New York Employment Lawyer Blog

Judy Scheidemantle was not qualified for the locksmith position posted by her employer, Slippery Rock University. Slippery Rock posted an ad for a locksmith and said the candidate must have at least two years of experience. Judy completed a home study locksmith course and had a professional locksmith license, but she did not have the requisite two years of experience. The other candidate, Mr. Clavin Rippey, did not have two years of experience either - but he had more experience than Judy.

Slippery Rock hired Mr. Rippey and Judy filed an EEOC charge alleging sex discrimination and age discrimination. The EEOC determined that Mr. Rippey had 941 hours of locksmith experience and that Judy's course work was the equivalent of 241 hours of experience. The EEOC dismissed her claim because Slippery Rock simply selected the candidate with the most experience. Judy then filed suit in District Court in Pennsylvania.

While the case was pending, Slippery Rock promoted Mr. Rippey out of the locksmith position and announced a new locksmith opening in June 2004. Judy applied. This time Slippery Rock hired another man, Bradley Winrader. Mr. Winrader had no locksmith experience. Judy amended her complaint to include the 2004 rejection. The District Court determined that Judy was not qualified for the position according to the objective criteria listed in the job posting and therefore could not establish a prima facie case of sex discrimination.

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and found Judy was qualified. The Court held that since Slippery Rock hired two men that lacked the objective qualifications, it created an inference that something less than the posted qualifications could be sufficient. Therefore Judy was able to establish a prima facie case of sex discrimination and the dismissal was reversed.