On May 13, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of an employer, finding that a fired employee had failed to create a genuine dispute of material fact as to pretext. In Owens v. Circassia Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the court affirmed summary judgment despite its recognition that the former employee had presented “substantial evidence” that could lead a reasonable jury to conclude that the employer’s stated reason for termination—her poor job performance—was false. Critically lacking was evidence that the employer “was motivated in any way by discrimination or retaliation.”
Grace Owens worked for Circassia Pharmaceuticals, Inc., from 2010 to 2018, at which time her employer discharged her for poor performance—just three days shy of the expiration of her performance improvement plan (PIP). Owens advanced a myriad of claims in her lawsuit against Circassia, but, following the district court’s grant of summary judgment, her only claims at issue on appeal were those of race, national origin, and gender discrimination and retaliation.
Owens, who is Asian, was replaced by a worker who is a Caucasian male, so the focus of the dispute, both before the district court and on appeal, was that of pretext, the “crux of this appeal.” On appeal, Owens challenged Circassia’s explanation for the termination of her employment as “unworthy of credence.” Owens presented six different categories of evidence in an effort to raise a...
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