F I L E D
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS APR 5 1999
FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT PATRICK FISHER
Clerk
SUSAN C. PURDY,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v. No. 97-1471
(D.C. No. 94-S-1068)
UNITED AIRLINES, INC., a (D. Colo.)
Delaware corporation; RICHARD
MARTINO, in his official capacity
and individually,
Defendants-Appellees.
ORDER AND JUDGMENT *
Before BRORBY , EBEL , and LUCERO , Circuit Judges.
After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined
unanimously to grant the parties’ request for a decision on the briefs without oral
argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(f); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). 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This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the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.
Plaintiff Susan C. Purdy appeals from an order of the district court granting
defendants’ motion for summary judgment. We affirm.
Ms. Purdy brought this action pursuant to Title VII, 42 U.S.C.
§§ 2000e-2000e-17. She alleged employment discrimination due to her sex
(female) and her association with a male friend of Mexican national origin. 1
She claimed that due to these factors, she was subjected to adverse employment
actions which impacted the “terms, conditions, or privileges of [her]
employment.” Id. § 2000e-2(a)(1). She further claimed defendants had retaliated
against her because of her complaints of discrimination. See id. at § 2000e-3(a).
Ms. Purdy raised three state law claims arising from the same factual situations.
The district court held that Ms. Purdy had established a prima facie Title
VII case. See McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802 (1973)
(setting forth requirements for prima facie Title VII case). The court determined,
however, that Ms. Purdy had not shown that defendants’ stated reasons for their
actions were pretexual, see id. at 804, and granted summary judgment to
defendants. The court declined to exercise jurisdiction over Ms. Purdy’s state law
claims and dismissed them.
1
As Ms. Purdy’s friend was born in Mexico and her claim is one of
discrimination based on national origin, we refer to him as Mexican.
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On appeal, Ms. Purdy argues that the district court erred in granting
summary judgment because material issues of fact are in dispute and she showed
that defendants’ proffered reasons for their actions were pretextual. She also
contends her state law claims should not have been dismissed. Defendants urge
us to find that Ms. Purdy failed to establish a prima facie case and affirm on that
basis. See United States v. Sandoval, 29 F.3d 537, 542 n.6 (10th Cir. 1994)
(appellate court may affirm district court on any grounds for which record is
sufficient to permit conclusions of law, even grounds not relied on by district
court). We decline this invitation.
We review the district court’s ruling on a motion for summary judgment de
novo examining “the record to determine whether any genuine issue of material
fact was in dispute” and if “the substantive law was applied correctly.” McKnight
v. Kimberly Clark Corp. , 149 F.3d 1125, 1128 (10th Cir. 1998) (quotation
omitted). To forestall the entry of summary judgment in employment
discrimination cases analyzed pursuant to the McDonnell Douglas framework, the
plaintiff must refute the employer’s response to the plaintiff’s prima facie case by
showing that a genuine dispute of material fact is present “as to whether the
employer’s proffered reason for the challenged action is pretextual.” See Randle
v. City of Aurora , 69 F.3d 441, 451 (10th Cir. 1995). Pretext cannot be
established by allegations alone. Rather, the employee must present enough
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evidence to support an inference either that “a discriminatory reason more likely
motivated the employer or . . . that the employer’s proffered explanation is
unworthy of credence.” Texas Dep’t of Community Affairs v. Burdine , 450 U.S.
248, 256 (1981); see also Drake v. City of Fort Collins , 927 F.2d 1156, 1160
(10th Cir. 1991) (in responding to summary judgment motion, “plaintiff must
raise a genuine factual question as to whether defendant[’]s reasons are
pretextual”) .
Ms. Purdy began working for defendant, United Airlines, Inc., in 1984 and
started working in the position of zone controller in 1986, where she was
responsible for coordinating support for aircraft assigned to departure and arrival
gates to ensure timely departures. Defendant Richard Martino was one of her
shift managers and also was acting manager for the Station Control Center when
the regular manager was absent.
In her complaint, Ms. Purdy alleged that prior to 1991, she had received
“effective” ratings on her performance reviews. She contended that after
Mr. Martino learned that she was dating a Mexican, her performance reviews
declined to a “needs improvement” rating. She also contended that Mr. Martino
treated her differently from other similarly situated employees.
The evidence shows that Ms. Purdy received two letters of complaint from
a captain and from a ramp supervisor. Further, certain manual revisions were
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missing although Ms. Purdy had signed off as having completed them. The
revisions were later found in her mail box in the original shrink wrap. Ms. Purdy
responded that other employees must have removed the revisions from the
manuals for use in their job and then returned them to her mail box instead of
replacing them in the manuals. Due to these issues and others, Ms. Purdy’s
performance rating declined, and she was placed on probation.
Having reviewed the record and the parties’ briefs on appeal, we agree that
Ms. Purdy has failed to show that defendants’ actions were pretextual. The
reasons set forth by defendant are credible and Ms. Purdy has not shown that
discrimination more than likely was the reason for defendants’ actions.
The judgment of the United States District Court for the District of
Colorado is AFFIRMED for substantially the reasons stated in its order of
November 21, 1997. Defendants’ motion to strike portions of appellant’s
appendix is GRANTED. See Aero-Medical, Inc. v. United States, 23 F.3d 328,
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329 n.2 (10th Cir. 1994).
Entered for the Court
Wade Brorby
Circuit Judge
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