United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit · 2019-06-28
42usc2000e-2: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md)
Case and law context
Role: applied; posture: civil; Title VII race and national origin discrimination (failure to promote), single-motive theory; summary judgment for employer vacated by CADC and remanded for trial; result: remanded; claim: (a)
Uncertainty
Element employer-reason: basis: a burden of production the court notes was met ("it has offered a nondiscriminatory explanation"), not contested as to its sufficiency; no basis value says "produced". [proved] (Flash) was wrong: the court holds a jury could find the reasons fabricated
Element pretext: polarity: the "Although ... did not provide much detail" sentence states the weakness in its first clause and the court's answer to it in the second; tagged by the weakness
Misfit
The court treats the remark evidence and the pretext evidence as one cumulative showing ("any combination of" evidence under Holcomb); splitting it into a pretext block and a because-of block is the notation's doing, not the court's.
B · Case × element grid
Top-level elements follow claim order in panels of up to six elements. Case rows repeat across panels. Every recorded block retains its holding and basis; multiple blocks are not merged into a case-level verdict. ✓ satisfied · ✗ not satisfied · ○ not reached · · not addressed. Muted blocks are not counted. Sub-element evidence remains on case and element pages.
Elements 1–6 of 33
| Case | Covered entity: employer, employment agency, or labor organization | Protected trait: race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy/abortion), or national origin | Adverse employment action affecting compensation, terms, conditions, privileges, or status | Discriminatory causation ("because of" protected trait) | adverse-action-a2 statutory route or exception | employment-agency-route statutory route or exception |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mayorga v. Merdon — 928 F.3d 84 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit · 2019 (42usc2000e-2: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md)) | · not addressed | · not addressed |
Elements 7–12 of 33
| Case | labor-organization-route statutory route or exception | training-program statutory route or exception | Impermissible motivating factor in mixed-motive cases (§ 2000e-2(m)) | Bona fide occupational qualification (§ 2000e-2(e)(1)) | Severe or pervasive hostile or abusive working environment | Particular employment practice causing a disparate impact on a protected group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mayorga v. Merdon — 928 F.3d 84 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit · 2019 (42usc2000e-2: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md)) | · not addressed | · not addressed | · not addressed | · not addressed | · not addressed | · not addressed |
Elements 13–18 of 33
| Case | Bona fide seniority/merit system or professionally developed ability test (§ 2000e-2(h)) | Failure to reasonably accommodate religious observance or practice (§§ 2000e-2(a)(1), 2000e(j)) | Retaliation for protected Title VII activity (42 U.S.C. § 2000e-3(a)) | communist-organization statutory route or exception | Employer's legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason (McDonnell Douglas step 2) | indian-preference statutory route or exception |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mayorga v. Merdon — 928 F.3d 84 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit · 2019 (42usc2000e-2: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md)) | · not addressed | · not addressed | · not addressed | · not addressed | · not addressed |
Elements 19–24 of 33
| Case | Subsection (n) limits challenges to covered litigated or consent judgments or orders | judgment-order-scope statutory route or exception | k2-intentional-limit statutory route or exception | k3-controlled-substance statutory route or exception | labor-organization-causation statutory route or exception | national-security statutory route or exception |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mayorga v. Merdon — 928 F.3d 84 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit · 2019 (42usc2000e-2: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md)) | · not addressed | · not addressed | · not addressed | · not addressed | · not addressed | · not addressed |
Elements 25–30 of 33
| Case | no-preference-imbalance statutory route or exception | Pretext for discrimination (McDonnell Douglas step 3) | Qualified for the position / meeting legitimate employer expectations | religious-institution statutory route or exception | test-score-discrimination statutory route or exception | Rejected "bottom-line" racial or gender balance defense to a discriminatory pass/fail barrier (Connecticut v. Teal) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mayorga v. Merdon — 928 F.3d 84 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit · 2019 (42usc2000e-2: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md)) | · not addressed | · not addressed | · not addressed | · not addressed | · not addressed |
