UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
Filed 4/11/96
TENTH CIRCUIT
PATSY RYAN,
Plaintiff - Appellant, No. 95-6096
v. W.D. Oklahoma
EQUITY BANK FOR SAVINGS, a (D.C. No. CIV-94-582-L)
Federally Chartered Savings and Loan,
Defendant - Appellee.
ORDER AND JUDGMENT*
Before ANDERSON, BALDOCK, and BRORBY, Circuit Judges.
After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined
unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist the determination of this
appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a); 10th Cir. R. 34.1.9. The case is therefore ordered
submitted without oral argument.
*
This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of
law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. The court generally disfavors the
citation of orders and judgments; nevertheless, an order and judgment may be cited under
the terms and conditions of 10th Cir. R. 36.3.
Patsy Ryan brought this action against Equity Bank for Savings (“Equity”),
alleging a violation of the Equal Pay Act (“EPA”), 29 U.S.C. § 206(d)(1); and unlawful
discrimination on the basis of gender, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of
1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e to 2000e-17, and on the basis of age, in violation of the Age
Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 621-634. The case went to
trial before a jury. Following the conclusion of Ryan’s case in chief, the district court
granted Equity’s motion for judgment as a matter of law pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 50.
Ryan appeals from that adverse judgment, contending that the court erred by 1) weighing
the evidence, thereby usurping the jury’s proper function, and 2) applying the wrong legal
standard. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm as to claims under the EPA and Title
VII, reverse as to claims under the ADEA, and remand for a new trial.
BACKGROUND
On December 30, 1991, Ryan, a fifty-three year old female with fifteen years’
experience in banking, began working for Equity as a savings counselor at an hourly
wage which annualized to $16,200. In late April 1992, she was promoted to the position
of branch manager and moved to the Tower branch. Her annual compensation remained
at $16,200, although her new position was treated as “salaried” rather than “hourly.”
Approximately two and a half months before hiring Ryan, Equity hired Terry
Johnson as a management trainee, starting as a savings counselor at an annualized hourly
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wage of $15,600. Johnson was a twenty-six year old male with a college degree in
finance. He had worked as a teller and systems operator at another local bank during the
previous two years while he attended college. In May 1992, Equity promoted Johnson to
assistant manager of the Tower branch, and raised his pay to the annualized sum of
$16,800, computed on an hourly, rather than a salaried, basis. Thus, although Johnson
was under Ryan’s supervision when Ryan became branch manager at the Tower location,
Johnson’s base compensation was $600 a year more than Ryan’s. Additionally, because
assistant managers were hourly employees, Johnson received time and a half for overtime
work as a Saturday teller.
In December 1992, Equity transferred Ryan to the North branch as branch manager
where she continued to receive the same pay. The office traffic was greater at the Tower
branch, but the North branch operation hours were longer, and there was more
responsibility entailed in managing a drive up teller service which the Tower branch did
not have. Appellant’s App. Vol. II at 416, 456, 591. Additionally, Ryan supervised more
employees at the North Branch, including some who had irregular schedules because of
school classes and some whom she was required to loan to other branches from time to
time. Id. at 456, 586.
When Ryan moved to the North Branch, Equity promoted Johnson to branch
manager at the Tower branch. Even though the position was salaried, Johnson was
allowed to continue working overtime at time and a half, until raises were given five
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months later. By contrast, once Ryan became branch manager, she was informed that she
would receive only a straight hourly wage for any overtime.1
In late April and early May 1993, all branch managers were given written
evaluations. In May 1993, Ryan received a raise of $800, and Johnson received a raise of
$1,800, even though they had received equivalent overall ratings on their written
performance evaluations. Following the raise, Ryan filed a complaint with the EEOC.
Although there had been no prior documentation of any performance concern, following
her complaint, Equity administrators placed several negative assessments and memoranda
in Ryan’s personnel file.
According to Equity’s employment manual, employees are promoted to positions
such as branch manager based on merit. During the period from April 1992 through May
1993, there were eight branch managers in comparable positions, including Ryan and
Johnson.2 Except for Johnson, all were female and none had a college degree.
During 1992, three of the managers had considerable seniority in their positions,
having been branch managers since at least December 1988, and having worked for
Equity’s predecessor. Of this group with considerable seniority, two managers were over
Although there was testimony that one other branch manager worked overtime,
1
Equity’s pleadings indicate that her overtime pay would have been straight hourly.
Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment, Appellant’s App. Vol. I at 24, 122-23.
