Court of Appeal: No Duty to Remove Essential Job Functions as Reasonable Accommodation and More...

The Court of Appeal in Nealy v. City of Santa Monica upheld summary judgment in a disability discrimination case.  The case involved an injured "solid waste equipment operator," which may mean garbage truck operator.  Nealy injured his right knee lifting a large bin, leading to several surgeries.

In a nutshell, the City allowed Nealy a long leave of absence. They met with him several times. His doctors placed many physical restrictions on him, precluding him from the heavy lifting required of the solid waste equipment operator.   Nealy asked for accommodations, including removing lifting requirements and allowing Nealy to work on one particular type of truck. The City took the position it was not required to remove essential job functions.  The City also looked into transfers. But  Nealy apparently was not qualified for the open, available jobs.

Nealy sued for disparate treatment, denial of reasonable accommodation, and failure to engage in the interactive process. He also sued for retaliation.  The Court of Appeal upheld summary judgment on several grounds.  The explanation of the law on each claim is clear and will help employers understand the legal issues. So, here goes:

Reasonable accommodation

The elements of a reasonable accommodation cause of action are (1) the employee suffered a disability, (2) the employee could perform the essential functions of the job with reasonable accommodation, and (3) the employer failed to reasonably accommodate the employee’s disability. (Wilson v. County of Orange (2009) 169 Cal.App.4th 1185, 1192; Nadaf-Rahrov, supra, at p. 977.)  * * *  The fact that one essential function may be up for debate does not preclude summary judgment if the employee cannot perform other essential functions even with accommodation.

In this case, there was copious evidence that Nealy could not perform one or more of the job's essential functions. The Court rejected his arguments about accommodations via removal of essential functions. 

FEHA does not obligate the employer to accommodate the employee by excusing him or her from the performance of essential functions. (Lui v. City and County of San Francisco (2012) 211 Cal.App.4th 962, 985.) There is no dispute heavy lifting was an essential function of the solid waste equipment operator—even for those who operated the automated side loader. 

The Court then turned to reassignment as a form of accommodation.  Here's the legal standard:

FEHA requires the employer to offer the employee “comparable” or “lower graded” vacant positions for which he or she is qualified. (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 2, § 11068, subd. (d)(1), (2).) FEHA does not require a reassignment, however, if there is no vacant position for which the employee is qualified. (Cuiellette v. City of Los Angeles (2011) 194 Cal.App.4th 757, 767.) Additionally, FEHA does not require the employer to promote the employee or create a new position for the employee to a greater extent than it would create a new position for any employee, regardless of disability. (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 2, § 11068, subd. (d)(4); Spitzer, supra, 80 Cal.App.4th at p. 1389.)  * * * 

In cases when courts have found a triable issue on reassignment, the employees have adduced evidence obtained through discovery that vacant positions for which they were qualified existed during the relevant period, but the employer failed to offer the positions to them. (Nadaf-Rahrov, supra, 166 Cal.App.4th at p. 968; Spitzer, supra, 80 Cal.App.4th at p. 1390.) Nealy has not adduced any such evidence here to dispute the City’s evidence that no other vacant positions for which he was qualified existed during the relevant period in 2010. Under FEHA, the City was thus relieved of its duty to reassign Nealy. (Spitzer, supra, 80 Cal.App.4th at p. 1389.)  * * * 

 In short, an employer can prevail on summary judgment on a claim of failure to reasonably accommodate by establishing through undisputed facts that “there simply was no vacant position within the employer’s organization for which the disabled employee was qualified and which the disabled employee was capable of performing with or without accommodation . . . .”

Disparate treatment

The Court also held that because Nealy was not a "qualified individual," he could not prevail on a disability discrimination claim.

