Donald Tschappatt v. Crescent Metal Prods., Inc. ( 2020 )

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION
File Name: 20a0028n.06
Case No. 19-3422
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
FILED
Jan 17, 2020
DONALD T. TSCHAPPATT, ) DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk
)
Plaintiff-Appellant, )
) ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED
v. ) STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR
) THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF
CRESCENT METAL PRODUCTS, INC., ) OHIO
)
Defendant-Appellee. )
)
BEFORE: GUY, SUTTON, and GRIFFIN, Circuit Judges.
SUTTON, Circuit Judge. Crescent Metal Products fired Donald Tschappatt for poor
performance at work and assigned someone older to take his place. Claiming he was fired due to
age, he sued. The district court granted summary judgment to the company. We affirm.
Crescent makes commercial food service equipment. It sells the equipment to restaurants,
schools, and hotels. In 2006, it hired Tschappatt, then 46, for a manufacturing position. Six years
later, Tschappatt sought and obtained a position in the “Clean and Pack” group. The group
assembles Crescent’s products, cleans them, and packs them for shipment.
Tschappatt obtained several disciplinary and performance infractions in his last years. His
supervisors informally disciplined him several times for “negative comments” about co-workers
and for “standing around and disappearing from the work area.” R. 22-2 at 3–4. That escalated to
Case No. 19-3422, Tschappatt v. Crescent Metal
formal discipline when he took a 30-minute bathroom break while on the clock. Tschappatt also
made several assembly and packing errors, including failing to place “CAUTION SURFACE
HOT” labels on ten units destined for a school. The last straw occurred in January 2015, when he
incorrectly installed metal posts on a unit, leaving the problem for the next shift to fix. Crescent
fired Tschappatt soon after. He was 55 at the time. Crescent assigned Bob Hunter, then 61, to
Tschappatt’s position, and Hunter has performed the duties “without incident.” Id. at 7.
Claiming he was fired because of his age, Tschappatt sued Crescent for age discrimination.
After discovery, the district court granted summary judgment to Crescent.
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act prohibits employers from “discharg[ing]” or
“otherwise discriminat[ing] against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms,
conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s age.” 29 U.S.C. § 623(a)(1).
Because Tschappatt relies on circumstantial evidence, not direct evidence, to support his claim,
we evaluate it under the three-step framework made famous by McDonnell Douglas Corp. v.
Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802 (1973). Step one: The plaintiff must show a prima facie case of
discrimination. Step two: The defendant must identify a non-discriminatory reason for the action.
Step three: The plaintiff must show any explanations by the company for its action are pretextual
to avoid summary judgment. Mickey v. Zeidler Tool & Die Co., 516 F.3d 516, 521–22 (6th Cir.
2008).
Tschappatt’s claim fails at the first step. He must show that he (1) was at least 40 at the
time of the alleged discrimination, (2) faced an adverse employment action, (3) was otherwise
qualified for his position, and (4) was replaced by someone “significantly” younger or that
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similarly situated younger employees were treated more favorably. Grosjean v. First Energy
Corp., 349 F.3d 332, 335 (6th Cir. 2003); Mickey, 516 F.3d at 521.
Tschappatt fails to meet the fourth requirement—to show that he was replaced by someone
younger. All of the competent and relevant evidence indicates that the company replaced him with
Bob Hunter, who was 61.
Attempting to alter this conclusion, he relies on two affidavits. In one, a former Crescent
employee claimed Tschappatt “was replaced by two younger individuals. One was 20 years old
and from Madison, Ohio. The other person was under 30 years old.” R. 28-1 at 1. In the other, a
former employee says Tschappatt was replaced by “at least two people under the age of 30,” who
“all looked in their mid twenties.” R. 28-4 at 1.
