Employee Terminated In Mini-RIF Did Not Establish Prima Facie Case Of Sex Discrimination
Jeanette Petts sued her former employer, Rockledge Furniture LLC, alleging that in the course of a mini-reduction in force (RIF) it terminated her employment as assistant store manager because of her sex in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The district court granted Rockledge's motion for summary judgment, concluding that Petts produced insufficient evidence of sex discrimination under either the direct or indirect methods of proving discrimination to justify a trial.
On appeal, the 7th Circuit affirmed, concluding that Petts, whose duties were assumed by both female and male employees, could not establish a prima facie case, notwithstanding that Rockledge chose to terminate her rather than her male counterpart. Her manager's stray comment to another female employee, that she would get places if she continued “acting like a man,” which was made more than one year before and was unrelated to Petts’ termination, was insufficient to point directly to discrimination. Similarly, her manager's comment about “women this or women that” and his habit of rolling his eyes when a female salesperson asked questions, was too distant in time and unrelated to Petts’ termination approximately one and one-half years later to constitute evidence of Title VII discrimination.
Even assuming that a prima facie
case could be established under the traditional test, however, Rockledge offered
legitimate non-discriminatory reasons for its decision to terminate Petts, based
on the male employee's marginally greater management experience with the
employer and his extensive management experience in "big box" retailing.
Petts v. Rockledge
Furniture LLC