Douglas Carl v. Fulton County, Georgia ( 2009 )

[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FILED
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
________________________ ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
DECEMBER 10, 2009
No. 09-12111 THOMAS K. KAHN
Non-Argument Calendar CLERK
________________________
D. C. Docket No. 07-01812-CV-WBH-1
DOUGLAS CARL,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA,
Defendant,
THOMAS ANDREWS,
Defendant-Appellant.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Georgia
_________________________
(December 10, 2009)
Before BLACK, BARKETT and HULL, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Thomas Andrews appeals the district court’s denial of qualified immunity in
a suit Douglas Carl brought against him and Fulton County, Georgia, alleging race
and gender discrimination under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1983 and Title VII of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(1), based on Andrews’ failure to
promote Carl. Andrews asserts the district court erred in denying him qualified
immunity by relying on “stray comments” from various individuals, which were
too attenuated to be attributed to his decision. Andrews further contends his
subjective reasons for not promoting Carl—that Carl performed poorly in the
interview and the other individual was the best qualified and performed well
during her interview—were not discriminatory and were objectively reasonable,
such that he was entitled to qualified immunity.
The district court concluded there were disputed issues of material fact
regarding whether Andrews’ reasons for failing to promote Carl were pretextual,
and denied summary judgment and qualified immunity to Andrews. After a
thorough review of the record, and the parties’ briefs, we agree with the district
court’s conclusion. Thus, we affirm the district court’s denial of qualified
immunity.
AFFIRMED.
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