Fulvio STANZIALE Appellant v. Lester JARGOWSKY, Public Health Coordinator; County of Monmouth; Monmouth County Board of Health
No. 99-5030
United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
Opinion Filed Jan. 10, 2000
Argued: Nov. 17, 1999
200 F.3d 101
Moreover, sanctions relating to abuse of the discovery process must reflect reasonable costs incurred as a result of an attorney‘s misconduct. See Martin, 63 F.3d at 1262-64. In order to facilitate our review of orders imposing sanctions on this ground, we therefore require that a district court make explicit the basis for its imposition of discovery related sanctions. It is impossible for us to determine whether a court has exercised sound discretion in imposing sanctions if the record does not provide a justification for the order. Id. at 1264.
After reviewing these prerequisites for the imposition of sanctions, we find that the District Court‘s order imposing sanctions upon appellants’ counsel must be vacated. Although the court‘s order to show cause regarding the possibility of sanctions states the court‘s view that appellants’ motion to reconsider was “an improper rehashing of issues already decided,” the order to show cause did not give notice as to the legal basis for the possible sanctions. App. at 30. For instance, it did not refer to
Moreover, while the order imposing sanctions did set forth the statutory basis for the court‘s action, the $5,000 penalty imposed by the court was not based upon an assessment of reasonable costs of counsel‘s misconduct. This, too, is grounds for our finding that the Court abused its discretion in imposing sanctions upon appellants’ counsel. Martin, 63 F.3d at 1262-64.
V. Conclusion
For the foregoing reasons, we will reverse in part and affirm in part the District Court‘s orders dismissing the Amended Complaint, and we will remand this case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Jeffrey P. Ferrier (Argued), Holmdel, NJ, for Appellant.
Before: ALITO and STAPLETON, Circuit Judges, and FEIKENS,* District Judge
OPINION OF THE COURT
FEIKENS, District Judge:
I. INTRODUCTION
Appellant Fulvio Stanziale (Stanziale) sued his employer alleging violations of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA),
II. BACKGROUND
In April 1990, appellee Lester Jargowsky (Jargowsky), a coordinator for appellee Monmouth County Board of Health, offered a job to Stanziale as an Environmental Specialist at a starting salary of $25,500. Stanziale declined the offer. Several months later, in August 1990, Jargowsky offered Stanziale a similar job as a Sanitation Inspector at a starting salary of $24,500. He accepted this second offer.
Shortly after Stanziale was hired, appellees hired a younger female, Lisa Muscillo (Muscillo), as a Sanitary Inspector, at a starting salary of $26,500. Both Stanziale and Muscillo were consistently given 5% raises each year so that, in July 1996, their salaries were $32,673 and $35,342, respectively. Based on this wage disparity, plaintiff filed the present lawsuit.1
Appellees moved to dismiss the complaint pursuant to
In December 1998, the District Court revisited Stanziale‘s Equal Pay Act and NJEPA claims in the context of a second summary judgment motion by appellees. In a second opinion, the District Court conceded that claims under the Equal Pay Act were not governed by the same standards as claims under Title VII and the ADEA, but after reconsidering the issue, found that summary judgment had been properly granted as to the Equal Pay Act and NJEPA claims.
Stanziale has appealed, arguing that summary judgment was improperly granted as to the claims based on the wage disparity between him and Muscillo.
III. STANDARD OF REVIEW
Review of the District Court‘s grant of summary judgment is plenary. See Kelly v. Drexel University, 94 F.3d 102, 104 (3d Cir.1996). We must determine whether the record, when viewed in a light favorable to Stanziale, shows that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that appellees were entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law. See, e.g., Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249-50, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).
IV. DISCUSSION
A. THE ADEA AND TITLE VII CLAIMS
The parties’ burdens in establishing and defending claims under the ADEA and Title VII3 are determined by the procedure set forth in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). See Showalter v. University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, 190 F.3d 231, 234 (3rd Cir.1999). A plaintiff must first produce evidence sufficient to convince a reasonable factfinder as to all of the elements of a prima facie case of discrimination. Id. If a plaintiff establishes a prima facie case, “[t]he burden of production (but not the burden of persuasion) shifts to the defendant, who must then offer evidence that is sufficient, if believed, to support a finding that the defendant had a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the [adverse employment decision].” Id. at 235 (quoting Keller v. Orix Credit Alliance, Inc., 130 F.3d 1101, 1108 (3rd Cir.1997) (citing Hicks, 509 U.S. at 506-07, 113 S.Ct. 2742, 125 L.Ed.2d 407 (1993))); see also Smith v. Borough of Wilkinsburg, 147 F.3d 272, 278 (3rd.Cir. 1998). An employer need not prove, however, that the proffered reasons actually motivated the salary decision. Fuentes v. Perskie, 32 F.3d 759, 763 (3rd Cir.1994). If a defendant satisfies this burden, a plaintiff may then survive summary judgment by submitting evidence from which a factfinder could reasonably either (1) disbelieve the employer‘s articulated legitimate reasons; or (2) believe that an invidious discriminatory reason was more likely than not a motivating or determinative cause of the employer‘s action. Keller, 130 F.3d at 1108; Fuentes, 32 F.3d at 763.