Elements 31–33 of 33
| Case | Strong-basis-in-evidence defense for race-conscious action taken to avoid disparate-impact liability (Ricci v. DeStefano) | Rejected defense that an adverse CBA arbitration precludes a Title VII action (Alexander v. Gardner-Denver) | Mixed-motive same-decision partial affirmative defense (42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(g)(2)(B)) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mayorga v. Merdon — 928 F.3d 84 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit · 2019 (42usc2000e-2: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md)) | · not addressed | · not addressed | · not addressed |
Instances and excluded annotation blocks
| Case | Element | Holding and scope | Pattern | Exact source quotations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mayorga v. Merdon — 928 F.3d 84 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit · 2019 — satisfied · conceded (42usc2000e-2: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md)) | Adverse employment action affecting compensation, terms, conditions, privileges, or status | satisfied Counted merits instance applied / merits basis: conceded; claim: (a) | not-selected-for-electronics-technician-openings | Either job would be a promotion for Mayorga.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_928.jsonl#/f3d/928/0084-01; Unicode character offsets [3124:3168] (end exclusive); SHA-256 73316afd8aed8c6e7189982c076c75d00eba558f236e5a018c04b7d74b87504b.The AOC ultimately chose Ed Williams and John Coulter, two white males it claimed were most qualified, to fill the two positions.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_928.jsonl#/f3d/928/0084-01; Unicode character offsets [6360:6489] (end exclusive); SHA-256 73316afd8aed8c6e7189982c076c75d00eba558f236e5a018c04b7d74b87504b. |
| Mayorga v. Merdon — 928 F.3d 84 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit · 2019 — satisfied · triable (42usc2000e-2: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md)) | Discriminatory causation ("because of" protected trait) | satisfied Counted merits instance applied / merits basis: triable; claim: (a) Single-motive claim only: any mixed-motive (§ 2000e-2(m)) theory was forfeited at oral argument, so on remand the plaintiff must prove but-for causation. | mockery-of-hispanic-name-and-accent-by-selection-panelists | 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."Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_928.jsonl#/f3d/928/0084-01; Unicode character offsets [27473:27701] (end exclusive); SHA-256 73316afd8aed8c6e7189982c076c75d00eba558f236e5a018c04b7d74b87504b.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.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_928.jsonl#/f3d/928/0084-01; Unicode character offsets [4556:4752] (end exclusive); SHA-256 73316afd8aed8c6e7189982c076c75d00eba558f236e5a018c04b7d74b87504b.Furthermore, Mayorga clearly testified that Wallace has previously called him "Caviar" - a particularly significant accusation because Wallace was on the selection panel.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_928.jsonl#/f3d/928/0084-01; Unicode character offsets [26624:26794] (end exclusive); SHA-256 73316afd8aed8c6e7189982c076c75d00eba558f236e5a018c04b7d74b87504b.Bieber and Wallace dispute this account of their behavior; Bieber denies ever having worked with Mayorga.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_928.jsonl#/f3d/928/0084-01; Unicode character offsets [4753:4858] (end exclusive); SHA-256 73316afd8aed8c6e7189982c076c75d00eba558f236e5a018c04b7d74b87504b.To be sure, Mayorga's argument would be stronger if he had drawn a direct connection between the discriminatory name-calling and the selection decisionSource: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_928.jsonl#/f3d/928/0084-01; Unicode character offsets [27292:27443] (end exclusive); SHA-256 73316afd8aed8c6e7189982c076c75d00eba558f236e5a018c04b7d74b87504b.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.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_928.jsonl#/f3d/928/0084-01; Unicode character offsets [26795:27007] (end exclusive); SHA-256 73316afd8aed8c6e7189982c076c75d00eba558f236e5a018c04b7d74b87504b.We conclude Mayorga has proffered evidence from which a jury could infer the AOC discriminated against him.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_928.jsonl#/f3d/928/0084-01; Unicode character offsets [29427:29534] (end exclusive); SHA-256 73316afd8aed8c6e7189982c076c75d00eba558f236e5a018c04b7d74b87504b. |