2
In Exhibit 20, Appellant’s App. Vol. I at 373, Equity compiled data for branch
managers at seven of fifteen branches which were under a common administrator. See
also Appellant’s App. Vol. II at 415. According to the administrator, data was provided
only for those branches which were comparable to Ryan’s. Id. at 561.
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forty years of age (forty-six and forty-three), and one was thirty-five. The thirty-five year
old manager received the highest salary, and the forty-six year old manager received the
lowest salary.3
Five people, including Ryan and Johnson, became branch managers during 1992
and 1993. Three of these newly promoted bank managers were over forty. Ryan, who
become a manager in April 1992, was fifty-four. Five months later, a forty-six year old
female became a branch manager, and, in March 1993, a forty-one year old female
became the last member of the new group of bank managers. The highest paid member of
the new group was a thirty-two year old woman who became a branch manager in
September 1992, and Johnson, who became a manager in January 1993, when he was
twenty-seven, was the second highest paid. Following the 1993 raises, Ryan, who was
3
In July 1992, the forty-three year old manager was transferred or promoted to a
different position. Apparently, there was no salary increase at the time of her change.
Compare Ex. 20, Appellant’s App. Vol. I at 373 with Equity’s document production, id.
at 68.
Equity’s Exhibit 20 contains data for another female manager, who had
considerable seniority, and was fifty-three years old, although she had been previously
promoted or transferred to a different position in October 1991. In any event, her stated
salary was also less than the salary of the thirty-five year old manager with considerable
seniority. Appellant’s App. Vol. I at 68, 373. See also Appellant’s App. Vol. II at 635.
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the oldest, received the lowest compensation of all eight managers.4 In October 1993,
Johnson was transferred to the loan department.
DISCUSSION
We review de novo a district court’s ruling on a motion for judgment as a matter of
law. Brown v. Wal-Mart Stores, 11 F.3d 1559, 1563 (10th Cir. 1993). Applying the
same legal standard as the district court, we construe the evidence and inferences most
favorably to the nonmoving party, without weighing the evidence, passing on the
credibility of witnesses, or substituting our judgment for that of the jury. Id. Thus, unless
the evidence points all one way, a directed verdict is inappropriate. Martin v. Unit Rig &
Equip. Co., 715 F.2d 1434, 1438 (10th Cir. 1983). However, because our analysis is
necessarily “frame[d] . . . in terms of the underlying burden of proof,” Rajala v. Allied
Corp., 919 F.2d 610, 615 (10th Cir. 1990), cert. denied, 500 U.S. 905 (1991), a “mere
scintilla of evidence is insufficient to create a jury question.” Honce v. Vigil, 1 F.3d
4
Additionally, we note that following the 1993 raises, both of the substantially
younger new managers received greater salaries than the remaining manager with
considerable seniority who was then forty-seven. While this observation does not take
into account the salaries of the two branch managers with seniority who were previously
transferred, see supra note 3, we also note that those transfers entailed changes in duties,
and the lack of comparable data for the new positions precludes any conclusive
determinations about disparate treatment regarding them. In any event, Equity has
consistently asserted that comparisons should be limited to persons performing equal
duties as branch managers. See Defendant’s Brief in Support of Motion for an Order in
Limine, Appellant’s App. Vol. I at 208-09; see also Appellant’s App. Vol. II at 551, 561.
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1085, 1088 (10th Cir. 1993) (citing Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 250
(1986)).
Although an employment discrimination case may be proved by either direct or
indirect evidence, in practice plaintiffs generally offer only circumstantial proof because
“there is rarely direct evidence of discrimination.” Ingels v. Thiokol Corp., 42 F.3d 616,
621 (10th Cir. 1994). If circumstantial evidence is used, we apply the burden shifting
procedures set out in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 (1973). Id.
Under McDonnell, a plaintiff must first establish a prima facie case that the employer
engaged in the discriminatory practices. Randle v. City of Aurora, 69 F.3d 441, 451 (10th
Cir. 1995). If the plaintiff succeeds in establishing a prima facie case, the burden shifts to
the defendant who can rebut the presumption created by the prima facie case by asserting
a “legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the employee’s [treatment].” Ingels, 42 F.3d
at 621.
Then, the prima facie presumption having been dispelled, the plaintiff must present
evidence “to show that there is a genuine dispute of material fact as to whether the
employer’s proffered reason for the challenged action is pretextual -- i.e. unworthy of
belief.” See Randle, 69 F.3d at 451. Thus, in order to survive a motion for judgment as a
matter of law, the plaintiff must present evidence from which, viewed in the light most
favorable to the plaintiff, the fact finder could infer unlawful, discriminatory motive. Id.