This evidence does not suffice. The role of summary judgment is to determine whether a
material fact dispute exists for the jury to resolve, “not to replace conclusory allegations of the
complaint or answer with conclusory allegations of an affidavit.” Lujan v. Nat’l Wildlife Fed’n,
497 U.S. 871, 888 (1990); see Fed. R. Civ. P. 56. The standard (“replacement” by someone
“significantly younger”) implies an identified person or persons, or at least a specific age and
specific job duties, as a point of comparison. See Grosjean, 349 F.3d at 336–39 (collecting cases);
Mickey, 516 F.3d at 522. But Tschappatt’s affidavits do not provide those details. As we held in
an analogous race discrimination case, plaintiffs’ failure to “identify any specific employees who
replaced them” means they cannot make out a prima facie case. Vaughn v. Watkins Motor Lines,
Inc., 291 F.3d 900, 907 (6th Cir. 2002). The plaintiffs had a “full opportunity for discovery,” and
there was “no indication” that the defendant “failed to respond to discovery requests.” Id. The
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same goes here. Tschappatt had plenty of time and an array of discovery tools to answer a
straightforward question: Who, if not Bob Hunter, replaced him? He never answered the question.
Making matters worse for Tschappatt, Crescent put in plenty of evidence that Bob Hunter,
age 61, replaced Tschappatt. Crescent reassigned Hunter to Tschappatt’s position, and Hunter has
been “able to successfully reach the same production goals” and “perform all of the duties” of the
position “without incident.” R. 22-2 at 7. Two of Tschappatt’s supervisors testified on the point
in their depositions, and followed it up with to-like-effect affidavits. Tschappatt never directly
responded to the evidence that Hunter replaced him, instead relying on indirect and non-specific
affidavits. Even if his affidavits raised “some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts” (they
do not), they do not show a genuine dispute for trial. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio
Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586 (1986).
Nor, for related reasons, has Tschappatt created a genuine fact dispute over whether the
company treated younger employees better than it treated him. Mickey, 516 F.3d at 522. To be
meaningful, the comparison must be between employees “similarly situated” to the plaintiff in all
relevant respects. Mitchell v. Toledo Hosp., 964 F.2d 577, 583 (6th Cir. 1992). Factors include
whether the younger individual was under the same supervisor, had a similar prior disciplinary
record, or engaged in comparably serious misconduct. Ercegovich v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber
Co., 154 F.3d 344, 352 (6th Cir. 1998). How can we consider these factors without a specific
person in mind? We have no idea. Neither does Tschappatt. Once again, his affidavits merely
offer general assertions that younger employees were not disciplined for the violations that
Tschappatt was disciplined for. Consider: “I have seen other younger people go to the bathroom
for up to 45 minutes or an hour and no one was ever written up for that except Mr. Tschappatt,”
R. 28-4 at 1, and “Mr. Tschappatt was being punished for minor mistakes that other people,
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including younger people, routinely make,” R. 28-3 at 2. It never gets more specific than that.
That means we cannot tell whether any of these supposed younger employees were “similarly
situated” to Tschappatt, and that means he cannot make out a prima facie case of discriminatory
unfavorable treatment. See Noble v. Brinker Int’l., Inc., 391 F.3d 715, 730–31 (6th Cir. 2004); cf.
Mitchell, 964 F.2d at 583–84.
Tschappatt insists that he has no obligation to offer such evidence. Because he did not
raise the prima facie issue in his opening appellate brief, he says, the issue is “not properly
presented on appeal,” and we thus cannot consider it. Reply Br. 6–7. That is not true. We can
affirm a district court’s decision for any reason in the record, including alternative grounds raised
below and here. EA Mgmt. v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., 655 F.3d 573, 575 (6th Cir. 2011).
Tschappatt’s cases do not alter this conclusion. In Lanier, the court chose not to address
various merits arguments (“wholly different substantive law questions”) because the district court
dismissed the case on personal-jurisdiction grounds. Lanier v. Am. Bd. of Endodontics, 843 F.2d
901, 911–12 (6th Cir. 1988). But the court did not say that its choice was mandatory. The
circumstances differ here anyway. The district court did reach the “substantive law question[]”
(whether Crescent discriminated against Tschappatt) and the specific argument at issue (whether
Tschappatt showed a prima facie case). Id. Wu v. Tyson Foods, Inc., offers no help either. 189 F.
App’x 375 (6th Cir. 2006). There, the court did not reach some of the appellee’s arguments
because it was able to affirm for another reason. Id. at 381. That is not this case. Having failed
to make out a prima facie case of age discrimination, Tschappatt’s claim must fail.
We affirm.
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