Plaintiff Margaret Sipser Leibowitz appeals from so much of a final judgment entered in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (George B. Daniels, Judge), as dismissed her complaint against her employers, Cornell University (“Cornell” or the “University”) and the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations (“the ILR School”), as well as the individually-named defendants, asserting (1) claims of gender and age discrimination based upon the non-renewal of her employment contract, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e *492 et seq., as amended (“Title VII”), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq., as amended (the “ADEA”), as well as state and municipal laws, and (2) state claims for breach of contract, breach of implied-in-fact contract, unjust enrichment, and quantum meruit. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants on the discrimination claims on the grounds that (a) plaintiff had failed to establish a prima facie case because she presented insufficient evidence to show that she suffered an adverse employment action when defendants refused to renew her contract, and there was insufficient evidence to give rise to an inference of discrimination, and (b) even if plaintiff established a prima facie case, defendants proffered a non-discriminatоry reason for refusing to renew plaintiffs employment contract, and plaintiff had presented insufficient evidence to support a conclusion that the articulated reason was a pretext for discrimination. The district court also dismissed plaintiffs breach of contract claims on the ground that she failed to raise any issues of fact regarding whether she had an implicit guarantee of job security on par with tenured faculty members, as well as her claims of breach of implied-in-fact contract, quantum meruit, and unjust enrichment in connection with work she performed after she officially ended her employment with Cornell. On appeal, Leibowitz contends that summary judgment was improper because there were genuine issues of fact to be tried.
For the reasons that follow, we vacate the district court’s grant of summary judgment on appellant’s Title VII, ADEA, New York State Human Rights Law (“NYSHRL”) and New York City Human Rights Law (“NYCHRL”) claims and remand this case to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. The district court’s grant of summary judgment on appellant’s claims of breach of contract, breach of implied-in-fact contract, quantum meruit, and unjust enrichment is affirmed.
BaCkground
The following facts were taken from the record before the district court, construеd in the light most favorable to plaintiff, the non-moving party.
See, e.g., Hotel Employees & Rest. Employees Union, Local 100 v. City of N.Y. Dep’t of Parks & Recreation,
A. Plaintiffs Employment at the ILR School
The ILR School is a “contract college” at Cornell, a statutorily-created partnership between the University and New York State, which offers a four-year undergraduate program in industrial and labor relations and receives state funding through the State University of New York (“SUNY”) system. It has both a Resident Division, which teaches undergraduate and graduate courses at Cornell’s Ithaca campus, and an Extension Division, which offers courses designed for working practitioners at regional offices in Buffalo, Albany, New York City, Rochester, and Long Island. In 1983, after receiving her undergraduate degree from the ILR School and her law degree from New York University, plaintiff began her employment with the ILR School as an Extension Associate in the Extension Division. In 1987, after successfully completing the Extension Division’s “peer review process,” she was promoted to the position of Senior Extension Associate II. Plaintiff’s employment was a term appointment, in accordance with Cornell and ILR School written policy, which stated that senior extension associates may be appointed to “terms of up to five years and may be reappointed on the basis of *493 recommendations by the department and the appropriate extension director and dean(s).” When plaintiffs employment contract was due to expire in October 1997, defendants assert that Associate Dean Ronald Seeber planned not to renew her appointment because of her strained relationship with the supervisor of the New York City office, Esta Bigler, but ultimately changed his mind because, first, plaintiff secured a project that permitted her to work away from the New York City office in the spring of 1998 and, second, the Resident Division needed teachers for particular courses in areas of plaintiffs expertise. Accordingly, plaintiff was reappointed for the term from February 1, 1998 to October 31, 2002. She then began teaching a full class schedule for the Resident Division, while also teaching and developing Extension programs and serving as a thesis advisor for undergraduate students. Between 2000 and 2003, plaintiff won various teaching accolades.
