Castro v. DeVry University, Inc.

Dist. Ct. erred in granting defendant-employer’s motion for summary judgment in Title VII action alleging that defendant terminated plaintiff 10 months after plaintiff had complained about supervisor’s racially and ethnically derogatory remarks. Plaintiff disputed defendant’s claim that his termination was based on his alleged inconsistent job performance and/or report of his volatile behavior, and defendant ultimately conceded that plaintiff’s job performance did not justify his termination. Moreover, plaintiff presented evidence that: (1) his managers did not honestly believe that he had acted unprofessionally; and (2) defendant had falsely told EEOC that plaintiff’s manager was unaware of plaintiff’s prior complaint. Dist. Ct. did not err, though, in granting defendant’s motion for summary judgment with respect to remaining two plaintiffs, who were terminated 15 and 30 months after their similar complaints about same supervisor, where: (1) defendant explained that terminations were based on job performance deficiencies, and (2) said plaintiffs failed to present evidence that questioned defendant’s honestly held beliefs regarding their job deficiencies.