In this case, the District Court found, and the parties do not dispute, that Stanziale established a prima facie case. Likewise, the parties do not dispute that appellees met their burden of production under the second step of the McDonnell Douglas framework. They proffered several legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for the salary disparity between Stanziale and Muscillo—qualifications that Muscillo
Appellant satisfied his burden as to some of these six reasons. For instance, as to appellees’ argument that computer skills explains the disparity in wages, Stanziale noted that the Sanitary Inspector job does not require the use of computers and that in 1990 the Health Board did not even have computers. These facts, if true, could cause a reasonable factfinder to conclude that Muscillo‘s “computer skills” and/or “job experience using computer skills,” offered by appellees as reasons for the wage disparity, are pretextual.
Stanziale also argued that the “recent sanitary inspector experience” reason offered by appellees was pretextual. Stanziale noted that he worked as a Sanitary Inspector for an unrelated community for eight years, albeit in the late 1960‘s and early 1970‘s. He testified in his deposition that the job had not changed over time, so that his years of experience, 17 years before his hiring, ought to be weighed more heavily than Muscillo‘s 1 ½ years of experience just prior to her hire. In essence, Stanziale argued that in his estimation, he was more experienced than Muscillo, so that there existed a triable issue of fact as to whether appellees’ proffered reason was pretextual.
Whatever the case as to these factors, it is undisputed that Muscillo does possess more qualifications than Stanziale, especially as to the bachelor‘s degree and post-graduate education.4 Muscillo has a bachelor‘s degree in business administration. Perhaps more relevant to her work as a Sanitary Inspector, she also has completed a seven-week course on environmental and public health and law from Rutgers University, is a certified pesticide applicator and is a certified operator for a lead poisoning testing device.
In response, Stanziale does not dispute that he lacks these educational qualifications, but instead notes that he was not asked about such qualifications in his interview. He alleges that his application for the position of Sanitary Inspector (which reveals his lack of these educational qualifications) was not provided to appellees until after he was hired. From this, Stanziale contends that these educational qualifications are not necessary to the job of Sanitary Inspector; they were not considered in establishing his salary, and they do not, therefore, explain the wage disparity.
Assuming that the facts are as Stanziale suggests, it does not follow that summary judgment was improperly granted. The fact that Stanziale was not asked about his educational qualifications does suggest that Muscillo‘s educational qualifications
It is, of course, true, as the dissent notes, that employers are unlikely to reward employees economically for qualifications that are going to make no significant contribution to the enterprise. In many instances, plaintiffs will satisfy their burden of establishing pretext by demonstrating that the employer‘s alleged qualifications bear no actual relationship to the employment at issue. Notwithstanding Stanziale‘s contentions as to what he was asked prior to his hiring, he has not presented sufficient evidence such that a factfinder could reasonably conclude that Muscillo‘s superior qualifications, particularly her qualifications as to lead poisoning, pesticides, and public health and law, are so unrelated to her employment as a Sanitary Inspector as to be a pretext for intentional discrimination. Under both the ADEA and Title VII, Stanziale bears this ultimate burden of proving intentional discrimination. See Simpson v. Kay Jewelers, Division of Sterling, Inc., 142 F.3d 639, 644 n. 6 (3rd Cir.1998) (quoting Fuentes, 32 F.3d at 763). Summary judgment was therefore proper as to the ADEA and Title VII claims, and the corresponding state claims under
B. THE EQUAL PAY ACT CLAIM
Unlike the ADEA and Title VII claims, claims based upon the Equal Pay Act,
The employer‘s burden is significantly different in defending an Equal Pay Act claim for an additional reason. The Equal Pay Act prohibits differential pay for men and women when performing equal work “except where such payment is made pursuant to” one of the four affirmative defenses.
We have already noted several factors that appellees have proffered which could explain the wage disparity, and we have no doubt that Muscillo‘s educational qualifications fall within the meaning of the fourth affirmative defense, “a differential based on any factor other than sex.”
V. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the District Court‘s grant of summary judgment as to the ADEA, Title VII and NJLAD claims is AFFIRMED. The grant of summary judgment as to the Equal Pay Act and NJEPA claims, however, is REVERSED. This case is remanded to the District Court for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.
STAPLETON, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I join in all of the court‘s opinion other than section IV-A. While it is a close question, unlike my colleagues, I conclude that Stanziale has pointed to sufficient evidence of pretext to avoid summary judgment on the ADEA and Title VII claims. Accordingly, I would reverse and remand for further proceedings on those claims, as well as on the Equal Pay Act claim.
My conclusion differs from that of my colleagues primarily for two reasons. First, while I agree that it does not offend the ADEA or Title VII to pay a higher salary to one employee than to another based on qualifications unrelated to their job performance, I regard the fact that an employer purports to have done so as significant circumstantial evidence of pretext. Employers rarely reward employees for qualifications that are going to make no significant contribution to the employer‘s mission.
Second, because the applicable law regards pretext as circumstantial evidence that a prohibited motive is behind the employer‘s decision, a factfinder‘s conclusion of pretext with respect to some of the nondiscriminatory justifications tendered by the employer may legitimately affects its
We do not hold that, to avoid summary judgment, the plaintiff must cast doubt on each proffered reason in a vacuum. If the defendant proffers a bagful of legitimate reasons, and the plaintiff manages to cast substantial doubt on a fair number of them, the plaintiff may not need to discredit the remainder. That is because the factfinder‘s rejection of some of the defendant‘s proffered reasons may impede the employer‘s credibility seriously enough so that a factfinder may rationally disbelieve the remaining proffered reasons, even if no evidence undermining those remaining rationales in particular is available.