Rose-Maston v. NME Hospitals, Inc.

Decision Date15 January 1998
Docket NumberA,No. 97-2088,ROSE-MASTO,97-2088
Citation1998 WL 11051,133 F.3d 1104
Parties75 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 1534, 72 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 45,099 Phyllisppellant, v. NME HOSPITALS, INC., doing business as Lutheran Medical Center, Appellee.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Eric E. Vickers, St. Louis, MO, argued, for appellant.

Jeffrey D. Hanslick, Kansas City, MO, argued (Toni H. Blackwood and Julianne Popper, on the brief), for appellee.

Before BOWMAN, WOLLMAN, and LOKEN, Circuit Judges.

WOLLMAN, Circuit Judge.

Phyllis Rose-Maston (Rose-Maston) appeals from the district court's 1 entry of summary judgment in favor of her former employer, Lutheran Medical Center (LMC), in her Title VII employment discrimination suit. Because Rose-Maston failed to present evidence showing that LMC's legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for her termination were a pretext for unlawful discrimination, we affirm.

I.

Rose-Maston, an African-American female, began working for LMC in October of 1984 as Utilization Review Coordinator. She was promoted in 1991 to the position of Utilization Review Manager. In March of 1992, Glenn Kraft (Kraft), a white male, was hired as LMC's Chief Financial Officer (CFO). As CFO, Kraft directly supervised the performance of seven departmental managers, including Rose-Maston. 2

Shortly after Kraft was hired, he and Rose-Maston began experiencing difficulties in their working relationship. Rose-Maston was apparently displeased with Kraft's approach, which called for managers under his control to function with minimal guidance and supervision. She felt that this "hands off" approach failed to adequately apprise her of what was expected of her. Kraft, on the other hand, expressed concern about Rose-Maston's job performance, believing that she was unable to function competently without constant feedback and supervision. In addition, he believed that she lacked an understanding of the purposes and functions of utilization review, and he found her reports to be inadequate and confusing. Kraft was also concerned about Rose-Maston's somewhat erratic attendance.

In November of 1992, LMC decided to combine its Utilization Review and Social Services departments into a single department. LMC anticipated creating a new Case Management Director (CMD) position to head up the newly created department. Kraft interviewed Rose-Maston and two other individuals for the CMD position. Because LMC's plans to merge the Utilization Review and Social Services departments were not entirely formulated, and because the CMD position was still largely undefined, LMC decided not to hire anyone immediately and tabled the proposed position indefinitely.

Following Rose-Maston's interview for the CMD position, her professional relationship with Kraft continued to deteriorate. Although Rose-Maston's previous supervisors had generally given her satisfactory performance evaluations, Kraft's 1992 evaluation of her performance indicated that Kraft was extremely dissatisfied with her sporadic attendance and professional competence. Rose-Maston was absent from work on numerous occasions and was often inexplicably unavailable during ordinary working hours. Kraft's concern about these repeated occurrences led him to begin carefully monitoring her absences. Between August of 1992 and April of 1993, Rose-Maston was absent from work for all or part of the day on seventeen separate occasions.

In January of 1993, Kraft provided Rose-Maston with an action plan outlining specific tasks for her to complete and setting deadlines for the completion of each task. This action plan proved to be largely unsuccessful. Rose-Maston felt that the plan failed to provide her with reasonable guidance, and consequently she failed to complete certain tasks in a timely manner. In April, Kraft informed Rose-Maston that he was unsatisfied with her performance of the tasks identified in the action plan. Kraft and LMC Human Resources Director Jan Kosmal met with Rose-Maston at this time to express their concerns and to inform her that they would carefully monitor her work during the following thirty days and that her employment status would be reevaluated at the end of that time.

On June 7, 1993, Kraft terminated Rose-Maston's employment, citing poor work performance and unacceptable attendance. Shortly thereafter, LMC implemented its plan to combine the Utilization Review and Social Services departments and hired a white male to serve as the director of the newly created Case Management department. 3

Following her dismissal, Rose-Maston filed this Title VII action, alleging that LMC unlawfully discriminated against her on the basis of race when it discharged her and when it failed to promote her to the CMD position.

II.