| Mayorga v. Merdon — 928 F.3d 84 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit · 2019 — satisfied · conceded (42usc2000e-2: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md)) | Covered entity: employer, employment agency, or labor organization | satisfied Counted merits instance applied / merits basis: conceded; claim: (a) Title VII reaches the legislative-branch employer through the Congressional Accountability Act (2 U.S.C. §§ 1311, 1317), which the opinion cites without discussion. | federal-legislative-branch-architect-of-capitol | 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.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_928.jsonl#/f3d/928/0084-01; Unicode character offsets [1495:1730] (end exclusive); SHA-256 73316afd8aed8c6e7189982c076c75d00eba558f236e5a018c04b7d74b87504b. |
| Mayorga v. Merdon — 928 F.3d 84 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit · 2019 — satisfied · conceded (42usc2000e-2: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md)) | Employer's legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason (McDonnell Douglas step 2) | satisfied Counted merits instance applied / merits basis: conceded; claim: (a) | claimed-lack-of-network-experience-and-poor-interview | 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.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_928.jsonl#/f3d/928/0084-01; Unicode character offsets [5734:5902] (end exclusive); SHA-256 73316afd8aed8c6e7189982c076c75d00eba558f236e5a018c04b7d74b87504b.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.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_928.jsonl#/f3d/928/0084-01; Unicode character offsets [6003:6289] (end exclusive); SHA-256 73316afd8aed8c6e7189982c076c75d00eba558f236e5a018c04b7d74b87504b.Bieber also claimed Mayorga seemed confused during the interview about what job he had applied for.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_928.jsonl#/f3d/928/0084-01; Unicode character offsets [5903:6002] (end exclusive); SHA-256 73316afd8aed8c6e7189982c076c75d00eba558f236e5a018c04b7d74b87504b. |
| Mayorga v. Merdon — 928 F.3d 84 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit · 2019 — satisfied · triable (42usc2000e-2: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md)) | Pretext for discrimination (McDonnell Douglas step 3) | satisfied Counted merits instance applied / merits basis: triable; claim: (a) | selecting-official-understated-applicant-experience-and-attributed-statements-he-denies | 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.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_928.jsonl#/f3d/928/0084-01; Unicode character offsets [13211:13436] (end exclusive); SHA-256 73316afd8aed8c6e7189982c076c75d00eba558f236e5a018c04b7d74b87504b.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.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_928.jsonl#/f3d/928/0084-01; Unicode character offsets [17038:17258] (end exclusive); SHA-256 73316afd8aed8c6e7189982c076c75d00eba558f236e5a018c04b7d74b87504b.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:Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_928.jsonl#/f3d/928/0084-01; Unicode character offsets [17704:17918] (end exclusive); SHA-256 73316afd8aed8c6e7189982c076c75d00eba558f236e5a018c04b7d74b87504b.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.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_928.jsonl#/f3d/928/0084-01; Unicode character offsets [20327:20583] (end exclusive); SHA-256 73316afd8aed8c6e7189982c076c75d00eba558f236e5a018c04b7d74b87504b.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.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_928.jsonl#/f3d/928/0084-01; Unicode character offsets [19124:19411] (end exclusive); SHA-256 73316afd8aed8c6e7189982c076c75d00eba558f236e5a018c04b7d74b87504b.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.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_928.jsonl#/f3d/928/0084-01; Unicode character offsets [21410:21608] (end exclusive); SHA-256 73316afd8aed8c6e7189982c076c75d00eba558f236e5a018c04b7d74b87504b.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.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_928.jsonl#/f3d/928/0084-01; Unicode character offsets [29014:29162] (end exclusive); SHA-256 73316afd8aed8c6e7189982c076c75d00eba558f236e5a018c04b7d74b87504b. |
| Mayorga v. Merdon — 928 F.3d 84 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit · 2019 — satisfied · conceded (42usc2000e-2: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md)) | Protected trait: race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy/abortion), or national origin | satisfied Counted merits instance applied / merits basis: conceded; claim: (a) The claim is pleaded as race and national origin; the opinion does not distinguish the two. Conceded: "the AOC does not dispute that Mayorga has established a prima facie case". | hispanic-nicaraguan-immigrant | 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.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_928.jsonl#/f3d/928/0084-01; Unicode character offsets [1003:1181] (end exclusive); SHA-256 73316afd8aed8c6e7189982c076c75d00eba558f236e5a018c04b7d74b87504b. |