The showing required is identical to that required for a cause of action for failure to reasonably accommodate. That is, a qualified individual is someone who is able to perform the essential functions of his or her job, with or without reasonable accommodation. (Id. at p. 262.) FEHA permitted the City to discharge Nealy if he was unable to perform the essential functions of his job even with reasonable accommodations. (Gov. Code, § 12940, subd. (a)(1) [“This part does not prohibit an employer from . . . discharging an employee with a physical or mental disability . . . where the employee, because of his or her physical or mental disability, is unable to perform his or her essential duties even with reasonable accommodations . . . .”]; Green v. State of California, supra, at p. 262.) 

Interactive Process

To prevail on a claim for failure to engage in the interactive process, the employee must identify a reasonable accommodation that would have been available at the time the interactive process occurred. (Scotch v. Art Institute of California (2009) 173 Cal.App.4th 986, 1018 (Scotch); Nadaf-Rahrov, supra, at p. 984.) “An employee cannot necessarily be expected to identify and request all possible accommodations during the interactive process itself because ‘“‘[e]mployees do not have at their disposal the extensive information concerning possible alternative positions or possible accommodations which employers have . . . .’”’” (Scotch, supra, at p. 1018.) But the employee should be able to identify specific, available reasonable accommodations through the litigation process, and particularly by the time the parties have conducted discovery and reached the summary judgment stage. (Id. at p. 1019.) * * * *

The only accommodations Nealy argues should have been available are (1) restructuring his old job so that he did not lift heavy objects or kneel; (2) assigning him to the automated side loader permanently; (3) reassigning him to another position; and (4) retraining. As we concluded above, the first two were not reasonable accommodations allowing him to perform the essential functions of the job, and the third was not reasonable because there were no vacant positions for which he was qualified. The fourth—retraining—does not assist Nealy. He provides absolutely no detail as to what type of retraining would have enabled him to perform the solid waste equipment operator job or some other vacant position. The bare assertion that the City should have provided retraining does not create a triable issue of fact. 

Retaliation

Nealy also lost on his retaliation claim.  The Court of Appeal made clear that he had not "engaged in a protected activity" merely by asking for a reasonable accommodation. The Court listed what counts as protected activity under the statute.

FEHA makes it unlawful for the employer to discharge or discriminate against an employee because he or she has “opposed any practices forbidden under this part or because the person has filed a complaint, testified, or assisted in any proceeding under this part.” (Gov. Code, § 12940, subd. (h).) Thus, protected activity takes the form of opposing any practices forbidden by FEHA or participating in any proceeding conducted by the DFEH or the State Fair Employment and Housing Council (FEHC). (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 2, §§ 11002, subds. (a), (b), 11021, subd. (a).) 

Opposing practices forbidden by FEHA includes seeking the advice of the DFEH or FEHC; assisting or advising any person in seeking the advice of the DFEH or FEHC; opposing employment practices the employee reasonably believes to exist and believes to be a violation of FEHA; participating in an activity perceived by the employer as opposition to discrimination; or contacting, communicating with, or participating in the proceeding of a local human rights or civil rights agency regarding employment discrimination.  * * * * 

 And then the Court emphasized:

Nealy does not identify any activity that qualifies as protected activity. He contends his protected activity was seeking the City’s assistance to return to work—that is, seeking reasonable accommodation—and initiating the interactive process. These acts alone do not amount to “oppos[ing] any practices forbidden under” FEHA or participating in DFEH or FEHC proceedings. (Gov. Code, § 12940, subd. (h); Rope, supra, 220 Cal.App.4th at p. 652.) If they did, this interpretation of protected activity “‘would significantly blur and perhaps obliterate the distinction between an action for failure to accommodate or engage in the interactive process and retaliation.’” (Rope, supra, at p. 653.) 

* * * *

This case is Nealy v. City of Santa Monica and the opinion is here.


 

Ninth Circuit: Summary Judgment in Employment Discrimination Cases Should Not Happen Much

The Ninth Circuit reversed summary judgment in a disability discrimination case alleged under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act.  We can't even say what the facts are, because the court does not recite them.