B. The Renewal Process
Cornell and ILR School policy stated that senior extension associates were appointed to five-year terms, renewable on the basis of department recommendations. Moreover, each of plaintiffs appointment letters in 1984,1987,1992, and 1998 explicitly indicated that the appointment was for a finite term and was contingent upon funding. Plaintiff acknowledges that the position of Senior Extension Associate II was not a tenured one. In fact, plaintiff sent an e-mail in 2000 to a friend in which she stated, “I’m just a lowly, untenured Extension person.” However, plaintiff asserts that she held a position equivalent to that of a tenured professor and cites several pieces of evidence to support that assertion.
First, it is undisputed that, prior to the non-renewal of plaintiffs contract, defendants had never terminated, laid off, or failed to renew the contract of one holding the position of Senior Extension Associate II without cause.
Second, plaintiff points to the ILR Faculty Personnel Policies, which describe the process for “Reappointment and Promotion of Non-tenured Faculty Members,” and plaintiff sets forth evidence that the enumerated process was not followed with respect to senior extension associates. Defendants note that the policy refers only to “assistant professors” (i.e., tenure-track professors) and does not reference senior extension associates and has no application to them.
Finally, plaintiff points to the belief by two senior extension associates that they had a position that was essentially equivalent to tenure, as well as statements by three other Cornell employees in which they stated they had heard or believed that senior extension associates had something similar to (but not) tenure, or that the review process was “pro forma.”
As noted above, plaintiff was reappointed as a senior extension associate for the term from February 1, 1998 to October 31, 2002.
C. Plaintiff’s Travel Expenses
While plaintiff was teaching at the Ithaca campus, she was based in the New York City metropolitan area, and Cornell reimbursed her travel costs. In 2001, Cornell’s tax compliance office required the ILR School to categorize plaintiffs travel expenses as taxable income. Accordingly, to maintain plaintiffs salary at its then-current level, the ILR School had to pay plaintiff a gross amount exceeding that of her travel expenses in order to cover the added cost of personal income taxes incurred. In March 2001, Dean Edward J. Lawler informed plaintiff that the ILR School would pay her $20,000 towards her *494 travel expenses. In December 2001, plaintiff informed Dean Lawler that this amount was insufficient to cover her expenses and apologized for the delay in bringing it to his attention, noting that the events of September 11, 2001 had made it difficult for her to estimate her actual costs of travel for the fall semester. Dean Lawler initially denied her request, prompting plaintiff to write to him that she was “truly sorry for the misunderstanding about the travel money” but could not afford to cover her travel costs and wished to speak with him about her ability to meet her spring semester commitments. Dean Lawler then increased the amount of her travel allowance to $29,000. In January 2002, plaintiff thanked him for the “generous offer,” but noted that the funds were still insufficient. Dean Lawler then increased the travel compensation to $30,000, but felt frustrated by plaintiffs repeated requests, interpreting them as “forceful,” “demanding,” and “pushy.”
In June 2002, plaintiff again contacted the ILR School regarding travel reimbursement. Defendants submit that this overture reminded Dean Lawler that her contract was set to expire in October 2002, which led him to evaluate whether it was worth retaining her. However, a June 25, 2002 e-mail from Associate Dean Robert Smith to Dean Lawler and Associate Dean Ann Martin indicates the decision not to renew her contract had already been made; in detailing the June 2002 meeting he had with plaintiff to discuss her travel expenses, Associate Dean Smith wrote: “Other than my mention of budget problems, I did not offer any inklings of what is yet to come! Good luck on that one; will be a tough meeting, but will be a good investment.” Regardless of the timing of the decision, defendants contend that Dean Lawler ultimately concluded that the “special arrangement” with plaintiff had become too expensive in light of “budgetary issues.” Specifically, during the 2000-2002 period, the SUNY system had reduced the percentage of its budget appropriated to the ILR School and, as a result, January 2002 expense projections for the Extension Division for the 2002-2003 academic year exceeded the expected amount of state funds. E-mails drafted by Associate Dean Martin and Associate Dean Smith in late 2001 and early 2002, respectively, indicate that the budget concerns in the Extension Division were pressing.
