David Mitchel v. General Electric Company, Joe Morgan

Mitchel filed this Title VII action against his employer, General Electric, and his supervisor, Joe Morgan, alleging employment discrimination on the basis of race. The complaint contains numerous allegations; however, this appeal is based essentially on the claim that Mitchel, a blaek, was passed over for promotion in favor of white employees with less seniority.

After thirteen months of discovery, defendants filed a motion for summary judgment which rebutted Mitchel’s allegations with specific, facts and presented detailed evidence in support of their defense that other employees were better qualified than Mitchel for the promotions. Defendants also presented evidence that Mitchel had a substantial record of discipline, attitude, and attendance problems.

Mitchel’s response to defendants’ summary judgment motion contained more allegations, none of which referred for support to affidavits or discovery documents. The trial judge granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment, ruling that Mitchel had failed to establish a prima facie case of employment discrimination under the standard enunciated in Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 253 , 101 S.Ct.…