Annie Laura KIMBROUGH, Plaintiff/Appellee, v. SECRETARY OF the UNITED STATES AIR FORCE, Defendant/Appellant

In January of 1980, the U.S. Air Force rejected the application of Annie Laura Kimbrough, a black woman who held a GS-4 level supply clerk position, for promotion to a GS-6 level supervisory opening. Kimbrough alleged, and the district court found after a full trial, that she was rejected because of her race in violation of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(l). The Air Force contends that the promotion simply went to a more qualified, white, female applicant.

I.

Annie Laura Kimbrough, a 51-year-old black woman who had been employed by the government since 1950, worked at McChord AFB in Tacoma, Washington. She had applied for, but failed to achieve, several promotions while at McChord. In 1978, Kimbrough complained that racial discrimination caused the Air Force to deny her a promotion for which she was qualified. After pursuing her administrative remedies, Kimbrough sued the Air Force under Title VII. The district court found *1281 that the Air Force intentionally discriminated against Kimbrough because she was black.

The trial court was presented with vast amouhts of conflicting evidence concerning the promotion selection process. Out of this mass of contradictory evidence,…

concurring:

I concur in the opinion of the majority insofar as it affirms the judgment of the district court.

The government stipulated that the plaintiff had proved a prima facie case of discrimination. The trial judge did not believe the witnesses offered by the Air Force in support of its defense that there were legitimate reasons to explain the failure to promote Kimbrough. Instead, the district court, after considering all the evidence, was convinced by a preponderance of the evidence that the Air Force discriminated against Kimbrough because of her race and that the reasons offered to justify the failure to promote her were pretextual. Under such circumstances, we must affirm.

764 F.2d 1279 38 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 383 , 37 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 35,332 Annie Laura KIMBROUGH, Plaintiff/Appellee, v. SECRETARY OF the UNITED STATES AIR FORCE, Defendant/Appellant. No. 83-3697. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted March 4, 1985. Decided June 28, 1985. Neil Hoff, Tacoma, Wash., for plaintiff/appellee. Christopher L. Pickrell, Asst. U.S. Atty., Seattle, Wash., for defendant/appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. Before FARRIS, ALARCON and FERGUSON, Circuit Judges. FERGUSON, Circuit Judge: 1 In January of 1980, the U.S. Air Force rejected the application of Annie Laura Kimbrough, a black woman who held a GS-4 level supply clerk position, for promotion to a GS-6 level supervisory opening. Kimbrough alleged, and the district court found after a full trial, that she was rejected because of her race in violation of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-2(a)(1). The Air Force contends that the promotion simply went to a more qualified, white, female applicant. I. 2 Annie Laura Kimbrough, a 51-year-old black woman who had been employed by the government since 1950, worked at McChord AFB in…