Williams v. R.H. Donnelley, Corp., Docket No. 02-7681.

• Decision Date: 13 May 2004
• Docket Number: Docket No. 02-7681.
• Citation: 368 F.3d 123
• Parties: Charlina WILLIAMS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. R.H. DONNELLEY, CORP., Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

368 F.3d 123

Charlina WILLIAMS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. R.H. DONNELLEY, CORP., Defendant-Appellee.

Docket No. 02-7681.

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

Argued: February 3, 2004.

Decided: May 13, 2004.

Leonard Buddington, Jr., Yonkers, NY, for plaintiff-appellant.

James S. Urban, Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue (Amy E. Dias, on the brief), Pittsburgh, PA, for defendant-appellee.

Before: POOLER, SOTOMAYOR, and WESLEY, Circuit Judges.

SOTOMAYOR, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff-appellant Charlina Williams ("Williams") appeals from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Conner, J.), granting summary judgment to her employer, R.H. Donnelley Corporation ("Donnelley"), on her claims, brought pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq. (2000) ("Title VII"). See Williams v. R.H. Donnelley Inc., 199 F.Supp.2d 172 (S.D.N.Y.2002). Williams, an African-American woman, alleges that Donnelley discriminated against her on the basis of race and sex by not promoting her to the positions of Account Manager, District Sales Manager II ("DSM II"), and District Sales Manager III ("DSM III"). Williams further alleges that Donnelley discriminated against her on the basis of race and sex by denying her a lateral transfer and refusing to create a management position for her. We hold that (1) Williams failed to establish that she was qualified for the Account Manager and DSM III positions she sought; (2) Williams failed to prove that Donnelley's failure to create a management position for her in its Las Vegas office was motivated by discriminatory animus; (3) the denial of a transfer to an equal or lesser position in a different locale does not constitute an adverse employment action; and (4) Williams' indefinite disability leave of absence rendered her unqualified for the DSM II position that became available during her absence.

BACKGROUND

Williams was hired by Donnelley, a company that publishes telephone directories, in May 1996, as an entry-level New Business Development Representative in Donnelley's Las Vegas office. Thereafter, between 1998 and 1999, Williams was promoted several times: first, in January 1998, to Account Executive within the business development unit; second, in July 1998, to full Account Executive; and finally, in January 1999, to Sales Training Manager ("STM"). Williams' voluntary acceptance of the STM position required her to relocate to Purchase, New York, where Donnelley's sales training department is located.

After working as an STM in New York for approximately ten months, Williams sought to return to Las Vegas, where she still maintained a home, and where Donnelley permitted her to work as an STM one week out of every month. On October 18, 1999, Williams applied for an Account Manager position in Donnelley's Las Vegas office. The Account Manager position, however, required two to three years of proven performance working with medium to large accounts with minimum monthly billings of $1,800, Williams concedes she did not have this experience. Williams alternatively requested that, if she were found unqualified for the Account Manager position, Donnelley create a new management position for her in the Las Vegas office. Approximately two months later, in December 1999, Donnelley denied her application for the Account Manager position and offered the position to another woman. Donnelley also refused Williams' request that a management position be created for her in the Las Vegas office. On December 21, 1999, Williams requested to be transferred to Las Vegas as an Account Executive, the position she had held before being promoted to STM. Donelley denied this request as well. In January 2000, Donnelley advertised a vacant DSM III position in its Las Vegas office. Williams inquired about the DSM III position, even though she did not have the requisite two years of experience as a DSM II.

Donnelley rejected Williams's application and, in February 2000, gave the DSM III position to an African-American male, who up to that time held a DSM II position. Two days before that employee's promotion took effect, Williams, on the advice of her physician, requested an indefinite disability leave of absence until her medical condition stabilized. Donnelley thereafter, without soliciting applications, filled the newly vacated DSM II position with a white male. Williams remained on disability leave until July 2000, when Donnelley offered her the choice of two Account Executive positions in Las Vegas. In September 2000, Williams resigned from Donnelley.