What we do know is:

To establish that he was terminated by Sears because of his disability, Nigro submitted a declaration stating that on June 29, 2009, he had a phone conversation with Larry Foerster, General Manager of the Sears Carlsbad store at which Nigro worked, and Foerster told him that “[i]f you're going to stick with being sick, it's not helping your situation. It is what it is. You're not getting paid, and you're not going to be accommodated.” Nigro also testified in his deposition that Sears's District Facilities Manager Alan Kamisugu told him not to be concerned about his pay issue because Chris Adams, Sears's District General Manager, had indicated to Kamisugu that Nigro was “not going to be here anymore.” The district court disregarded the evidence proffered by Nigro, on the basis that “the source of this evidence is Nigro's own self-serving testimony.”
* * * *
Nigro's direct supervisor Jason Foss also testified that Chris Adams said to him—referring to Nigro—that “I'm done with that guy .” 

What's so unusual about this case, warranting the court to publish the opinion?  Maybe it's because the district court found that Nigro's declaration could be disregarded as "self-serving."  The court explained that is not a basis to ignore the plaintiff's declaration:

We have previously acknowledged that declarations are often self-serving, and this is properly so because the party submitting it would use the declaration to support his or her position. S.E.C. v. Phan, 500 F.3d 895, 909 (9th Cir.2007) (holding that district court erred in disregarding declarations as “uncorroborated and self-serving”). The source of the evidence may have some bearing on its credibility, and thus on the weight it may be given by a trier of fact. But that evidence is to a degree self-serving is not a basis for the district court to disregard the evidence at the summary judgment stage. See 10A Charles Alan Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice & Procedure § 2727 (3d ed. 2011) (“[F]acts asserted by the party opposing the [summary judgment] motion, if supported by affidavits or other evidentiary material, are regarded as true.”). Here, Nigro's declaration and deposition testimony, albeit uncorroborated and self-serving, were sufficient to establish a genuine dispute of material fact on Sears's discriminatory animus. We conclude that the district court erred in disregarding Nigro's testimony in granting Sears's motion for summary judgment. 

The Court also reversed summary judgment on the plaintiff's claims for denial of accommodation and failure to engage in the interactive process, also on the basis of alleged hostility by General Manager, Foerster. 

The Court then commented about summary judgment in discrimination cases as follows, which is why I entitled this post the way I did:

We have previously held in several cases that it should not take much for plaintiff in a discrimination case to overcome a summary judgment motion. See, e.g., Diaz v. Eagle Produce Ltd. P'ship, 521 F.3d 1201, 1207 (9th Cir.2008); Davis v. Team Elec. Co., 520 F.3d 1080, 1089 (9th Cir.2008); Metoyer v. Chassman, 504 F.3d 919, 939 (9th Cir.2007); Dominguez–Curry v. Nevada Transp. Dep't, 424 F.3d 1027, 1042 (9th Cir.2005); Chuang v. Univ. of Cal. Davis, Bd. of Trustees, 225 F.3d 1115, 1124 (9th Cir.2000). “This is because the ultimate question is one that can only be resolved through a searching inquiry—one that is most appropriately conducted by a factfinder, upon a full record.” Id.

Here, Nigro presented several state law claims that deserved trial. It should not take a whole lot of evidence to establish a genuine issue of material fact in a disability discrimination case, at least where the fact issue on discrimination is genuine and the disability would not preclude gainful employment of a person working with accommodation. We acknowledge that this is not a wholly one-sided case on the side of Nigro, and Sears put forward substantial evidence showing that it had a non-discriminatory reason for terminating Nigro's employment, i.e., Sears's position that Nigro did not comply with Sears's attendance and leave policies resulting in job abandonment. It is possible that Sears will prevail at trial, but the statements attributed to Sears's supervisors by Nigro are, if not dispositive, sufficient to raise a genuine issue for the trier of fact. See Metoyer, 504 F.3d at 939 (holding that an employer's evidence of a non-discriminatory motive does not warrant entry of summary judgment when the employee also proffered evidence to the contrary).