We review a grant of summary judgment de novo, applying the same standard as the district court. See Rabushka ex rel. United States v. Crane Co., 122 F.3d 559, 562 (8th Cir.1997). We will affirm if the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, shows that no genuine issue of material fact exists and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Herrero v. St. Louis University Hosp., 109 F.3d 481, 483 (8th Cir.1997); Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). Although a party moving for summary judgment has the burden of demonstrating the absence of any genuine issue of material fact, a nonmoving party may not rest upon mere denials or allegations, but must instead set forth specific facts sufficient to raise a genuine issue for trial. See Thomas v. Runyon, 108 F.3d 957, 959 (8th Cir.1997); Ruby v. Springfield R-12 Public School Dist., 76 F.3d 909, 911 (8th Cir.1996).

Rose-Maston's claims of race discrimination are analyzed under the burden-shifting framework set forth in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802-03, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 1824-25, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). Under this framework, a Title VII plaintiff has the initial burden of establishing a prima facie case of race discrimination. See Hill v. St. Louis University, 123 F.3d 1114, 1119 (8th Cir.1997). If she is successful in establishing a prima facie case, a rebuttable presumption of discrimination arises. See id. The burden then shifts to the defendant, who must articulate a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the adverse employment action. See id. Once the employer articulates such a reason, the presumption of discrimination disappears entirely and the plaintiff bears the burden of proving that the employer's proffered reason is merely a pretext for discriminatory animus. See id. At all times, the plaintiff retains the ultimate burden of proving that she was illegally discriminated against on the basis of her race. See Ruby, 76 F.3d at 912.

III.

To present a prima facie case of discriminatory discharge, Rose Maston was required to show "that [she] was a member of a protected class, that [she] was qualified for the position, and that despite [her] qualification [she] was displaced from the position." Ruby, 76 F.3d at 911. As LMC apparently concedes, Rose-Matson has met these requirements, thus creating a rebuttable presumption of discrimination. See Hill, 123 F.3d at 1119. LMC rebutted the presumption, however, by articulating legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for Rose-Maston's discharge; namely, her irregular attendance and her poor job performance.

Because LMC has produced nondiscriminatory reasons for its actions, the presumption of discrimination created by Rose-Maston's prima facie case disappeared. See Ryther v. KARE 11, 108 F.3d 832, 837 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 117 S.Ct. 2510, 138 L.Ed.2d 1013 (1997). Nonetheless, the elements which form Rose-Maston's prima facie case were not rendered irrelevant by the LMC's production of a nondiscriminatory explanation. Id. As we explained in Ryther,

[t]he elements of the prima facie case remain ... and if they are accompanied by evidence of pretext and disbelief of the defendant's proffered explanation, they may permit the jury to find for the plaintiff. This is not to say that, for the plaintiff to succeed, simply proving pretext is necessarily enough. We emphasize that evidence of pretext will not by itself be enough to make a submissible case if it is, standing alone, inconsistent with a reasonable inference of age discrimination. Furthermore ... the plaintiff must still persuade the jury, from all the facts and circumstances, that the employment decision was based upon intentional discrimination.

Id. at 837-38 (emphasis in original).

The question, then, is whether Rose-Maston produced sufficient evidence to support a reasonable inference that LMC's proffered reason is merely a pretext for race discrimination. See Duffy v. Wolle, 123 F.3d 1026, 1036 (8th Cir.1997); Moschetti v. Chicago, Central & Pacific R.R. Co., 119 F.3d 707, 710 (8th Cir.1997). Rose-Maston may prove pretext either directly by showing that her employer was more likely motivated by a discriminatory reason or indirectly by showing that her employer's explanation is unworthy of credence. See Harvey v. Anheuser-Busch, Inc., 38 F.3d 968, 971 (8th Cir.1994). Proof that LMC's articulated reason is unworthy of credence does not automatically entitle Rose-Maston to judgment but may support an inference of discrimination. See Rothmeier v. Investment Advisers, Inc., 85 F.3d 1328, 1334 (8th Cir.1996). As we went on to explain in Rothmeier,

[A] plaintiff can avoid summary judgment only if the evidence considered in its entirety (1) creates a fact issue as to whether the employer's proffered reasons are pretextual and (2) creates a reasonable inference that [race] was a determinative factor in the adverse employment decision. The second part of the test sometimes may be satisfied without additional evidence where the overall strength of the prima facie case and the evidence of pretext "suffice[s] to show intentional discrimination." The focus, however, always remains on the...

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