D. Plaintiff’s Contract Is Not Renewed
Dean Lawler met with plaintiff on June 27, 2002 to inform her of his decision not to renew her contract and memorialized that meeting in a July 1, 2002 letter to her, stating:
... I am writing to affirm what I discussed with you [on June 27], letting you know in advance that we are not in a position to renew your current employment contract, which expires on October 31, 2002. As you know, your job responsibilities have shifted from New York City to Ithaca. For the last several years, we have used your talents on a year-to-year basis to teach сourses in our resident program in Ithaca, and there have been no duties for you to perform in the position in New York City for which you were hired. We appreciate your teaching skills, but with budgetary exigencies this year — and with the expectations of more budgetary pressures in the future — we cannot afford to continue your current terms of employment with the School.
The letter further stated that plaintiff would be formally assigned to Ithaca for the 2002-2003 academic year and her employment would extend to May 31, 2003, after which time the School was not “making any representation about future employment,” nor encouraging plaintiff “to *495 move from New York to Ithaca with the expectation of future employment.”
On November 4, 2002, Associate Dean Martin sent an e-mail to the entire Extension Division, stating that “Peggy Leibow-itz was laid off.” Martin later testified that “terminated would be a better term” to describe the non-renewal of plaintiffs contract. On December 9, 2002, plaintiff submitted a letter stating her intention to retire, effective December 30, 2002, to preserve her benefits. Plaintiff was fifty-one years old at the time that her employment with the ILR School came to an end.
E. Positions in the Long Island and New York City Offices
Dean Lawler testified that, prior to his decision not to renew plaintiffs contract, he did not investigаte whether a position was available within the Extension Division that plaintiff could assume, nor did he ask anyone else to do so. However, following the decision regarding the non-renewal of plaintiffs contract in June 2002, the Long Island office expressed interest in having plaintiff work as a senior extension associate. In particular, in July 2002, Thomas Germano, the Director of the Long Island office, told Associate Dean Martin that he was “eager” to hire plaintiff to work as a senior extension associate in his office because she had good client contacts and could generate revenue for the ILR School. Germano’s interest was communicated to Dean Lawler, but, according to Dean Martin, allowing plaintiff to work out of the Long Island office “was certainly not considered.”
In October 2002, the ILR School informed employees in its Long Island District Office that, effective June 2003, that office would be closed and its employees reassigned to the New York City District office. When Arthur Matthews, a younger male senior extension associate in the Long Island office, learned of the planned reassignment, he informed defendants that he would resign as of January 2003. On December 20, 2002, plaintiff wrote to Dean Lawler, requesting that he permit her to rеscind her retirement and that she be assigned to a position in the Extension office in Long Island. Dean Lawler denied her request, citing “fiscal circumstances.”
On December 24, 2002, Germano, the Director of the Long Island office, wrote to plaintiff, purporting to confirm his offer to her of the position vacated by Matthews effective January 20, 2003. Upon learning of the offer, Dean Lawler informed plaintiff that the offer was not valid, and he terminated Germano for making it. Plaintiff was not considered for any position at the Long Island office.
Nor was plaintiff considered for any vacancies in the New York City office. Defendants claim that they did not consider plaintiff for these vacancies because plaintiff had “burned some bridges in the New York City office,” which included “bad blood” with supervisor Esta Bigler from an incident in 1997. Plaintiff, however, introduced evidence (including e-mails from 1999 and 2000) that suggests that plaintiff and Bigler had no lasting conflicts. Plaintiff also introduced evidence that defendants in 2002 planned to assign Arthur Matthews to the New York City office, despite his having had past conflicts with Bigler.
F. Other Employment Decisions
In the midst of the budgetary concerns that arose in late 2001, the Extension Division laid off six employees (all of whom were females over the age of fifty) between December 2001 and January 2003, and hired twelve employees (whose average age was thirty-three). Other than plaintiff, the five females who were fired *496 were administrative assistants. Plaintiff’s base salary (not including her travel expenses) exceeded that of the highest paid new hire. Two of the new employees, hired for the respective positions of Extension Support Specialist and Senior Extension Associate, were females. By the conclusion of the 2002-2003 academic year, the ILR School was in “solid financial shape” with both Resident and Extension budgets “in the black,” which was due in part to cuts made in that academic year and those planned for the 2003-2004 academic year.