Sure, it's still possible to win summary judgment in state and federal court.  However, there of late has been a shift in courts' willingness to grant summary judgment, at least in my opinion.  The trial courts may fear reversal, as appellate courts frequently do.  Trial courts may perceive that employers rarely take cases to trial and settle, which makes it unlikely that a courtroom will be clogged with cases that cannot be won at trial.  Who knows why the pendulum is shifting.  But it is.  

Employers and their lawyers are going to have to decide how to address this shift, whether it be arbitration in lieu of the court system, taking every case to trial until the courts shift back towards summary judgment, lobbying for a change in the law, or something else. 

This case is Nigro v. Sears Roebuck & Co. and the opinion is here. 

Pot Pourri of Recent Cases I missed

There have been so many recent employment law decisions that I can't long-form blog them all.  So, here's a quick roundup of three recent, significant rulings -

Don't miss Serri v. Santa Clara University opinion here.  This case is a defense lawyer's summary judgment go-to. Of note, the court handled a number of claims that are rarely seen (such as defamation by self-compelled publication, intentional interference, and the Labor Code's equal pay law. Here are some of the highlights:

- Upholds denial of extension to file opposition to motion for summary judgment.

- Affirms summary judgment against discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination claims.  Good analysis of the employee's burden of establishing "pretextual" reason for termination.

- Upholds summary judgment on a national origin harassment claim because the alleged comments were not severe or pervasive.

- Agrees that the trial court properly adjudicated the plaintiff's claim under the state Equal Pay Act (Labor Code section 1197.5). The court held the plaintiff did not establish the proper "comparators" to establish she was paid less than someone performing substantially equal work.

- Rare bird:  Upholds summary judgment against the plaintiff's claim of breach of employment contract. The court held that the university had "good cause" to fire Serri as a matter of law.

- Affirmed summary judgment on the plaintiff's defamation claim, including "compelled self-defamation."  The court held that all statements were true or privileged.

- Affirmed summary judgment on an intentional interference with prospective economic advantage claim.

*****

Ruiz v. Affinity Logistics, opinion here is the Ninth Circuit's second pass on an independent contractor v. employee analysis for delivery drivers. The court reversed the district court and held that  the delivery drivers were mis-classified:  "Affinity retained absolute control over drivers’ rates, payment, routes, schedules, trucks, equipment, appearance, decision to hire helpers, choice of helpers, and the right to deal with customers."  Thus, the court held, the most important factor under the Borello analysis—right to control—indicates overwhelmingly that the drivers were Affinity’s employees."  Close case, right? 

*****

Anderson v. City and County of San Francisco, opinion here, is another unusual case, testing out a "bona fide occupational qualification" defense under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  San Francisco's jail implemented a policy of prohibiting male guards from supervising female inmates.  The Sheriff articulated four reasons: "(1) to protect the safety of female inmates from sexual misconduct perpetrated by male deputies, (2) to maintain the security of the jail in the face of female inmates’ ability to manipulate male deputies and of the deputies’ fear of false allegations of sexual misconduct by the inmates, (3) to protect the privacy of female inmates, and (4) to promote the successful
rehabilitation of female inmates."  Guards sued, alleging they were denied promotional opportunities, overtime, and other harms because of the restriction.  Reversing the district court, the Ninth Circuit held that the plaintiff was entitled to a jury trial on whether the policy violated Title VII.  The Court explained that a BFOQ is narrow and requires the defendant employer to prove specific issues as an affirmative defense. Because the city failed to do that, the city was not entitled to judgment as a matter of law.  The "common sense" assumption that females should be supervised by females to avoid sexual contact, invasions of privacy, etc. are not enough.

