Waterhouse v. District of Columbia

• Decision Date: 13 August 2002
• Docket Number: No. 01-7018.,01-7018.
• Citation: 298 F.3d 989
• Parties: Ellen WATERHOUSE, Appellant v. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA and Anthony A. Williams, Mayor of the District of Columbia, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit

Page 989

298 F.3d 989

Ellen WATERHOUSE, Appellant v. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA and Anthony A. Williams, Mayor of the District of Columbia, Appellees.

No. 01-7018.

United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit.

Argued October 11, 2001.

Decided August 13, 2002.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (No. 99cv00241).

Theodore M. Cooperstein argued the cause and filed the briefs for appellant.

Mary E. Pivec argued the cause for appellees. With her on the brief was Robert R. Rigsby, Corporation Counsel. Jessica A. Valltos entered an appearance.

Before: SENTELLE, RANDOLPH, and GARLAND, Circuit Judges.

Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge GARLAND.

GARLAND, Circuit Judge:

Alleging that she was unlawfully terminated because of her race, Ellen Waterhouse brought suit against her former employer, the District of Columbia, and her former supervisor, Mayor Anthony Williams. The district court granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment, holding that Waterhouse failed to offer evidence upon which a reasonable jury could find that her termination was the result of discrimination. We affirm.

I

In March 1997, Ellen Waterhouse, a white female, began work as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the District of Columbia's Department of Administrative Services (DAS). She was hired by Anthony Williams, who at the time was the Chief Financial Officer for the District. She worked for him and was directly supervised by several members of his senior staff, including Norman Dong, Williams' Chief of Staff, Laura Triggs, the Associate Chief Financial Officer, and Earl Cabbell, one of Williams' Deputy CFOs. Dong, Triggs, and Cabbell all participated in Waterhouse's hiring.

DAS provides procurement and accounting services to the agencies that make up the District of Columbia government. As its CFO, Waterhouse was responsible for making payments to vendors who provide telecommunications, security, custodial, and other services to those agencies, and for managing the process through which the agencies reimburse DAS for making those payments. It was also her duty to oversee the preparation of year-end closing packages, which resolve any discrepancies between the amount of money each agency transferred to DAS during the preceding year and the amount DAS actually paid for the services used by that agency. In addition, she was charged with preparing the DAS annual budget and with hiring, managing, and improving the DAS financial team. As part of her job, Waterhouse was expected to make regular reports to Dong and Triggs concerning the status of these projects.

In late 1997, citing her failure to fulfill her job responsibilities, Dong and Triggs recommended that Waterhouse be fired. In January 1998, Williams terminated her employment. Shortly thereafter, Waterhouse filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She received a right-to-sue letter, and subsequently brought suit against the District and Mayor Williams (in his official capacity) in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. In her complaint, Waterhouse alleged that the defendants had terminated her on the basis of race in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e et seq.¹

After conducting discovery, the defendants moved for summary judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56, contending that Waterhouse was fired because of her failure to fulfill her job responsibilities, and that there was no evidence upon which a reasonable jury could find that race, rather than her poor performance, was the cause of her termination. As required by Local Civil Rule 7.1(h), the defendants filed a "Statement of Facts" that they contended were undisputed. That statement documented evidence related to Waterhouse's performance problems. In response, Waterhouse filed a "Verified Statement of Material Facts" that she contended were in dispute.²

The district court reviewed these submissions and found that Waterhouse's statement, and the record material it referenced, failed to rebut "many of the facts set forth by defendants concerning plaintiff's alleged failure to perform her work satisfactorily." Waterhouse v. District of Columbia, 124 F.Supp.2d 1, 4-5 (D.D.C. 2000). In accordance with Rule 7.1(h),³ the court treated as admitted all facts not controverted by the plaintiff, and based on those facts concluded that Waterhouse could not establish that the reasons proffered by the defendants were false. Id. at 5, 7-11. The court then considered additional evidence that Waterhouse contended demonstrated discrimination, including statements allegedly made by Williams and Dong. It found that this evidence did not create a genuine dispute as to the defendants' motivation for firing her. Id. at 11-13. Consequently, the court concluded that a reasonable jury could not find that Waterhouse's termination was motivated by a discriminatory animus, and therefore granted summary judgment for the defendants. Id. at 13.⁴

II

We review the district court's decision to grant summary judgment de novo. Breen v. Department of Transp., 282 F.3d 839, 841 (D.C.Cir.2002); Aka v. Washington Hosp. Ctr., 156 F.3d 1284, 1288 (D.C.Cir. 1998). In doing so, we must view the evidence in the light most favorable to Waterhouse and draw all reasonable inferences in her favor. Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., 530 U.S. 133, 152, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 2111, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000); Aka, 156 F.3d at 1288.