G.Plaintiffs Continued Work as an Academic Advisor
After plaintiffs employment ended on December 30, 2002, the ILR School instructed the two students she had been advising to locate an alternate academic advisor. After the students protested, Associate Dean Martin determined, after consulting with Dean Lawler, that plaintiff could continue to chair the students’ honor theses if all the parties consented to that arrangement. Plaintiff thus continued to serve as an academic advisor to the two students. In May 2003, she submitted an invoice to Dean Lawler for services performed, totaling $25,000, at a rate of approximately $2,000 per day. By letter dated May 21, 2003, Dеan Lawler denied plaintiffs request for payment, stating that the ILR School did not offer financial compensation to an instructor for the activities that plaintiff had performed and that he would have informed her of the same before she undertook those activities had she asked at the time. Specifically, Dean Lawler explained: “[0]ur policy in ILR is to permit teachers who leave the University to continue their services on theses, if they wish and the student agrees. We do not offer any financial compensation to an instructor for time spent on such activity, although we have generally paid travel expenses for an instructor to attend a student’s defense.” The ILR School did reimburse plaintiffs travel expenses pursuant to Dean Lawler’s representation.
H. Reassignment of Plaintiff s Duties
After plaintiffs employment concluded, plaintiff was not specifically replaced by any one individual at the ILR School. The ILR School tasked Lee Adler, a male senior extension associate, with teaching some of the Resident classes that plaintiff had formerly taught. However, unlike plaintiff, Adler was paid $7,500 for each Resident class taught in addition to his Extension salary. Ronald Applegate, another male faculty member, began a three-year appointment in August 2002 and was offered the option of performing work in the Extension Division that plaintiff had been performing prior to the conclusion of her employment. Finally, defendants used another male, Lance Compa, to perform some of the duties plaintiff had previously performed.
I. The Present Action
On December 16, 2003, plaintiff filed a complaint in the Southern District of New York seeking damages and remedies under, to the extent pertinent to this appeal, Title VII, the ADEA, the NYSHRL, the NYCHRL, and New York State common law. On March 14, 2004, defendants filed a motion to dismiss the entirety of plaintiffs complaint for failure to state a claim pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). By Order dated February 3, 2005, the district court granted defendants’ motion. First, the district court found that plaintiff had failed to establish a prima facie case of discrimination under
McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green,
Plaintiff appealed to this Court, which reversed in part the decision of the district court, reinstating plaintiffs discrimination and breach of contract claims and ordering that she be granted leave to replead her implied-in-fact contract and quantum me-ruit claims.
See Leibowitz v. Cornell Univ.,
This matter returned to the district court and discovery was conducted, after which defendants moved for summary judgment on all claims. The district court granted the motion in its entirety.
See Leibowitz v. Cornell Univ.,
No. 03-9976,
DlSCÜSSION
We review a district court’s grant of summary judgment
de novo.
Summary
*498
judgment is appropriate “if the pleadings, the discovery and disclosure materials on file, and any affidavits show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). A “genuine issue” of fact exists for summary judgment purposes where the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could decide that fact in the non-movant’s favor.
See Guilbert v. Gardner,
Plaintiff now asserts four arguments on appeal. First, she argues that the district court erred in concluding that she had not established a prima facie case of gender and age discrimination. Second, she contends that she raised genuine issues of disputed fact as to whether defendants’ proffered reason for opting not to renew her contract was pretextual. Third, she asserts that the district court overlooked triable issues of fact regarding whether defendants guaranteed her job security on par with tenured faculty members as related to both her discrimination and contractual claims. Finally, plaintiff argues that the district court erred in dismissing her claims for quantum meruit and unjust enrichment. We consider each argument in turn.