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A. The Title VII and EPA claims.
To establish a prima facie case of unlawful wage discrimination under Title VII
and the EPA, Ryan offered her testimony that she was satisfactorily performing her work,
and that Equity paid more for the same (or lesser) work when it was performed by males
in similar conditions and circumstances. See McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411
U.S. 792, 802 n.13 (1973); see also Corning Glass Works v. Brennan, 417 U.S. 188, 195
(1974); Nulf v. International Paper Co., 656 F.2d 553, 560 (10th Cir. 1981) (noting that
equal pay for equal work concept applies to Title VII in the same way it applies to the
EPA).
In making its motion for judgment as a matter of law under Rule 50, Equity relied
on the testimony of an Equity administrator whom Ryan called as her first witness.
Asserting that the raises and salary decisions were based on merit and performance, the
administrator also testified regarding the salaries of other comparable female branch
managers. In its order, the district court found that Ryan had presented no evidence to
dispute the credibility of that justification, and that, moreover, Equity’s treatment of other
women indicated that there was “no pattern . . . that salaries or raises were based on . . .
gender.” Appellant’s Br., Ex. A at 5.
We agree with the district court. Ryan presented no evidence to create a jury
question in light of the clearly established fact that the highest paid member of the new
group of branch managers was a woman. Nonetheless, Ryan disputes the validity of this
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fact, arguing as her second claim of error that any consideration of such data
impermissibly converts her case into a disparate impact claim, when, in fact, her claim is
one of disparate treatment.5
“It is well settled that in a Title VII suit, an employer’s general practices are
relevant even when a plaintiff is asserting an individual claim for disparate treatment.”
Gomez v. Martin Marietta Corp., 50 F.3d 1511, 1520 (10th Cir. 1995). Thus, “isolated
incidents or random comparisons demonstrating disparities in treatment may be
insufficient to draw [an] inference of discrimination without additional evidence that the
alleged phenomenon of inequality also exists with respect to the entire relevant group of
employees.” Houck v. Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ., 10 F.3d 204, 206 (4th
Cir. 1993) (requiring a showing of disparity across the relevant group even at the level of
the prima facie case).
Although Equity presented a facially nondiscriminatory reason for its actions and
thereby dispelled the presumption arising from Ryan’s prima facie case, in effect, Ryan
seeks to equate her prima facie case with the elements required to create a jury question.
However, to go to the jury on her Title VII claim, Ryan was required to produce evidence
5
In a case of disparate treatment, an “‘employer simply treats some people less
favorably than others because of their race, color, religion [or other protected
characteristics.]’” Hazen Paper Co. v. Biggins, 507 U.S. 604, 609 (1993) (quoting
Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. 324, 335 n. 15 (1977)). By contrast, a disparate
impact claim involves “‘employment practices that are facially neutral in their treatment
of different groups but that in fact fall more harshly on one group than another and cannot
be justified by business necessity.’” Id.
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of pretext from which the fact finder could infer the requisite unlawful motive. Likewise,
although proof of intentional gender discrimination is not required under the EPA, see
Brownlee v. Gay & Taylor, Inc., 861 F.2d 1222, 1224 (10th Cir. 1988), Ryan was still
required to present more than a scintilla of contrary evidence in response to Equity’s
showing that its decisions were not gender based. This she failed to do. Accordingly, all
the inferences point one way, and the district court correctly granted judgment on the law
in Equity’s favor.
B. The ADEA claim.
Under the ADEA, a plaintiff “need not prove that age was the sole reason for the
employer’s acts, but must show that age ‘made the difference’ in the employer’s
decision.” EEOC v. Sperry Corp., 852 F.2d 503, 507 (10th Cir. 1988) (quoting EEOC v.
Prudential Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass’n, 763 F.2d 1166, 1170 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, 474
U.S. 946 (1985)). As with her other claims, Ryan presented her prima facie case,
showing that she was paid less than substantially younger branch managers, including
Johnson.6
6
See O’Connor v. Consolidated Coin Caterers Corp., No. 95-354, 1996 WL
142564, at ___ (U.S. Apr. 1, 1996) (“We have never had occasion to decide whether that
application of the [McDonnell Dougless framework] to the ADEA context is correct, but
since the parties do not contest that point, we shall assume it.”).
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Thereupon, Equity asserted its nondiscriminatory motive. Specifically, Equity
urged its special treatment of Johnson was due to various merit factors, including his
college degree. Ryan countered with evidence that a college degree was not required for
the position, and showed that none of the other branch managers, including the highest
paid younger woman, had a college degree.7 Equity also emphasized Ryan’s self-
evaluation which noted difficulty in switching over to the new computer system.
