Shorette v. Rite Aid
Case Date: 09/17/1998
Court: United States Court of Appeals
Docket No: 98-1005
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FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT No. 98-1005 PETER W. SHORETTE, SR., Plaintiff, Appellant, v. RITE AID OF MAINE, INC., Defendant, Appellee. APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MAINE [Hon. Eugene W. Beaulieu, U.S. Magistrate Judge] Before Torruella, Chief Judge, Cyr, Senior Circuit Judge, and Stahl, Circuit Judge. Arthur J. Greif, with whom Charles E. Gilbert III and Gilbert Law Offices, P.A. were on brief for appellant. Anne M. Carney, with whom Jonathan W. Brogan and Norman, Hanson & DeTroy were on brief for appellee. September 14, 1998 CYR, Senior Circuit Judge. Peter W. Shorette, Sr., appeals from the district court judgment which dismissed his age discrimination claim against his former employer, Rite Aid of Maine, Inc. ("Rite Aid"). We affirm. I BACKGROUND For nearly thirty years Shorette worked as a store manager for LaVerdiere Drug Stores ("LaVerdiere"). In 1994, Rite Aid, a LaVerdiere competitor, constructed a new store across the street from the LaVerdiere store which Shorette managed in Fairfield, Maine. Later that year Rite Aid acquired LaVerdiere, and converted all seventy-four LaVerdiere stores into Rite Aid stores. Shorette, then 60 years of age, was receiving an annual salary of $31,000 at the time, whereas Rite Aid store managers received roughly $25,000. Unlike LaVerdiere store managers, moreover, all Rite Aid store managers were provided in-store computer systems with which to perform various managerial functions, such as inventory and payroll. After the LaVerdiere takeover, Rite Aid advised all former LaVerdiere managers that it would retain them as managers, and train them on the Rite Aid computer system. Since the Fairfield store which Shorette managed was next door to the newly constructed Rite Aid store, and therefore redundant, it was slated for closure. Before the Fairfield store closed, however, Rite Aid brought in a temporary computer setup in order to provide Shorette and his staff with six days of in-store training. Thereafter, Rite Aid transferred Shorette's staff to the new Rite Aid store, leaving Shorette alone to man the old store until it was closed one month later. Finally, during this interim period Shorette and other former LaVerdiere managers attended a one-day computer training class. After the old store closed, Rite Aid transferred Shorette to its Augusta store as an "assistant manager" or "manager trainee" until such time as a new managership became available. During this period, Shorette continued to receive his $31,000 annual salary, while the Augusta store manager, Charles Pattershall, instructed him on how to perform managerial tasks on the computer. After three months, however, Pattershall reported to Rite Aid District Manager Thurston Gilman that Shorette had been able to make little progress. In December 1994, Gilman met with Shorette and informed him that computer proficiency was an essential function for all Rite Aid store managers. Although Pattershall resumed the training effort with Shorette, he reported little headway. One month later Gilman transferred Shorette to the Rite Aid store in Waterville, whose manager, Wayne Cyrway, was a former LaVerdiere store manager who had proven especially adept at training store managers on the Rite Aid computer system. After initially observing that Shorette had poor computer skills, Cyrway determined to start "from scratch," and provided Shorette with one- on-one, in-store computer training for up to twenty hours weekly. Over the next three months, James Lucier, the Rite Aid human resources manager, checked with Cyrway, who reported that Shorette seemed unable to absorb and retain the rudimentary concepts of computer operation. In April 1995, Lucier informed Cyrway that Rite Aid had decided to discontinue training Shorette for a store managership due to Shorette's continued inability to learn the Rite Aid computer system. Lucier asked Cyrway if he would be willing to take Shorette on at the Augusta store as his key cashier, a lower- paying position which required less computer proficiency. Cyrway agreed. The next day Lucier met with Shorette to inform him that Rite Aid could not "afford" to retain him any longer as an assistant manager. After he was given the choice of resigning or being demoted to key cashier, Shorette elected to resign. In due course Shorette filed a five-count complaint against Rite Aid in Maine superior court, which Rite Aid removed to federal district court. The complaint alleged, inter alia, that Rite Aid deliberately forced Shorette to resign because of his age, in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), 29 U.S.C. 621 et seq.. After discovery had been completed, Rite Aid successfully moved for summary judgment on all counts and Shorette appealed. II DISCUSSION Shorette contends that he adduced adequate evidence to generate a trialworthy issue as to whether Rite Aid forced him to resign because of his age in violation of the ADEA. At all times ADEA plaintiffs bear the burden of proving that their employer discriminated against them on account of their age. See Hidalgo v. Overseas Condado Ins. Agencies, Inc., 120 F.3d 328, 332 (1st Cir. 1997); Sanchez v. Puerto Rico Oil Co., 37 F.3d 712, 723 (1st Cir. 1994). Hence, at the summary judgment stage Rite Aid could prevail only if Shorette failed to adduce sufficient evidence from which a rational factfinder could return a verdict in his favor, seeCelotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23 (1986); American Airlines, Inc. v. Cardoza-Rodriguez, 133 F.3d 111, 116 (1st Cir. 1998), without resorting to "conclusory allegations, improbable inferences, and unsupported speculation," Medina-Munoz v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 896 F.2d 5, 8 (1st Cir. 1990). Absent direct evidence of discriminatory intent, an ADEA plaintiff may present circumstantial evidence pursuant to the familiar three-stage, burden-shifting paradigm. See Woodman v. Haemonetics Corp., 51 F.3d 1087, 1091 (1st Cir. 1995). At the first stage, the plaintiff employee must make a prima faciedemonstration that he: "(1) was at least forty years of age, (2) met the employer's legitimate job performance expectations, (3) experienced adverse employment action, and (4) was replaced by a person with roughly equivalent job qualifications." Hidalgo, 120 F.3d at 332 (citation omitted). Once established, the prima faciecase raises a presumption that the employer was motivated by discriminatory animus. Id. at 334. The burden of production then shifts to the employer to articulate |