A. Plaintiff’s Discrimination Claims
The same evidentiary framework is used to evaluate claims of discrimination based upon gender or age.
1
See Byrnie v. Town of Cromwell, Bd. of Educ.,
Once a plaintiff has established a prima facie case of age or gender discrimination, the burden shifts to the defendant
*499
to “ ‘articulate some legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the’ [adverse act].”
Patterson v. County of Oneida,
1. Adverse Employment Action
Plaintiff first challenges the district court’s determination that the non-renewal of her contract did not constitute an adverse employment action as a matter of law. An adverse employment action, for purposes of both the ADEA and Title VII, is “ ‘more disruptive than a mere inconvenience or an alteration of job responsibilities’ ” and can include “ ‘termination of employment, a demotion evidenced by a decrease in wage or salary, a less distinguished title, a material loss of benefits, significantly diminished material responsibilities, or other indices ... unique to a particular situation.’”
Galabya v. N.Y. City Bd. of Educ.,
The district court, in its Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal of plaintiffs discrimination claims, determined that despite plaintiffs allegation that “pursuant to the policies of Cornell University and the ILR School, a Senior Extension Associate II, such as herself, is a tenure faculty member,” the official policies actually stated that the position she held was a term appointment, and “[d]efendants did nоt terminate plaintiffs employment,” but “[r]ather, they chose not to renew her appointment for another five-year term” and, thus, there was no adverse action as a matter of law.
Leibowitz I,
After discovery was conducted, the district court reviewed the evidence and concluded that there was no adverse employment action as a matter of law because “plaintiff is unable to make the requisite showing that Cornell had an unofficial policy of granting tenure to its contract Senior Extension Associate II employees or did so for any male or younger Senior Associate II employees.”
Leibowitz III,
Defendants argue that, pursuant to our earlier decision in this matter, plaintiff could only sustain her burden of demonstrating adverse action by offering documentation supporting her allegation that she held a tenured position, because non-renewal of her contract alone would not suffice. Such is not the case. As a threshold matter, although our earlier opinion suggested that plaintiff was alleging more than non-renewal and that the denial of a position equivalent to tenure would constitute an adverse action, we did not foreclose the possibility that the non-renewal of an employment contract alone could constitute an adverse action. Indeed, we are persuaded that, where renewal is sought, it does.
It is beyond cavil that employers subject to the strictures of the ADEA and Title VII may not discriminate on the basis of age or gender in deciding whether or not to hire prospective employees.
See
29 U.S.C. § 623(a)(1) (it is “unlawful for an employer ... to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual ... because of such individual’s age”);
Nat’l R.R. Passenger Corp. v. Morgan,
Accordingly, we hold that where an employee seeks renewal of an employment contract, non-renewal of an employment contract constitutes an adverse employment action for purposes of Title VII and the ADEA. Although the parties focus on the terminology used with respect to the plaintiff, whether plaintiff was “laid off’ or “terminated,” or her employment was “not renewed” is not critical to the legal analysis; rather, she suffered an adverse employment action because she was denied the requested continued employment, regardless of the label.
We note that, in reaching this decision, we join other circuit courts that have, either implicitly or explicitly, held that non-renewal of a contract may constitute an adverse employment action for purposes of the discrimination laws.
See, e.g., Wilkerson v. New Media Tech. Charter Sch. Inc.,
*502 In sum, the district court erred in concluding that the non-renewal of plaintiffs employment contract was not an adverse employment action.
2. Inference of Discrimination
Plaintiff next argues that the district court erred in its determination that the circumstances surrounding the non-renewal of her contract did not give rise to an inference of age or gender discrimination. Viewing the facts presented in the light most favorable to plaintiff and drawing all reasonable inferences therefrom, we agree.
It is well-settled that an inference of discriminatory intent may be derived from a variety of circumstances, including, but not limited to: “the employer’s continuing, after discharging the plaintiff, to seek applicants from persons of the plaintiffs qualifications to fill that position; or the employer’s criticism of the plaintiffs performance in ethnically . degrading terms; or its invidious comments about others in the employee’s protected group; оr the more favorable treatment of employees not in the protected group; or the sequence of events leading to the plaintiffs discharge.”
