Sanchez v. Philip Morris Inc.
| Decision Date | 20 April 1993 |
| Docket Number | 91-6371,Nos. 91-6354,s. 91-6354 |
| Citation | 992 F.2d 244 |
| Parties | 62 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 980, 61 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 42,236, 126 Lab.Cas. P 57,481, 8 IER Cases 1766 Raul C. SANCHEZ, Plaintiff-Appellee, Cross-Appellant, v. PHILIP MORRIS INCORPORATED, a foreign corporation and d/b/a Philip Morris USA, and Ralph Rayburn, sued in both his individual and representative capacities, Defendants- Appellants, Cross-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit |
Elizabeth Scott Wood (M. Richard Mullins, with her on the briefs, McAfee & Taft, P.C., of counsel), Oklahoma City, OK, for defendants-appellants, cross-appellees.
Frederick W. Southern, Jr. (Kermit V. Jones, with him on the briefs), Oklahoma City, OK, for plaintiff-appellee, cross-appellant.
Before McKAY, Chief Judge, SETH and McWILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.
Appellee Raul C. Sanchez filed an action against Appellants Philip Morris, Inc. ("Philip Morris") and Ralph Rayburn alleging reverse gender and national origin discrimination in violation of Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act, as well as violations of Oklahoma public policy. After dismissing the state public policy claim, the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma found Appellants liable on both theories and awarded damages. Appellants appeal the imposition of liability, and Appellee cross-appeals the district court's dismissal of the public policy tort claim. Both parties appeal the damage award. Our jurisdiction over this appeal arises under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We reverse on the issue of liability and affirm the district court's dismissal of the public policy tort claim.
The dispositive facts in this case are essentially undisputed. Mr. Rayburn is a division manager for Philip Morris and is authorized to hire entry level sales personnel. On three different occasions, Appellee, a Hispanic male, applied for an entry level sales position with Philip Morris. The minimum requirements for such a position are that an applicant be at least twenty-one years old and possess a valid driver's license. Although Appellee satisfied these minimum requirements, the Appellants hired one Caucasian male and two Caucasian females for the three sales positions.
Mr. Rayburn testified that he was impressed with and interested in hiring Appellee after interviewing Appellee for the first sales position. Although Mr. Rayburn did not hire Appellee, he retained Appellee's application for future consideration. Thereafter, a second sales position became available in another division of Philip Morris managed by Mr. Lay. Mr. Rayburn forwarded Appellee's application to Mr. Lay, and together they interviewed Appellee for the position. Mr. Lay was not impressed with Appellee, and Mr. Rayburn conceded that Appellee's second interview was not as good as the first. Again Appellee was not hired, but his application was retained. Appellee was not interviewed for the third sales position for which another applicant, Loraine Smoot, was hired by Mr. Rayburn. While it is clear from the record that Appellee was in fact considered for the three positions to which he applied, other applicants were hired because according to the Appellants they were better qualified.
At trial, Appellee proffered evidence to establish a prima facie case of disparate treatment in a failure to hire context by showing that he was a member of a protected class, that he was qualified for the sales positions, and that of the three people actually hired none were Hispanic and two were women. At the close of Appellee's case, the Appellants filed a motion for judgment, claiming the Appellee had failed to meet his burden of proof. The district court took the motion under advisement.
In order to rebut the inference of intentional discrimination created by Appellee's prima facie case, the Appellants' witnesses testified that they always hire the best qualified applicant and that Appellee was not the best qualified for any of the three positions. The district court found this to be a facially nondiscriminatory reason explaining Appellants' failure to hire Appellee.
In its Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law the district court found that the Appellee proved a prima facie case of discrimination on both theories. This finding impliedly denied Appellants' motion for judgment. In addition, the district court concluded that the two applicants who were hired for the first openings, instead of Appellee, were in fact more qualified than Appellee. However, the court observed as to the third opening that Appellee was more qualified than Loraine Smoot who was hired, and therefore the Appellants' "assertion that the selected applicant was the best person for the position [wa]s not the true reason for their hiring decision but was merely a pretext for discrimination" in violation of Title VII.
