David Adinolfi, II v. North Carolina Department of Justice ( 2023 )

USCA4 Appeal: 22-1329 Doc: 27 Filed: 02/08/2023 Pg: 1 of 6
UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 22-1329
DAVID J. ADINOLFI, II,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v.
NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, an agency of the State of
North Carolina,
Defendant - Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at
Raleigh. Louise W. Flanagan, District Judge. (5:18-cv-00539-FL)
Submitted: January 12, 2023 Decided: February 8, 2023
Before RICHARDSON and HEYTENS, Circuit Judges, and TRAXLER, Senior Circuit
Judge.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
ON BRIEF: Joseph E. Zeszotarski, Jr., GAMMON, HOWARD & ZESZOTARSKI,
PLLC, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellant. Matthew Tulchin, Special Deputy Attorney
General, NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Raleigh, North Carolina,
for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
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PER CURIAM:
David J. Adinolfi, II, appeals the district court’s orders granting summary judgment
to the North Carolina Department of Justice (“DOJ”) on his discrimination claim under the
Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 621 to 634, and adopting
the magistrate judge’s recommendation in part and dismissing his failure-to-accommodate
claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101 to 12213.
Finding no reversible error, we affirm.
We review the district court’s summary judgment ruling de novo, “applying the
same legal standards as the district court and viewing all facts and reasonable inferences in
the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.” Ballengee v. CBS Broad., Inc., 968 F.3d
344, 349 (4th Cir. 2020). “Summary judgment is warranted ‘if the movant shows that there
is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a
matter of law.’” Id. (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a)). “A genuine question of material fact
exists where, after reviewing the record as a whole, a court finds that a reasonable jury
could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” J.D. ex rel. Doherty v. Colonial
Williamsburg Found., 925 F.3d 663, 669 (4th Cir. 2019) (internal quotation marks
omitted). In conducting this inquiry, courts may not “weigh conflicting evidence or make
credibility determinations.” Id. But “the nonmoving party must rely on more than
conclusory allegations, mere speculation, the building of one inference upon another, or
the mere existence of a scintilla of evidence.” Humphreys & Partners Architects, L.P. v.
Lessard Design, Inc., 790 F.3d 532, 540 (4th Cir. 2015) (internal quotation marks omitted).
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Adinolfi proceeded under the familiar McDonnell Douglas 1 pretext framework.
Hill v. Lockheed Martin Logistics Mgmt., Inc., 354 F.3d 277, 285 (4th Cir. 2004) (en banc),
abrogated in part by Gross v. FBL Fin. Servs., Inc., 557 U.S. 167 (2009); see also Reeves
v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 141-42 (2000) (applying McDonnell
Douglas standard to ADEA claim). To establish a prima facie case of age discrimination,
Adinolfi needed to show: “(1) he is a member of a protected class, (2) he suffered an
adverse employment action (such as discharge), (3) he was performing his job duties at a
level that met the employer’s legitimate expectations at the time of the adverse employment
action, and (4) his position remained open or was filled by a similarly qualified applicant
outside the protected class.” Baqir v. Principi, 434 F.3d 733, 742 (4th Cir. 2006).
Here, the DOJ implemented a reduction-in-force (“RIF”), and thus the elements of
the prima facie case are slightly different. The employee can satisfy the adverse action
element by showing that he was demoted. Dugan v. Albemarle Cnty. Sch. Bd., 293 F.3d
716, 720-21 (4th Cir. 2002). For the fourth element, a plaintiff need only show that
similarly situated younger individuals were treated differently “or there were other
circumstances giving rise to an inference of discrimination.” Id. at 721.
We conclude that the district court did not err in concluding that Adinolfi failed to
establish a prima facie case. As for the initial loss of his supervisory position, Adinolfi has
failed to point to a similarly situated younger individual who was treated more favorably.
While he points to statistics purporting to show the RIF had a disparate impact on older
1
McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 (1973).
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workers, he does not identify a younger, supervisory employee who was treated more
favorably than he was. As for the DOJ’s failure to reinstate Adinolfi’s supervisory role,
the DOJ did not hire a new employee as section head when it first reestablished the section
it had disbanded. See Warch v. Ohio Cas. Ins. Co., 435 F.3d 510, 519 (4th Cir. 2006)
(holding plaintiff failed to establish “that he was replaced at all, much less by a substantially
younger employee,” particularly when the plaintiff “admitted that he was not replaced by
anyone”). Instead, those supervisory duties were given to a higher-level manager. See
Geiger v. Tower Auto., 579 F.3d 614, 623 (6th Cir. 2009) (holding an employee “is not
considered replaced when his duties are absorbed by another person or when the work is
redistributed among other existing employees already performing related work” (internal
quotation marks omitted)). Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s summary judgment
order.
We review de novo a district court’s order granting a motion to dismiss under Fed.
R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), “accept[ing] the factual allegations of the complaint as true and
constru[ing] them in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.” Rockville Cars,
LLC v. City of Rockville, 891 F.3d 141, 145 (4th Cir. 2018). To survive a motion to dismiss,
“a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to
relief that is plausible on its face.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (internal
quotation marks omitted). In other words, “a plaintiff must provide sufficient detail to
show that he has a more-than-conceivable chance of success on the merits.” Upstate
Forever v. Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P., 887 F.3d 637, 645 (4th Cir. 2018)
(cleaned up), vacated on other grounds, 140 S. Ct. 2736 (2020).
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To state a failure-to-accommodate claim under the ADA, a plaintiff must allege:
“(1) that he was an individual who had a disability within the meaning of the statute; (2)
that the employer had notice of his disability; (3) that with reasonable accommodation he
could perform the essential functions of the position; and (4) that the employer refused to
make such accommodations.” Wilson v. Dollar Gen. Corp., 717 F.3d 337, 345 (4th Cir.
2013) (cleaned up). The ADA defines a “disability” in pertinent part as “a physical or
mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.” 42 U.S.C.
§ 12102(1)(A).
Adinolfi alleged that he suffered from several conditions that might substantially
limit a major life activity. But the magistrate judge and district court correctly recognized
that Adinolfi never alleged what major life activities his disabilities substantially limited.
While he points to his allegations that he could not safely work in the Criminal Division,
the magistrate judge and district court correctly noted that Adinolfi alleged he could safely
work in the Civil Division. And he failed to explain why, leaving the court to speculate
how the major life activity of working was substantially limited. Thus, we agree with the
district court that Adinolfi did not plead a viable failure-to-accommodate claim. 2
2
Even if the district court erred in dismissing this claim, we conclude that it would
have failed at summary judgment. See Elledge v. Lowe’s Home Ctrs. LLC, 979 F.3d 1004,
1011 (4th Cir. 2020) (recognizing reassignment is an accommodation of last resort);
Belville v. Ford Motor Co., 919 F.3d 224, 236 n.9 (4th Cir. 2019) (declining to address
claims dismissed under Rule 12(b)(6) because they would have failed at summary
judgment based on evidence considered by district court).
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Therefore, we affirm the district court’s orders. We dispense with oral argument
because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this
court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
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