Mary Bradley v. Harcourt, Brace and Company

OVERVIEW

Mary Bradley appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Hare-ourt, Brace and Company (“Harcourt”) on her claims of sex discrimination and disability discrimination. We must decide whether Bradley has produced sufficient evidence to establish a genuine factual dispute regarding: (1) whether Harcourt’s articulated justifications for her termination-poor work performance and misconduct-are pretexts for unlawful sex discrimination; ■ and (2) whether Bradley has an impairment that substantially limits her ability to work. Because we conclude that Bradley has produced no meaningful evidence to rebut Harcourt’s proffered reasons for her termination or to counter the strong inference of nondiscrimination that arises because the same person who hired Bradley fired her only a year later, we affirm the grant of summary judgment for Harcourt on Bradley’s sex discrimination claims. Further, because Bradley has produced no material evidence that she has a disability, we affirm the grant of summary judgment on the disability claim.

BACKGROUND

Evelyn Sasmor, a senior vice president at Harcourt, hired Mary Bradley as an information services manager in February…