Showalter v. University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

• Decision Date: 01 March 1999
• Docket Number: No. 98-3320,98-3320
• Parties: (3rd Cir. 1999) DONALD SHOWALTER, Appellant, v. UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH MEDICAL CENTER Argued:
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

Page 231

190 F.3d 231 (3rd Cir. 1999)

DONALD SHOWALTER, Appellant, v. UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH MEDICAL CENTER

No. 98-3320

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

Argued: March 1, 1999

Decided August 31, 1999

ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA (D.C. No. 96-cv-01317) (Magistrate Judge: Honorable Francis X. Caiazza)

SANFORD NEIMAN (ARGUED), MARSHALL, DENNEHEY, WARNER, COLEMAN & GOGGIN, 600 Grant Street, 2900 USX Tower, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, Counsel for Appellant

LOUIS J. KRZEMIEN, JR. (ARGUED), UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH MEDICAL CENTER, 200 Lothrop Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, Counsel for Appellee

Before: ALITO and McKEE, Circuit Judges, and SCHWARTZ, Senior District Judge.^*

OPINION OF THE COURT

ALITO, Circuit Judge:

Donald Showalter sued his former employer, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center ("UPMC"), in federal district court, alleging violations of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. S 621 et seq. UPMC moved for summary judgment, and a Magistrate Judge¹ granted its motion, holding (1) that "Showalter c[ould] not establish the fourth element of his prima facie case because UPMC did not retain unprotected workers" and (2) that Showalter could not "discredit UPMC's articulated legitimate reasons for his dismissal or establish that age discrimination motivated UPMC's decision." App. at 62. We hold that the Magistrate Judge erred in making both legal determinations, and we therefore reverse the grant of summary judgment and remand for further proceedings.

I.

During the early 1990's, the Presbyterian University Hospital ("Presbyterian"), which UPMC already owned, merged with the Montefiore University Hospital ("Montefiore"). Until approximately October 1994, UPMC maintained separate security departments at Montefiore and Presbyterian. As of May 1994, George Eror directed Montefiore's security department, which had four security supervisors, and Donald Charley directed Presbyterian's security department, which had three security supervisors. Appellant's Br. at 11.

Because of budgetary constraints, UPMC required Montefiore and Presbyterian to eliminate one security supervisor each in May 1994. The four Montefiore security supervisors were Messrs. Showalter, Leahy, Wright, and Delbane, who were 61, 52, 45, and 38 years old, respectively. Eror terminated Delbane, the youngest of the four Montefiore supervisors, because he had the weakest performance rating. App. at 88. In reaching this decision, Eror compared Delbane only with other Montefiore security supervisors and not with Presbyterian security supervisors. Likewise, Charley evaluated Presbyterian security supervisors only against other Presbyterian security supervisors. App. at 75-78.

In August 1994, UPMC required Montefiore to eliminate another security supervisor. Because the three remaining supervisors had virtually indistinguishable performance records, Eror decided to terminate the individual with the least department seniority. According to David Treece -- the human resource employee who advised both Eror and Charley in personnel matters, such as reduction-in-force ("RIF") decisions -- UPMC department heads used one of the following three types of seniority to make RIF decisions: job seniority (time employed at a given position), department seniority (time employed in a given department), and hospital seniority (time employed by the hospital). App. at 84, 86.

Neither party disputes that Showalter had less department seniority than Leahy or Wright, nor does either party dispute that Wright had less job seniority than Showalter. Thus, had Eror selected job seniority rather than department seniority as the basis for making his decision, Wright would have been terminated instead of Showalter. In addition, it is undisputed that Showalter had more seniority -- of either the job or department variety -- than any of the Presbyterian security supervisors. Consequently, had Eror compared Showalter to both Montefiore and Presbyterian security supervisors, Showalter would not have been terminated.

The Magistrate Judge granted UPMC's motion for summary judgment for two reasons: first, he held that Showalter failed to establish a prima facie case of age discrimination under McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 (1973); and second, he held that even if Showalter had established a prima facie case of age discrimination, Showalter did not submit evidence" `from which a factfinder could reasonably either (1) disbelieve the employer's articulated legitimate reasons; or (2) believe that an invidious discriminatory reason was more likely than not a motivating or determinative cause of the employer's action.' " App. at 58 (Magistrate Judge Opinion) (quoting Keller v. Orix Credit Alliance, Inc., 130 F.3d 1101, 1108 (3d Cir. 1997) (en banc) (quoting Fuentes v. Perskie, 32 F.3d 759, 763 (3d Cir. 1994)).

