Filed: Jun. 15, 2011
Latest Update: Feb. 22, 2020
Summary: [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT _ FILED U.S. COURT OF APPEALS No. 09-16260 ELEVENTH CIRCUIT JUNE 15, 2011 Non-Argument Calendar JOHN LEY _ CLERK D. C. Docket No. 07-02022-CV-ORL-35-KRS SAMIEL T. WATSON, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus KELLEY FLEET SERVICES, LLC, Defendant-Appellee. _ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida _ (June 15, 2011) Before TJOFLAT, CARNES and BLACK, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Samiel Wa
Summary: [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT _ FILED U.S. COURT OF APPEALS No. 09-16260 ELEVENTH CIRCUIT JUNE 15, 2011 Non-Argument Calendar JOHN LEY _ CLERK D. C. Docket No. 07-02022-CV-ORL-35-KRS SAMIEL T. WATSON, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus KELLEY FLEET SERVICES, LLC, Defendant-Appellee. _ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida _ (June 15, 2011) Before TJOFLAT, CARNES and BLACK, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Samiel Wat..
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[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________ FILED
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
No. 09-16260 ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
JUNE 15, 2011
Non-Argument Calendar
JOHN LEY
________________________
CLERK
D. C. Docket No. 07-02022-CV-ORL-35-KRS
SAMIEL T. WATSON,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
KELLEY FLEET SERVICES, LLC,
Defendant-Appellee.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Florida
_________________________
(June 15, 2011)
Before TJOFLAT, CARNES and BLACK, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Samiel Watson, proceeding pro se, appeals the district court’s grant of
defendant Kelley Fleet Services’s (KFS) motion for summary judgment as to his
disparate treatment and retaliation claims, raised pursuant to Title VII, 42 U.S.C.
§§ 2000(e)-2(a)(1) and 2000e-3(a). The district court concluded Watson failed to
show KFS’s non-discriminatory reason for firing him was pretext for racial
discrimination or retaliation. We affirm.1
Watson argues KFS’s articulated reason was based on “timeline fraud,” in
that KFS supported its motion with undated and intentionally misdated documents.
The inquiry into pretext requires this Court to determine whether, “in view of all
the evidence, . . . the plaintiff has cast sufficient doubt on the defendant’s proffered
nondiscriminatory reasons to permit a reasonable factfinder to conclude that the
employer’s proffered legitimate reasons were not what actually motivated its
conduct.” Combs v. Plantation Patterns,
106 F.3d 1519, 1538 (11th Cir. 1997)
(quotation omitted). The plaintiff must meet the employer’s reason “head on and
rebut it.” Wilson v. B/E Aerospace, Inc.,
376 F.3d 1079, 1088 (11th Cir. 2004).
“A reason is not pretext for discrimination ‘unless it is shown both that the
reason was false, and that discrimination was the real reason.’” Brooks v. Cnty.
1
A district court’s grant of summary judgment is reviewed de novo. Rojas v. Fla.,
285
F.3d 1339, 1341 (11th Cir. 2002). “When deciding whether summary judgment is appropriate,
all evidence and reasonable factual inferences drawn therefrom are reviewed in a light most
favorable to the non-moving party.”
Rojas, 285 F.3d at 1341-42 (quotation omitted).
2
Com'n of Jefferson Cnty., Ala.,
446 F.3d 1160, 1163 (11th Cir. 2006) (citing St.
Mary’s Honor Ctr. v. Hicks,
509 U.S. 502, 515 (1993)). An employee may do that
“either directly by persuading the court that a discriminatory reason more likely
motivated the employer or indirectly by showing that the employer’s proffered
explanation is unworthy of credence.” Jackson v. Ala. State Tenure Comm’n,
405
F.3d 1276, 1289 (quotation omitted).
Title VII also prohibits employers from retaliating against an employee who
complains about a Title VII violation. See 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-3(a). If a plaintiff
establishes a prima facie case of retaliation and the employer proffers a legitimate,
non-discriminatory reason for the adverse employment action, the plaintiff must
then demonstrate that the employer’s proffered explanation is a pretext for
retaliation.
Holifield, 115 F.3d at 1566 (citation omitted).
The district court did not err when granting summary judgment because
Watson was unable to show KFS’s articulated reason for firing him–that he
threatened violence in the workplace, which was a ground for immediate
termination under KFS’s policies–was pretext for race discrimination or retaliation.
There was ample evidence to show Watson was involved in an altercation with a
co-worker, and KFS’s investigation confirmed at least one witness heard Watson
physically threaten the co-worker. Thus, KFS had a good faith belief Watson
3
violated company policy, and he presented no evidence to rebut KFS’s articulated
reasons for firing him. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s order.2
AFFIRMED.
2
It is further ordered Watson’s Motion for Sanctions and to Supplement the Record is
DENIED. KFS’s cross-motion for sanctions is also DENIED.
4