Mayorga v. Merdon

Facts

1. 1 Covered entity: employer, employment agency, or labor organization satisfied conceded

   Since 2007 Mayorga has been employed at the AOC, a federal agency that operates and maintains certain buildings and historic monuments in the District of Columbia, such as the Capitol, the Capitol Visitor Center, and the Supreme Court.

2. 2 Protected trait: race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy/abortion), or national origin satisfied conceded

   Mayorga emigrated to the United States from Nicaragua in 1990 and, after almost ten years working in electronics, earned a degree in Network Management from Stratford University.

3. 4 Adverse employment action affecting compensation, terms, conditions, privileges, or status satisfied conceded

   Either job would be a promotion for Mayorga.

4. 4 Adverse employment action affecting compensation, terms, conditions, privileges, or status satisfied conceded

   The AOC ultimately chose Ed Williams and John Coulter, two white males it claimed were most qualified, to fill the two positions.

5. 5 Discriminatory causation ("because of" protected trait) satisfied triable

   Mayorga claims that Bieber and Wallace made fun of his Hispanic first name, regularly calling him "Caviar" instead of Javier, and that Bieber mocks Mayorga's accent and interrupts him in meetings.

6. 5 Discriminatory causation ("because of" protected trait) satisfied triable

   Bieber and Wallace dispute this account of their behavior; Bieber denies ever having worked with Mayorga.

7. 5 Discriminatory causation ("because of" protected trait) satisfied triable

   Furthermore, Mayorga clearly testified that Wallace has previously called him "Caviar" - a particularly significant accusation because Wallace was on the selection panel.

8. 5 Discriminatory causation ("because of" protected trait) satisfied triable

   Finally, we reject the AOC's argument that mockery about Mayorga's name and accent does not permit a jury to infer discrimination because Mayorga has not explained how the remarks relate to the decision at issue.

9. 5 Discriminatory causation ("because of" protected trait) satisfied triable

   To be sure, Mayorga's argument would be stronger if he had drawn a direct connection between the discriminatory name-calling and the selection decision

10. 5 Discriminatory causation ("because of" protected trait) satisfied triable

    disparaging comments of the sort Mayorga describes are "nonetheless probative evidence of a supervisor's discriminatory attitude, at least when it is targeted directly at the plaintiff or is one of a pattern of similar remarks."

11. 5 Discriminatory causation ("because of" protected trait) satisfied triable

    We conclude Mayorga has proffered evidence from which a jury could infer the AOC discriminated against him.

12. 6 Employer's legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason (McDonnell Douglas step 2) satisfied conceded

    instead, the panelists ranked Mayorga last of the six, in part they said because he failed during the interview to give detailed answers about his experience or skills.

13. 6 Employer's legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason (McDonnell Douglas step 2) satisfied conceded

    Bieber also claimed Mayorga seemed confused during the interview about what job he had applied for.

14. 6 Employer's legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason (McDonnell Douglas step 2) satisfied conceded

    Furthermore, Bieber asserted Mayorga did not have experience with the BASnet because "[i]t wasn't stated on his resume or it never came out in the interview"; he also said Mayorga had "very little" experience with ethernet and fiber-optic cables, and no experience with Cisco equipment.

15. 7 Pretext for discrimination (McDonnell Douglas step 3) satisfied triable

    Mayorga may, therefore, rebut the AOC's claim that Williams and Coulter were more qualified by proffering evidence that the selecting officials knowingly understated Mayorga's qualifications, making their decision pretextual.

16. 7 Pretext for discrimination (McDonnell Douglas step 3) satisfied triable

    Bieber claims only his "shop" (presumably the EMCS Branch) works on the "actual BAS net network" - yet Bieber said he hired Coulter for his network qualifications and Coulter, like Mayorga, did not work in Bieber's shop.

17. 7 Pretext for discrimination (McDonnell Douglas step 3) satisfied triable

    More important, Wallace, "the BAS Net Manager" of the EMCS, has represented that Mayorga is "an operator" on "the BAS Net system," casting further doubt upon Bieber's statement that Mayorga lacks BASnet experience:

18. 7 Pretext for discrimination (McDonnell Douglas step 3) satisfied triable

    Although Mayorga did not provide much detail about how he helped the EMCS team troubleshoot problems arising from the BASnet, we think a jury could nonetheless credit Mayorga's testimony that he worked with Bieber's team and infer Bieber knew Mayorga had the requisite BASnet experience.

19. 7 Pretext for discrimination (McDonnell Douglas step 3) satisfied triable

    These accounts are in some tension with Mayorga's resume, which states his objective was to "achieve meaningful employment with the Office of Planning and Project Management as an Electronic[s] Technician," the job title listed in the vacancy announcement.

20. 7 Pretext for discrimination (McDonnell Douglas step 3) satisfied triable

    A jury may reasonably find that Bieber and Wallace fabricated Mayorga's alleged statements in order to bolster their pretextual explanation that Mayorga was not as qualified as the other applicants.

21. 7 Pretext for discrimination (McDonnell Douglas step 3) satisfied triable

    Viewed in this light, a reasonable jury could be "quite suspicious" about the sincerity of the reasons given for Mayorga's not having been selected.