However, the testimony of Equity’s administrator, that everyone was having difficulties
with the computer during that time frame, tempers Ryan’s self-criticism.8 Appellant’s
App. Vol. II at 575. Moreover, the performance evaluation on Johnson also indicated
areas for improvement and a need for guidance, and the overall ratings on the two
evaluations were similar.9
7
Moreover, Equity’s reliance on Johnson’s college degree is undercut by the fact
that his initial salary of $15,600 was the same as that offered to other new savings
counselors without college degrees who possessed no banking experience. Appellant’s
App. Vol. II at 638. By contrast, it is possible to infer that experience, rather than
education, was the reason that Equity set Ryan’s initial salary as a savings counselor at
$16,200. See id. at 637-38.
8
In any event, Equity’s administrator testified that the written evaluations were not
reviewed by the committee when it made its decisions on salaries. Appellant’s App. Vol.
II at 503.
9
Two areas on Ryan’s evaluation were not filled out, because the administrator had
just come on the job when the evaluations were due, and she had no personal knowledge
of Ryan’s performance in those areas. However, there was no indication that the
omission represented any adverse assessment.
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Most critical to the ADEA claim, however, is the evidence that, without exception,
branch managers over forty were paid less than substantially younger branch managers
with similar seniority in the position.
Under the standards for Rule 50 motions, all inferences must be drawn in favor of
Ryan. Because Equity paid women who had considerable seniority and who were over
forty more than it paid Johnson during some of the relevant period, the district court
concluded that Ryan had failed to create a jury question regarding age discrimination.
However, according to the evidence, Equity classified the group of higher-paid protected
women with considerable seniority at a significantly higher level than Johnson, based on
experience and concomitant detailed knowledge of specialized Equity operations.
Appellant’s App. Vol. I at 323-24. Therefore, the jury could have agreed with Ryan’s
argument that any comparison should take seniority into account, thereby distinguishing
the new group of branch managers from the group with seniority. Likewise, taking into
account the evidence that in each group, those who were over forty were paid less than
substantially younger managers, the jury could have inferred that Johnson’s preferential
treatment, despite his inexperience and need for guidance, belied Equity’s professed
nondiscriminatory motives.10
10
In O’Connor, the Supreme Court made it clear that an ADEA violation can occur
even among members of the protected class: “The fact that one person in the protected
class has lost out to another person in the protected class is thus irrelevant, so long as he
has lost out because of his age.” O’Connor, 1996 WL 142564, at ___ (addressing the
(continued...)
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Certainly, isolated incidents or random comparisons may be insufficient to draw an
inference of discrimination. See Houck, 10 F.3d at 206-07. However in some situations,
unlawful motive may “‘be inferred from the mere fact of differences in treatment,’”
Hazen Paper Co. v. Biggins, 507 U.S. 604, 609 (1993) (quoting Teamsters v. United
States, 431 U.S. 324, 335 n. 15 (1977)), and “[a] factfinder’s disbelief of the reasons put
forward by the defendant (particularly if disbelief is accompanied by a suspicion of
mendacity) may, together with the elements of the prima facie case, suffice to show
intentional discrimination.” St. Mary’s Honor Ctr. v. Hicks, 509 U.S. 502, ___, 113 S.
Ct. 2742, 2749 (1993). At the very least, evidence that the alleged inequality exists
among the entire relevant group of employees, together with other inconsistencies of the
type which Ryan pointed out, creates an issue of material fact as to whether the
employer’s stated motives are “unworthy of belief.” See Randle v. City of Aurora, 69
F.3d 441, 451 (10th Cir. 1995).
Taking every inference in Ryan’s favor, we conclude that Ryan produced
sufficient evidence to create a jury question with regard to her claim under the ADEA,
and that a reasonable jury could have concluded that Equity’s stated reasons were not to
10
(...continued)
situation in which a fifty-six year-old was replaced by a forty year-old). Thus, the fact
that Ryan was the lowest paid of all managers following the 1993 raises, and that the
other managers were significantly younger than she, may also be probative of Equity’s
motives.
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be believed, but, rather, that age was a determining factor in its wage decisions.
Therefore the court erred in granting judgment as a matter of law on the ADEA claim.
For the reasons stated, the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED IN PART
and REVERSED IN PART, and we REMAND for a new trial on the ADEA claim.
ENTERED FOR THE COURT
Stephen H. Anderson
Circuit Judge
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