The district court's finding that the Appellee was better qualified than Loraine Smoot was based on its comparison of their educational and occupational backgrounds, which we will briefly summarize. Appellee possessed a two-year college degree as well as over twelve years of experience in the food industry with increasing levels of responsibility from stock clerk for a supermarket to the manager/owner of a convenience store. Appellee's various jobs furnished him with experience in marketing, retail sales, accounting, and hiring, firing and supervision of employees. On the other hand, prior to applying for the sales position with Philip Morris, Loraine Smoot had been a school secretary for thirteen years. As the school's secretary, she was responsible for fund raising activities, record keeping and communicating with virtually everyone related to the school. She also had worked contemporaneously as a part-time sales person for a department store for seven years.
On appeal, the Appellants argue that the district court erred (1) by not granting their motion for "directed verdict" because Appellee failed to establish a prima facie case, (2) by imposing liability on Appellants because the court improperly substituted its own business judgment and did not make any finding of unlawful discriminatory animus, and (3) even if liability were appropriate, by awarding excessive damages. In his cross-appeal, which will be addressed later in this opinion, Appellee contends that the district court erroneously dismissed his state public policy tort claim and that the court should have ordered instatement and injunctive relief.
It is well settled in this circuit that the burden-shifting format set forth in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973), is applicable to the analysis of Title VII claims of disparate treatment. However, in Fallis v. Kerr-McGee Corp., 944 F.2d 743, 744 (10th Cir.1991), we declared:
"At this stage in the proceedings, after a full trial on the merits, the sequential analytical model from McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 801-04, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 1823-25, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973), consisting of (1) plaintiff's prima facie case of ... discrimination, (2) the defendant's legitimate business justification, and (3) the plaintiff's rebuttal showing of pretext and/or improper motivation, which guided the trier's consideration of this case, drops out...."
See also United States Postal Service Bd. of Governors v. Aikens, 460 U.S. 711, 715, 103 S.Ct. 1478, 1481-82, 75 L.Ed.2d 403 (1983); Texas Dep't of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 255 n. 10, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 1095 n. 10, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981); Ortega v. Safeway Stores, Inc., 943 F.2d 1230, 1237 (10th Cir.1991). Consequently, with respect to the Title VII liability dispute before this court, we are left with a single issue of whether the Appellee adduced sufficient evidence to warrant a determination that the Appellants intentionally discriminated against Appellee based on gender or national origin by hiring Loraine Smoot. See Aikens, 460 U.S. at 715, 103 S.Ct. at 1481; Fallis, 944 F.2d at 744.
We emphasize that the plaintiff in a Title VII case must prove that intent to discriminate based upon plaintiff's protected class characteristics was the determining factor for the allegedly illegal employment decision. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Flasher Co., Inc., 986 F.2d 1312 (10th Cir.1992). See also Burdine, 450 U.S. at 256, 101 S.Ct. at 1095; Lucas v. Dover Corp., Norris Div., 857 F.2d 1397 (10th Cir.1988). Because the prima facie case only creates an inference of unlawful discrimination, some evidence that the articulated legitimate business reason for the decision was pretextual does not compel the conclusion that the employer intentionally discriminated. Flasher, 986 F.2d at 1321, (citing Benzies v. Illinois Dep't of Mental Health & Developmental Disabilities, 810 F.2d 146, 148 (7th Cir.1987) (). If a plaintiff successfully proves that the defendant's reasons are not worthy of credence, the plaintiff must still prove that the true motive for the employment decision violates Title VII. See Furnco Construction v. Waters, 438 U.S. 567, 579, 98 S.Ct. 2943, 2951, 57 L.Ed.2d 957 (1978) (); Flasher, 986 F.2d at 1320-21.
The ultimate finding of whether there was intentional discrimination against a protected class is a question of fact. Pullman-Standard v. Swint, 456 U.S. 273, 288, 102 S.Ct. 1781, 1790, 72 L.Ed.2d 66 (1982). We review such factual findings under the clearly erroneous standard. Pitre v. Western Electric Co., 843 F.2d 1262, 1266 (10th Cir.1988) ().
On appeal, Appellants urge the extreme position that their articulated...
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