A district court may grant summary judgment only if "`there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.'" Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247, 106 S.Ct 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986) (quoting FED.R.CIV.P. 56(c)). A dispute about a material fact "is `genuine' ... if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Id. at 248, 106 S.Ct. at 2510. A moving party is "entitled to judgment as a matter of law" against "a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

Consistent with Local Civil Rule 7.1(h), in determining whether to grant summary judgment the district court looked only at the parties' statements and the record material they referenced. See Jackson v. Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, 101 F.3d 145, 154 (D.C.Cir. 1996) (holding that the district court may rely on statements submitted in accordance with the local rule and "is under no obligation to sift through the record ... in order to evaluate the merits of [a] party's case"). We limit our review to those materials as well, and, like the district court, we treat as admitted all facts not controverted in Waterhouse's Verified Statement. See SEC v. Banner Fund Int'l, 211 F.3d 602, 615 (D.C.Cir.2000); Jackson, 101 F.3d at 154; D.D.C. Local Civ. Rule 7.1(h).⁵

Title VII makes it "an unlawful employment practice for an employer to ... discharge any individual ... because of such individual's race [or] color." 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a). The Supreme Court's opinion in McDonnell Douglas provides the familiar framework for analyzing Title VII claims that are based principally on circumstantial evidence. McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802-04, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 1824-25, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973); see Reeves, 530 U.S. at 142, 120 S.Ct. at 2106-06. Although "intermediate evidentiary burdens shift back and forth in this framework, `the ultimate burden of persuading the trier of fact that the defendant intentionally discriminated against the plaintiff remains at all times with the plaintiff.'" Id. at 143, 120 S.Ct. at 2106 (quoting Texas Dept. of Cmty. Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 253, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 1093, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981)).

Under the McDonnell Douglas framework, "the plaintiff must [first] establish a prima facie case of discrimination." Reeves, 530 U.S. at 142, 120 S.Ct. at 2106 (citing St. Mary's Honor Ctr. v. Hicks, 509 U.S. 502, 506, 113 S.Ct. 2742, 2747, 125 L.Ed.2d 407 (1993)). If the plaintiff establishes a prima facie case, the burden of production shifts to the defendant to "`produc[e] evidence that the plaintiff was rejected ... for a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason.'" Id. (quoting Burdine, 450 U.S. at 254, 101 S.Ct. at 1094). If the defendant satisfies that burden, "the McDonnell Douglas framework — with its presumptions and burdens — disappear[s], and the sole remaining issue [i]s discrimination vel non." Id. at 142-43, 120 S.Ct. at 2106 (internal quotation marks and citations omitted).

At that point, to survive summary judgment the plaintiff must show that a reasonable jury could conclude that she was terminated for a discriminatory reason. See Aka, 156 F.3d at 1290. The question is:

whether the jury could infer discrimination from the combination of (1) the plaintiff's prima facie case; (2) any evidence the plaintiff presents to attack the employer's proffered explanation for its actions; and (3) any further evidence of discrimination that may be available to the plaintiff (such as independent evidence of discriminatory statements or attitudes on the part of the employer)....

Id. at 1289; see Reeves, 530 U.S. at 151, 120 S.Ct. at 2110-11. With respect to the second category of evidence, "the plaintiff may attempt to establish that he was the victim of intentional discrimination `by showing that the employer's proffered explanation is unworthy of credence.'" Reeves, 530 U.S at 143, 120 S.Ct. at 2106 (quoting Burdine, 450 U.S. at 256, 101 S.Ct. at 1095). As the Supreme Court has explained, "[p]roof that the defendant's explanation is unworthy of credence is simply one form of circumstantial evidence that is probative...