 

Ninth Circuit - Inconsistency Costs Employer Summary Judgment

So, the Ninth Circuit in Earl v. Nielsen Media Research reversed summary judgment in an age discrimination case.  Earl violated several company policies over time. She was placed on a Development Improvement Plan and ultimately was fired.  As she was nearly 60, she claimed age discrimination motivated her discharge.

The Ninth Circuit reversed summary judgment.  Earl showed that younger employees violated the same policies without getting fired.  Because they were sufficiently similar employees (same positions, same policy violations), they were adequate to satisfy the "similarly situated" requirement for comparing employees.  When you read this case, you will know why we management side lawyers always preach consistency.

The court's second point was that the employer did not apply a performance improvement plan to plaintiff Earl, which they had done for other employees. The court rejected the company's argument that it employed people "at will" and could deviate from the progressive discipline system.

Earl was terminated after receiving a single DIP. She never received a PIP, a much more serious warning. Earl has presented evidence that in terminating her without first issuing a PIP, Nielsen deviated from its normal internal disciplinary procedure. In May 2006, Nielsen did not terminate employee 46432, a younger recruiter, even though he had extremely serious performance issues, because he had received only a DIP. In an email exchange with other company officials, Bob Burns wrote: “As much as it sounds reasonable to terminate him without a PIP, it would not be consistent with our procedure.” Employee 46432 was eventually terminated, but only after issuance of a PIP.

Thus, the court found that the company's insistence on a PIP for a younger employee in the name of consistency raised a factual question regarding the company's willingness to forgo the PIP re Earl. It is unclear whether the company tried to show the court there were a variety of employees of a variety of ages who had received and not received PIPs.  If so, perhaps the employer would not have lost this point.

If your organization uses PIPs and other progressive discipline, it is important to understand that if you make an exception, you risk a claim of disparate treatment unless you can explain why employees who receive different treatment are not similarly situated. It also is important to ensure that progressive discipline is not applied differently to different protected individuals.

The opinion is Earl v. Nielsen Media Research, Inc. and the opinion is here.

DGV

Ninth Circuit Allows FEHA National Origin Claim

Raytheon Company is a defense contractor. The federal government required Raytheon to require security clearances.

Raytheon hired Hossein Zeinali for an enginerring position requiring a Secret security classification. While he was waiting for the security clearance, Raytheon let him perform other duties not requiring the Secret authorization.  Ultimately, the Department of Defense denied the security clearance. So, Raytheon fired him.  Zeinali sued for national origin discrimination.

The Ninth Circuit first held that it had jurisdiction, rejecting Raytheon's contention that there was none because federal courts cannot second-guess denials of security clearances.  Although federal courts indeed cannot overturn determinations about security clearances, that is not what Zeinali was suing about. He did not contest that he was rejected. Rather, he argued that Raytheon's decision to fire him because he did not meet the job qualification - obtaining the clearance - was pretextual.

The court agreed with Zeinali. He produced evidence that although Raytheon consistently said he would have to have a security clearance to retain his job, and although Raytheon imposed this requirement on many employee positions, Raytheon did not always enforce the requirement:

In light of the fact that Raytheon retained multiple non-Iranian engineers after their security clearances were revoked, Zeinali has raised triable disputes regarding (1)whether security clearances were a bona fide requirement for Raytheon engineers, and (2) whether Raytheon’s central purported reason for terminating him (his lack of a security clearance) was pretextual. The Supreme Court’s McDonnell Douglas opinion contains a salient observation about pretext:

“Especially relevant to such a showing [of pretext] would be evidence that white employees involved in acts against [the employer] of comparable seriousness to the [plaintiff’s disruptive protesting activities] were nevertheless retained or rehired. [An employer] may justifiably refuse to rehire one who was engaged in unlawful, disruptive acts against it, but only if this criterion is applied alike to members of all races.” McDonnell Douglas, 411 U.S. at 804.