Williams initiated this suit on January 5, 2001, "alleging that defendant's failure to promote her to the Account Manager and DSM III positions and to create an Account Manager position in Las Vegas was the result of race and sex discrimination." Williams, 199 F.Supp.2d at 175. Williams further alleged that Donnelley's failure to grant her request for a lateral transfer to the Account Executive position in Las Vegas, or to consider her for a promotion to the DSM II position, was discriminatory. Id.

The district court granted summary judgment in Donnelley's favor on all claims. The court found that Williams did not establish that she was qualified for any of the promotions she sought, and that the denial of her requests for a lateral transfer and the creation of a new position did not constitute adverse employment actions in violation of Title VII. Id. at 177-79. This appeal followed.

DISCUSSION

A. Standard of Review

Williams argues that the district court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of Donnelley on her race and sex discrimination claims.¹ We review a district court's grant of summary judgment de novo. See Dallas Aerospace, Inc. v. CIS Air Corp., 352 F.3d 775, 780 (2d Cir.2003). Summary judgment may be granted "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). We "construe the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and must resolve all ambiguities and draw all reasonable inferences against the movant." Dallas Aerospace, 352 F.3d at 780.

B. Statutory Scheme

Under Title VII, an employer may not discriminate against an individual "with respect to his [or her] compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin." 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(1) (2000). "In an employment discrimination case, a plaintiff has the burden at the outset to prove by the preponderance of the evidence a prima facie case of discrimination." Collins v. New York City Transit Auth., 305 F.3d 113, 118 (2d Cir.2002) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).

To meet her initial burden of establishing a prima facie case of discrimination, Williams must demonstrate that: (1) she is a member of a protected class; (2) she applied and was qualified for a job for which the employer was seeking applicants; (3) she suffered an adverse employment action; and (4) the circumstances surrounding that action permit an inference of discrimination. See McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973); Abdu-Brisson v. Delta Air Lines, Inc., 239 F.3d 456, 466 (2d Cir.2001). Although, "[a] plaintiff's burden of establishing a prima facie case is de minimis," Abdu-Brisson, 239 F.3d at 467 (internal quotation marks omitted), a Title VII plaintiff's claims nevertheless fail if she cannot make out a prima facie case of discrimination. See Mc Donnell Douglas, 411 U.S. at 802, 93 S.Ct. 1817.

Because she is an African-American female, Williams satisfies the first prong of the prima facie case for each of her claims. She fails, however, to establish the remaining elements. We address each of her claims in turn.

C. Failure to Promote to Account Manager

Having established that she is a member of a protected class, Williams must establish that she was qualified for the Account Manager position. As Williams correctly notes, the plaintiff's burden of establishing a prima facie case of disparate treatment is "neither onerous, nor intended to be rigid, mechanized or ritualistic." Abdu-Brisson, 239 F.3d at 467 (internal citations and quotation marks omitted). Nevertheless, this burden is not inconsequential. We have held that "being `qualified' refers to the criteria the employer has specified for the position." Thornley v. Penton Publ'g, Inc., 104 F.3d 26, 29 (2d Cir.1997). Therefore, in order to establish a prima facie case of discrimination, Williams must show that she met the defendant's criteria for the position.

By her own admission, Williams "may not have been qualified" for the Account Manager position, because she did not possess the two to three years of proven performance working with medium to large accounts required for that position. Williams, however, argues that Donnelly previously interpreted the requirements for the Account Manager position loosely, and consequently, interviewed candidates without the required experience. In support of her claims, Williams asserts that Scott Allan, a white male applicant for the Account Manager position, had qualifications similar to hers, but was granted an opportunity to interview for the position. It is undisputed, however, that Allan, unlike Williams, had two to three years experience in sales, and "ranked in the top third" of his peer group in sales. Thus, Donnelley's decision to interview Allan, rather than Williams, for the position does not suggest that Donnelley relaxed the qualifications necessary for the Account Manager position. Williams simply failed to show that she was qualified for the Account Manager position, therefore this claim fails.

D. Failure to Create a Management Position

Williams...