Disparate Treatment
Turner v. Gonzales, 421 F.3d 688 (8th Cir. August 30, 2005)
Jane Turner was a FBI Special Agent who filed an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) complaint alleging sex discrimination in June of 1998. She felt that her male peers and subordinates did not treat her with the respect she deserved for the grade she held. In April of 1999, five days after filing a complaint, Turner's immediate supervisor gave her an out of cycle performance report. Tuner's performance rating went from "Superior" to "Minimally Acceptable". Over the following months, Turner's supervisor began documenting problems with Turner's work. Turner received another poor performance rating in December 1999, making her eligible under FBI regulations for an involuntary transfer. She was immediately transferred from Minot, North Dakota to Minneapolis. In March of 2000 Tuner filed a second EEO complaint. She felt she was not given assignments equal to those she received in Minot (IntroLaw, 2006).
The district court granted summary judgment on behalf of the FBI on both the gender discrimination and the reprisal claims; however, on appeal, the Eighth Circuit Court affirmed the dismissal of the discrimination and hostile work environment claims, but reversed the reprisal claims. The Eighth Circuit came to this conclusion because the actions taken against Turner after her complaint were considered adverse and they only started to occur after Turner filed the EEO complaints. Turner could not prove a prima face case for the gender discrimination and hostile work environment. The final issue involves the evidence of pretext. Turner presented sufficient evidence of pretext based upon her recent "Superior" review and the performance downgrade that came shortly after her l ...