Analogously, in the present case, Raytheon would certainly be justified in firing employees who lack security clearances, “but only if this criterion is applied alike to members of all races.” Id.; see also Godwin v. Hunt Wesson, Inc., 150 F.3d 1217, 1220 (9th Cir. 1998) (holding that pretext is shown if other employees with similar qualifications are treated more favorably).

So, here's a message you may have heard from an employment lawyer.  Consistency. There, no charge.

The case is Zeinali v. Raytheon Company and the opinion is here.

Court of Appeal Reverses Summary Judgment in Age and Disability Case

Sandell, formerly Taylor guitars' vice president of sales, suffered a stroke. As a result, he walked with a cane and spoke slower than had previously had. Taylor ultimately fired him, claiming he did not motivate the sales staff and because sales were anemic under Sandell's leadership.

The court of appeal reversed the trial court's summary judgment. On the disability discrimination claim, the court noted that Sandell did not claim Taylor failed to accommodate him. Sandell said he could do his job without accommodation. Rather, this was a straight disparate treatment case - "they fired me because I had a disability."

Finding a factual dispute on whether Taylor's reasons for discharge were pretextual, the court relied on performance appraisals that were rosier than Taylor's characterization of Sandell's performance during litigation. So... stop me if you've heard this ... overly nice performance appraisals will come back to bite you.

Another interesting part of the opinion addressed Sandell's subordinates declarations confirming Sandell's lack of leadership skills. The court said that the employees had failed to complain during Sandell's employment, so a reasonable jury could infer the opinions had changed (for litigation?!). That's a very generous inference for the court to make, IMO.
Finally, the court was troubled by some he-said /he-said discriminatory comments, which the court believed was enough additional evidence of discrimination to send the case to the jury. The court rejected the "same actor" claim that the CEO hired and fired Sandell within five years. The court said that the CEO's perception of Sandell as "old" could have changed within that period of time, particularly because of Sandell's physical changes.

The opinion is Sandell v. Taylor-Listug, Inc. and the opinion is here

Ninth Circuit: Fired Harassers Lose Sex Discrimination Claim

The plaintiffs were males who worked for Executive Jet. They were fired after an investigation revealed they engaged in certain inappropriate conduct that violated the Company's anti-harassment policy. The female who complained filed a charge with the EEOC, which found cause to believe a violation of Title VII occurred. The male employees claimed that the female was a willing participant and engaged in the same conduct of which she complained.

The males sued for, among other things, sex discrimination. They claimed that Executive Jet fired male employees for sex-based conduct, but not females who engaged in similar conduct.

The court engaged in detailed analysis regarding whether the male and female employees were "similarly situated," but found that they were not. The males never complained about harassment. The female did. Although the presence of a complaint by one group is not per se enough to render employees non-similar, that was enough to render their situations different in this case.

The court's analysis also included whether the EEOC's probable cause finding should be admitted as evidence that the males' conduct warranted action taken against them. The court of appeal reaffirmed its rule that EEOC probable cause determinations may be admissible in some circumstances, particularly in summary judgment proceedings and bench trials, where there is little chance of prejudice.

The case is Hawn v. Executive Jet and the opinion is here.

California Supreme Court Bings Google

I think Reid v. Google (opinion here) will be more memorable for its discussion of objections in summary judgment proceedings than for its discussion of the stray remarks doctrine.

I will post my upcoming article here next Monday, which will explain the above gibberish. (Or I'll cheerfully refund your money, and that's a promise!)

Ninth Circuit: Subjective Criteria Cannot Be Used at Prima Facie Stage

Nicholson was a pilot for Cape Air. The airline rated her as unqualified to fly certain aircraft because of "CRM" skills, which included her communication and cooperation skills with her crew. She was the only female pilot in the Pacific area of operations. She had a personal relationship with one of the other pilots.

Once disqualified from flying a certain type of plane, she did not bid on other types of aircraft and was fired for job abandonment. She sued for sex discrimination under Title VII.

