Filed: Aug. 28, 2015
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: Case: 15-10335 Date Filed: 08/28/2015 Page: 1 of 5 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT _ No. 15-10335 Non-Argument Calendar _ D.C. Docket No. 4:12-cv-00621-RH-CAS HALA M. FARID, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus POSTMASTER GENERAL, U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, in his official capacity, Defendant-Appellee. _ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida _ (August 28, 2015) Before TJOFLAT, WILSON and WILLIAM PRYOR, Circuit Judges. P
Summary: Case: 15-10335 Date Filed: 08/28/2015 Page: 1 of 5 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT _ No. 15-10335 Non-Argument Calendar _ D.C. Docket No. 4:12-cv-00621-RH-CAS HALA M. FARID, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus POSTMASTER GENERAL, U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, in his official capacity, Defendant-Appellee. _ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida _ (August 28, 2015) Before TJOFLAT, WILSON and WILLIAM PRYOR, Circuit Judges. PE..
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Case: 15-10335 Date Filed: 08/28/2015 Page: 1 of 5
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________
No. 15-10335
Non-Argument Calendar
________________________
D.C. Docket No. 4:12-cv-00621-RH-CAS
HALA M. FARID,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
POSTMASTER GENERAL, U.S. POSTAL SERVICE,
in his official capacity,
Defendant-Appellee.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Florida
________________________
(August 28, 2015)
Before TJOFLAT, WILSON and WILLIAM PRYOR, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Case: 15-10335 Date Filed: 08/28/2015 Page: 2 of 5
Hala Farid appeals pro se the summary judgment in favor of her employer,
the Postmaster General of the United States Postal Service, and against her
amended complaint of discrimination based on her race and national origin in
violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a), and
based on a disability in violation of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794, and of
retaliation for engaging in protected activities in violation of Title VII, 42 U.S.C.
§ 2000e-3(a). Farid argues that material disputes of fact exist about whether she
was denied promotions, mispaid, required to complete extra duties, and blamed for
wrongdoing because she is white and Egyptian; whether she was disciplined
because of her disability; and whether she was retaliated against for filing a charge
of discrimination. We affirm.
We review de novo a summary judgment and view all evidence in the light
most favorable to the non-moving party. See Alvarez v. Royal Atl. Developers, Inc.,
610 F.3d 1253, 1263 (11th Cir. 2010). Summary judgment is appropriate when
“there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to
judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a).
We review claims of discrimination and retaliation based on circumstantial
evidence using the burden-shifting framework established by the Supreme Court in
McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green,
411 U.S. 792,
93 S. Ct. 1817 (1973).
Alvarez,
610 F.3d at 1264. Under that framework, an employee must establish a prima facie
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case of discrimination or retaliation, which creates a rebuttable presumption that
the employer has acted unlawfully.
Id. The employer can rebut the presumption by
proffering a legitimate reason for its conduct.
Id. If the employer provides a
legitimate reason, the employee must prove that the reason is a pretext for
discrimination or retaliation.
Id.
The district court did not err when it entered summary judgment against
Farid’s complaint of discrimination based on her race and national origin. Farid
failed to establish a prima facie case that she was denied promotions because of her
ethnicity. See
id. As the district court stated, Farid did not identify what “position”
she sought, whether she was qualified for the position, whether she was similarly
situated to “the person who obtained the position,” or what “difference obtaining
the position . . . would have made to [her] in pay or other terms and conditions of
employment.” With respect to Farid’s claim about pay errors, she failed to
establish that the legitimate reasons the Postmaster proffered for the
miscalculations were pretextual. See Crawford v. City of Fairburn, Ga.,
482 F.3d
1305, 1308 (11th Cir. 2007). Undisputed evidence established that “[e]rrors in pay
processing for rural carriers associates like” Farid were attributable to the varied
methods used to record “work in different offices and . . . [for] different routes”;
Farid was overpaid once and the agency made an “adjustment” to remedy the error;
and the Service compensated Farid for underpayments.
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Farid also failed to establish a prima facie case of a hostile work
environment. See McCann v. Tillman,
526 F.3d 1370, 1378 (11th Cir. 2008). Farid
was required for one week to examine postal vehicles, was erroneously blamed for
injuring herself, and received warning letters twice for obstructing her coworkers’
parking spaces, but those “sporadic and isolated” incidents did not affect Farid’s
position with the Postal Service. See
id. at 1379.
The district court also did not err when it entered summary judgment against
Farid’s complaint of discrimination based on a disability. Farid failed to establish
that she had an impairment that constituted a disability when the Postmaster asked
her to resume her full time duties as a mail carrier in January 2010. See Cash v.
Smith,
231 F.3d 1301, 1306 (11th Cir. 2000). Farid submitted a doctor’s report that
restricted her from “driving with [a] headache” and carrying heavy items, but Farid
offered no evidence that the restrictions “substantially limit[ed] one or more of
[her] major life activities.” See 42 U.S.C. § 12102(1)(A); see also 34 C.F.R.
§ 104.3(j)(1). And, even if we were to assume that Farid was disabled, she could
not establish a prima facie case of discrimination because the Postmaster fully
accommodated her requests for different work assignments. See Sutton v. Lader,
185 F.3d 1203, 1207 (11th Cir. 1999). When Farid opposed resuming full time
duties, the Postmaster offered her a position to deliver mail “as needed [within her]
limitations” without having to “lift[] more than 10 pounds” or “driv[e] with a
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reported headache.” At Farid’s request, the Postmaster further modified her
position to relieve her of “delivery duties.”
The district court also did not err by entering summary judgment against
Farid’s complaint of retaliation. Farid failed to establish a prima facie case because
she presented no evidence of a materially adverse employment action that was
causally connected to a protected activity. See Goldsmith v. City of Atmore,
996
F.2d 1155, 1163 (11th Cir. 1993). Farid’s allegations about being underpaid and
mistreated by her supervisors between 2005 and 2009 were not retaliatory because
they predated the filing of her charge of discrimination in April 2010. Although
Farid was required to examine vehicles for one week, was blamed errantly for
injuring herself, and received warnings for blocking parking spots, those actions
were not materially adverse because they did not “affect the terms and conditions
of [Farid’s] employment.” See Burlington N. & Santa Fe Ry. Co. v. White,
548
U.S. 53, 64,
126 S. Ct. 2405, 2412–13 (2006). Farid also alleged that she was
instructed not to touch the telephone or to perform clerical duties in retaliation for
her charge of discrimination, but the Postmaster presented undisputed evidence
that limited-duty employees like Farid were prohibited from performing clerical
duties because of a dispute with the postal workers’ union.
We AFFIRM the summary judgment in favor of the Postmaster.
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