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II. JUDICIAL UPDATE “Same Actor Inference” Sinks Discrimination Claim In Coghlan v. American Seafoods Co., James Coghlan (“the Employee”), a commercial fisherman, claimed he was discriminated against by American Seafoods Co. (“the Employer”) because of his national origin. The Employee claimed that his demotion was unlawful. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the Employer and the Employee appealed. Inge Andreassen (“the Decisionmaker”), a man of Norwegian descent, was the Vice President of Operations of the Employer and the person responsible for retaining the Employee when the Employer purchased the Employee’s vessel. The Decisionmaker was also responsible for the decision to transfer the Employee. This transfer was seen as a desirable change by the Employee because it provided him the opportunity to make more money. Due to performance issues, the Decisionmaker subsequently removed the Employee from his position. The Employer did offer the Employee another position, which he rejected and instead filed a lawsuit alleging national origin discrimination under Title VII. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment in favor of the Employer. The court held that “where the same actor is responsible for both the hiring and firing of a discrimination plaintiff, and both actions occur within a short period of time, a strong inference arises that there was no discriminatory action.” Here, the fact that the Decisionmaker made all of the challenged employment decisions and was the same man who initially retained the Employee and offered him the more desirable position, was strong evidence that the Employer was not biased against the protected class to which the Employee belongs. The court further found that the Employee did not present any evidence that would cast doubt on the legitimate explanations the Employer set forth for the decisions made regarding the Employee’s employment.
If you would like to discuss these or any
other employment law matters, please do not hesitate to contact any member
of Klinedinst's Employment Law
Department.
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