The court reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment. The court disagreed with the district court's determination that Nicholson was unqualified - an element of the prima facie case:

This court has long held that subjective criteria should not be considered in determining whether a plaintiff is “qualified” for purposes of establishing a prima facie case under McDonnell Douglas. Instead, “[t]he qualifications that are most appropriately considered at step one [of McDonnell Douglas] are those to which objective criteria can be applied . . . .” Lynn v. Regents of Univ. of Cal., 656 F.2d 1337, 1345 n.8 (9th Cir. 1981).

The court also found a genuine issue of material fact regarding pretext. Sometimes the court requires specific evidence when there is only circumstantial evidence (rather than direct evidence of discrimination such as sex-based comments). But here, the court picked from its patchwork of jurisprudence on what amount of evidence is required to show pretext, and settled on its most employee-friendly standard:

To avoid summary judgment at this step, however, the plaintiff must only demonstrate that there is a genuine dispute of material fact regarding pretext.
The amount of evidence required to do so is minimal. “We have held that very little evidence is necessary to raise a genuine issue of fact regarding an employer’s motive; any indication of discriminatory motive may suffice to raise a question that can only be resolved by a fact-finder. When the evidence, direct or circumstantial, consists of more than the McDonnell Douglas presumption, a factual question will almost always exist with respect to any claim of a nondiscriminatory reason.” McGinest v. GTE Serv. Corp., 360 F.3d 1103, 1124 (9th Cir. 2004)

The court found sufficient evidence of pretext. Under the above formulation of the law, how could it not? In fact, the court said that the evidence supporting the prima face case alone in this case would have been sufficient.

I'm pointing this out because it's time for the Ninth Circuit to articulate a clear standard regarding summary judgment in discrimination cases. Here's what the court said in another case in 2006:

To establish that a defendant's nondiscriminatory explanation is a pretext for discrimination, plaintiffs may rely on circumstantial evidence, which we previously have said must be "specific" and "substantial" to create a genuine issue of material fact. n7 Godwin v. Hunt Wesson, Inc., 150 F.3d 1217, 1222 (9th Cir. 1998) ("Such [circumstantial] evidence of 'pretense' must be 'specific' and 'substantial' in order to create a triable issue with respect to whether the employer intended to discriminate on the basis of sex.").

Cornwell v. Electra Cent. Credit Union, 439 F.3d 1018, 1029 (9th Cir. Or. 2006).

The court in Cornwell then went on to note that Godwin may have been undermined by later decisions:

Although there may be some tension in our post-Costa cases on this point -- several of our cases decided after Costa repeat the Godwin requirement that a plaintiff's circumstantial evidence of pretext must be "specific" and "substantial" n9 -- this panel may not overturn Ninth Circuit precedents in the absence of "intervening higher authority" that is "clearly irreconcilable" with a prior circuit holding, see Miller v. Gammie, 335 F.3d 889, 893 (9th Cir. 2003) (en banc), because that power is generally reserved to our en banc panels. See Miller, 335 F.3d at 899; United States v. Hayes, 231 F.3d 1132, 1139-40 (9th Cir. 2000); United States v. Washington, 872 F.2d 874, 880 (9th Cir. 1989). Whether or not the precedential weight of Godwin has been diminished to any degree by the Supreme Court's decision in Costa, or by our decision in McGinest, we conclude that Cornwell's evidence is sufficient to create a genuine issue of material fact regarding the motives for his demotion under either the Godwin standard which would require "specific" and "substantial" circumstantial evidence of pretext, or the McGinest standard, which would not.

Cornwell v. Electra Cent. Credit Union, 439 F.3d 1018, 1031 (9th Cir. Or. 2006).

The Cornwell court seems to be politely suggesting that there is a patchwork of decisions and they cannot really be reconciled without an en banc intervention, followed by Supreme Court clarification of its prior holdings. Just sayin'.

The case is Nicholson v. Hyannis Air Service, Inc. and the opinion is here.