II.

We exercise plenary review over an order granting summary judgment, and we apply the same standard that the lower court should have applied. Armbruster v. Unisys Corp., 32 F.3d 768, 777 (3d Cir. 1994). A federal court should grant summary judgment "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). In making this determination, "a court must view the facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and draw all inferences in that party's favor." Armbruster, 32 F.3d at 777.

On appeal, Showalter makes two arguments. First, Showalter contends that the Magistrate Judge applied the wrong legal standard in determining that he did not satisfy the fourth element of the McDonnell Douglas prima facie test. Second, Showalter claims that he submitted evidence from which a reasonable factfinder could disbelieve UPMC's proffered reasons for terminating him.² We will address each argument in turn.

A.

We agree with appellant's argument that the Magistrate Judge applied the wrong legal standard in determining that Showalter did not satisfy the fourth element of a prima facie age discrimination case under the McDonnell Douglas framework. McDonnell Douglas set forth a burden-shifting framework for the presentation of evidence in discriminatory treatment cases litigated under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. S 2000e-1 et seq. This Court "has applied a slightly modified version of this scheme in ADEA cases." Keller v. Orix Credit Alliance, Inc., 130 F.3d 1101, 1108 (3d Cir. 1997) (en banc); cf . O'Connor v. Consolidated Coin Caterers Corp., 517 U.S. 308, 311 (assuming, without deciding, that the McDonnell Douglas framework applies to ADEA cases). In Keller, we wrote:

The McDonnell Douglas scheme has three steps. First, the plaintiff must produce evidence that is sufficient to convince a reasonable factfinder to find all of the elements of a prima facie case. . . . When the plaintiff alleges unlawful discharge based on age, the prima facie case requires proof that (i) the plaintiff was a member of the protected class, i.e., was 40 years of age or older (see 29 U.S.C. S 631(a)), (ii) that the plaintiff was discharged, (iii) that the plaintiff was qualified for the job, and (iv) that the plaintiff was replaced by a sufficiently younger person to create an inference of age discrimination.

130 F.3d at 1108 (citations omitted).

This Court has held that in RIF cases, "this framework is inadequate with respect to the last factor." Armbruster, 32 F.3d at 777. Instead, the plaintiff must show that the employer retained "unprotected workers." Id. (citing Seman v. Coplay Cement Co., 26 F.3d 428, 431 (3d Cir. 1994), abrogated on other grounds by Smith v. Borough of Wilkinsburg, 147 F.3d 272, 277 (3d Cir. 1998); Billet v. Cigna Corp., 940 F.2d 812, 816 n. 3 (3d Cir. 1991), abrogated on other grounds by St. Mary's Honor Ctr. v. Hicks, 509 U.S. 503, 517-18 (1993)).

If the plaintiff establishes a prima facie case, then "[t]he burden of production (but not the burden of persuasion) shifts to the defendant, who must then offer evidence that is sufficient, if believed, to support a finding that it had a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the discharge." Keller, 130 F.3d at 1108 (citing Hicks, 509 U.S. at 506-07 (1993)). Should the defendant fail to satisfy this burden, judgment should be entered for the plaintiff. Id. But if the defendant satisfies this burden, then the burden of production shifts back to the plaintiff to proffer evidence " `from which a factfinder could reasonably either (1) disbelieve the employer's articulated legitimate reasons; or (2) believe that an invidious discriminatory reason was more likely than not a motivating or determinative cause of the employer's action.' " Id. (quoting Fuentes v. Perskie, 32 F.3d 759, 763 (3d Cir. 1994)).

In the instant case, the appellant satisfied the first three prima facie elements, and thus only the fourth element is at issue. The Magistrate Judge held that because UPMC did not retain unprotected supervisors from Montefiore, i.e., supervisors under the age of 40, appellant could not satisfy the fourth element, and summary judgment was therefore appropriate. App. at 56-57, 62.

In light of our opinions in Armbruster, Seman, and Billet, all of which held that the fourth element of a prima facie age discrimination case in a RIF context requires the plaintiff to show that unprotected workers were retained,³ the Magistrate Judge understandably applied this standard rather than requiring Showalter to show that the retained workers were "sufficiently younger" than he was at the time of discharge. See Keller, 130 F.3d at 1108; see also Healy v. New York Life Ins. Co., 860 F.2d 1209, 1214 n.1 (3d Cir. 1988) (holding, in a RIF context, that the fourth prima facie element is...