second argument, stating:

"Assuming [Robinson's] evidence is sufficient to create an issue of material fact that precludes summary judgment as to [Robinson's] prima facie case, [ACCU] nevertheless articulated legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons to justify [Robinson's] termination, which [were] not related to age and which [were] not rebutted by substantial evidence by [Robinson]."

We agree. Even assuming, for the sake of argument, that Robinson did establish a prima facie case of age discrimination, we affirm the judgment of the trial court because ACCU has articulated a legitimate reason for Robinson's discharge, which he has failed to prove was pretextual.

ACCU has stated its reason for terminating Robinson's employment as follows:

"[Robinson's employment] was terminated as part of a restructuring in the Fall of 2003. After carefully analyzing [Robinson's] position, the functions [Robinson] was performing and how he was performing those functions, Ron Haas determined that it would be beneficial to the Credit Union to outsource many of [Robinson's] primary functions and have a lower-grade marketing person to merely coordinate and assist the outside agency to perform those functions. [Robinson's] position was eliminated and to date, has not been re-instated."

Robinson does not dispute that, if true, this would qualify as a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason. The burden, therefore, shifted to him to produce evidence indicating that ACCU's stated reason for discharging him is pretextual.

Robinson first argues that over time ACCU has changed the reason it has given for terminating his employment and that its doing so accordingly presents a genuine issue of material fact as to the truthfulness of that reason. This Court has previously held that a judgment as a matter of law is inappropriate when evidence exists indicating that an employer has given contradictory reasons for an employee's discharge. See, e.g., Flint Construction Co. v. Hall, 904 So.2d 236, 252 (Ala.2004), a retaliatory-discharge case in which this Court held that "a [judgment as a matter of law] is not appropriate where, as here, the employer subsequently contradicts the reason it initially gave for the discharge, thereby at least implicitly disavowing it or by such action acknowledging its pretextual status." In his brief to this Court, Robinson states this argument as follows:

"To establish pretext, the Court need look no farther than the inconsistent and contradictory reasons given for [Robinson...