Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Boeing Co.

MEMORANDUM *

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) appeals, on behalf of charging parties Antonia Castrón (“Cas-trón”) and Renee Wrede (“Wrede”), the grant of summary judgment to Boeing in this Title VII enforcement action. Boeing terminated Castrón and Wrede after they received low scores on reduction-in-force (“RIF”) assessments, which Boeing uses to evaluate employees when determining which employees to lay off. The district court granted Boeing summary judgment, concluding that the EEOC had not introduced adequate evidence for a reasonable jury to conclude the legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons Boeing advanced to justify the adverse employment actions against both charging parties were pretex-tual. The EEOC appealed.

A plaintiff alleging disparate treatment under Title VII must first establish a pri-ma facie case of discrimination by offering evidence that “give[s] rise to an inference of unlawful discrimination.” Tex. Dep’t of Cmty Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 253 , 101 S.Ct. 1089 , 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981). A plaintiff may establish a prima facie case either by meeting the four-part test laid out in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802 ,…