Chambers v. TRM Copy Ctrs. Corp.,
Here, plaintiff has presented evidence of the following: (1) during the relevant time period, in addition to plaintiff, defendants laid off five other employees, all of whom were females over the age of fifty; 5 (2) defendants reassigned teaching duties once performed by plaintiff to at least three male instructors; and (3) defendants did not consider plaintiff for vacant positions that arose in 2002, prior to plaintiffs departure, in the Long Island and New York City offices, and attempted to fill one such position in the New York City office with a younger, male employee.
The district court determined that no inference of discrimination could be drawn from these actions because none of the male employees cited specifically replaced her, and because none were granted
*503
“unofficial tenure.” However, plaintiff is not required to establish that she was replaced by a single male and/or younger employee in order to carry her burden.
See Montana v. First Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass’n of Rochester,
Accordingly, the district court erred in concluding that plaintiff did not meet her burden of establishing a prima facie case of age and gender discrimination.
S. Pretext
The district court granted defendants’ summary judgment motion on the alternative ground that defendants had proffered a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for the non-renewal, and plaintiff had failed to provide evidence sufficient for a rational jury to find that the reason was pretextual. However, we conclude that, based upon the evidence discussed above in connection with the prima facie case, combined with the additionаl evidence of pretext summarized below, plaintiff has created material issues of disputed fact on this issue sufficient to survive summary judgment.
Once the plaintiff properly establishes a prima facie case of age and gender discrimination, the court must evaluate whether defendants sufficiently met their burden under
McDonnell Douglas
of “articulat[ing] some legitimate, non discriminatory reason” for their actions.
It is axiomatic that “even during a legitimate reorganization or workforce reduction, an employer may not dismiss employees for unlawful discriminatory reasons.”
Maresco,
Based on this evidence, we find that plaintiff has raised genuine issues of material fact regarding discriminatory pretext adequate to defeat summary judgment. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to plaintiff, a rational finder of fact could conclude that the budgetary exigencies cited by defendants were not so dire as to warrant her non-renewal, since the Extension Department both balanced its budget and had the funds necessary to bring in twelve new hires around the time that plaintiffs contract was not renewed. The fact that the six individuals laid off were females over the age of fifty could lend support to plaintiffs argument that her age and gender were the real reasons behind the non-renewal of her contract, especially in light of the evidence that she was not considered for other vacancies that arose in 2002.
See, e.g., Demoret v. Zegarelli
On the basis of this record, we therefore decline to uphold the district court’s ruling that no rational finder of fact could decide that defendants’ proffered reasons for opting not to renew plaintiffs contract were pretextual ones intended to mask unlawful discriminatory intent.
See Back v. Hastings on Hudson Union Free Sch. Dist.,
B. Plaintiffs Contract and Quasi-Contract Claims
Plaintiff next argues that the district court erred by dismissing her breach of contract and breach of implied contract claims, premised on the allegation that the ILR School had an unofficial policy granting senior extension associates job security on par with that of tenured faculty that it violated by failing to renew her contract. She also contends that the district court improperly dismissed her claims for quantum meruit and unjust enrichment arising from work she performed as an academic advisor after her term of employment ended. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the judgment of the district court dismissing all contractual and quasi-eon-tractual claims, as plaintiff failed to raise any genuine issues of material fact on critical elements of those aforementioned causes of action.
1. Claims Regarding Alleged Unofficial Tenured Position
In reversing the district court’s initial dismissal of plaintiffs breach of contract claims, we determined that plaintiff properly pled a breach of cоntract claim by alleging that an unofficial Cornell policy granting lifetime employment to senior extension associates created a contractual relationship between the parties that Cornell breached in failing to renew her contract. As a threshold matter, it is unclear whether plaintiff appeals the district court’s dismissal of both her breach of contract claim and her implied-in-fact contract claim arising from this alleged unofficial policy, or simply the latter cause of action. 7 However, as plaintiff has failed to produce any evidence substantiating the existence of an express contract, be it oral or written, guaranteeing her lifetime job security, the Court affirms the dismissal of her breach of contract claim. Thus, we turn to plaintiffs implied-in-fact contract claim.
