Jill Garcia v. Allstate Insurance Company

MEMORANDUM

Jill Garcia appeals from the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Allstate Insurance Company on her employment discrimination claim. Reviewing de novo, see, e.g., Metoyer v. Chassman, 504 F.3d 919, 930 (9th Cir.2007), we reverse.

The parties agree that Allstate’s motion for summary judgment should be evaluated using the burden-shifting analysis established in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 , 93 S.Ct. 1817 , 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). Under this framework,

Davis v. Team Elec. Co., 520 F.3d 1080, 1089 (9th Cir.2008) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). The only serious dispute in this case is whether Garcia provided sufficient evidence to support a finding that Allstate’s reasons for firing her were a pretext for discrimination. We conclude that Garcia’s evidence of pretext was sufficient to raise a genuine issue of material fact.

First, we conclude that Garcia provided sufficient circumstantial evidence to create a genuine issue of material fact as to whether regional manager Tom Smith was involved in Garcia’s termination. See Godwin v. Hunt Wesson, Inc., 150 F.3d 1217, 1221 (9th Cir.1998) (explaining that disputes about whether…