Under New York law, “[a] contract implied in fact may result as an inference from the facts and circumstances of the case, although not formally stated in
*507
words, and is derived from the ‘presumed’ intention of the parties as indicated by their conduct.”
Jemzura v. Jemzura,
Although we noted in our prior decision that this claim survived a motion to dismiss because plaintiff had alleged that documentation supported the existence of this unofficial lifetime appointment, or the equivalent of being a tenured professor, plaintiff has found no such documentation after full discovery to support such an allegation and contradict the express terms of the appointment letters and Cornell policy. It is undisputed that plaintiff has not put forth any written policy that conferred tenure or the equivalent of tenure for senior extension associates; in fact, the policy states precisely the contrary.
Instead, plaintiff attempts to create an issue of material fact by pointing to the defendants’ purported failure to follow the process in the ILR Faculty Personnel Policies for “Reappointment and Promotion of Non-tenured Faculty Members.” However, we find this evidence and argument unavailing. As an initial matter, the policy refers only to “assistant professors” (i.e., tenure-track professors) and does not reference senior extension associates and, thus, does not explicitly apply to them. In *508 any event, the mere fact that reappointment procedures were not always followed or that reappointments were often “pro forma” does not support a reasonable inference that Cornell was abandoning its policy and agreements that explicitly referenced a five-year term and, instead, bestowing lifetime guarantees of employment on its non-tenured, term employees. Moreover, the hearsay statements or rumors on this issue recounted in discovery by certain Cornell employees are insufficient to undermine the explicit terms of plaintiffs appointment letters and Cornell policy. The lack of sufficient evidence to create a material issue of fact on this point is perhaps best illustrated by plaintiffs own statements and conduct. Specifically, in an e-mail to a friend in 2000, plaintiff referred to herself as “just a lowly, unten-ured Extension person.” Moreover, she asked unsuccessfully to be placed on the tenure track in 1990 and again in 1993.
In sum, we find that the district court correctly determined that the terms of her reappointment letter and Cornell policy both explicitly indicated that her contract term was for five years, and plaintiff failed to produce sufficient evidence from which a reasonable jury could conclude, notwithstanding those explicit terms, the existence of an unofficial tenure policy for senior extension associates. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment in defendants’ favor on the contractual claims related to the alleged unofficial tenured position.
2. Claims Regarding Post-Employment Services
The district court also dismissed on summary judgment plaintiffs claims related to work she performed with students after she ended her employment with Cornell in December 2002. Specifically, plaintiff argued that she was entitled to compensation for her continued involvement as a Senior Honor Theses advisor to two students in the spring of 2003. As set forth below, we agree with the district court that these claims are properly subject to dismissal on summary judgment.
As stated above, an implied-in-fact contract “requires such elements as consideration, mutual assent, legal capacity and legal subject matter.”
Maas,
Plaintiff also appeals the district court’s dismissal of her quasi-contrae-tual claims,
9
based on the same nexus of facts.
10
“In order to recover in quantum meruit under New York law, a claimant must establish ‘(1) the performance of services in good faith, (2) the acceptance of the services by the person to whom they are rendered, (3) an expectation of compensation therefor, and (4) the reasonable value of the services.’ ”
Mid-Hudson Catskill Rural Migrant Ministry, Inc.,
As with plaintiff’s implied-in-fact contractual claim, we previously instructed the district court to grant her leave to replead this claim, as she had “failed to allege any basis for a finding that, in the absence of contract, Cornell should be required to pay for her work as a matter of equity.”
Leibowitz II,
The Court agrees with this analysis; as stated above, plaintiff has offered no evidence that she expressed an expectation of compensation prior to the performance of the services or that anyone at the University indicated she would receive it. To that end, she has failed to establish that the rate she charged represented a reasonable value of her services, particularly when compared to the salary she received when employed by the University. Further, in the absence of any proof that plaintiff had a reasonable basis for believing she would receive compensation, and in the amount specified by the invoice submitted to Dean Lawler, it cannot be said that principles of equity require any resti *510 tution. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s dismissal of plaintiffs quasi-contractual claims.
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the district court is VACATED insofar as it dismissed plaintiffs discrimination claims under Title VII, the ADEA and state law. The grant of summary judgment in defendants’ favor on the remainder of plaintiffs claims is AFFIRMED. The matter is remanded to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Notes
. Age discrimination claims brought pursuant to the NYSHRL and the NYCHRL are analyzed under the ADEA framework,
see Tomassi v. Insignia Fin. Group, Inc.,
. The Court notes that, pursuant to the Supreme Court's recent decision in
Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc.,
- U.S. -,
. In addition, the Supreme Court has made clear in other сontexts that the lack of right to re-employment by contract or tenure does not preclude an employee from claiming that her constitutional rights have been infringed by an employer's refusal to rehire.
See, e.g., Rutan v. Republican Party of Ill.,
. Moreover, a number of district courts have reached the same conclusion.
See, e.g., Ghent v. Moore,
. While the district court correctly noted that there was evidence that two of the new hires appointed to positions at the ILR School during this period were female, our precedent is clear that “although certain courts ... have required an employee, in making out a
prima facie
case, to demonstrate that she was replaced by a person outside the protected class, we believe such a standard is inappropriate and at odds with the policies underlying Title VII.”
Meiri v. Dacon,
. Plaintiff argues that "Defendants’ proffered reasons for terminating Plaintiff's employment have changed over time” and “[s]uch changes support the inferencе that Defendants’ explanations are pretextual.” (Plaintiff’s Brief on Appeal, at 57.) Specifically, plaintiff submits that defendants have argued, at various stages in the litigation, that they did not renew plaintiff’s contract because (1) it was a "good investment,” (2) budgetary exigencies required it, and (3) she asked for more travel compensation than
*504
they were willing to provide. Although these justifications are not identical, all relate to the alleged financial burden of renewing plaintiff’s contract; in contrast, in the cases where we have found that variations in the employers' professed reasons gave rise to an inference of pretext, those reasons were radically different.
See, e.g., Carlton,
. Plaintiff argues that the testimony of Esta Bigler "creates a triable issue of fact that Defendants promised Plaintiff — and all other Senior Extension Associаtes — by their words and conduct that they had job security on par with tenured faculty,” thereby suggesting that an express oral contract existed. (Plaintiffs Reply Brief on Appeal, at 31 (emphasis added).) However, the referenced testimony simply relates to Bigler’s understanding of her own employment situation with the University and has no bearing on whether plaintiff and the University had orally agreed to the arrangement alleged. Therefore, Bigler's testimony is insufficient to create a genuine issue of material fact regarding an express oral contract between plaintiff and defendants granting her lifetime job security.
. In her brief on appeal, plaintiff appears to appeal the dismissal of her implied-in-fact contractual claim only as it relates to allegations of lifetime job security. However, to the extent that her challenge is not so limited, we review the dismissal of that claim as it relates to work performed after her employment ended, as well, and affirm the decision of the district court for reasons stated infra.
. Plaintiff's claims of quantum meruit and unjust enrichment were both dismissed, and "[ajpplying New York law, we may analyze quantum meruit and unjust enrichment together as a single quasi contract claim.”
Mid-Hudson Catskill Rural Migrant Ministry, Inc. v. Fine Host Corp.,
. It should be noted that plaintiff may only assert a claim of quantum meruit in the absence of an agreement between the parties, be it oral, written or implied-in-fact.
See, e.g., Beth Israel Med. Ctr. v. Horizon Blue Cross & Blue Shield of N.J., Inc.,