Sufficiency of Evidence

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Terrance S. McKinney v. Office of the Sheriff of Whitley County

Case No.: 16-4131

Officials: BAUER, POSNER, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Sufficiency of Evidence

In 2013 the Sheriff of Whitley County, Indiana hired the County’s first black police officer ever, Terrance McKinney. Nine months later, McKinney was fired. He sued for race discrimination. The district court granted summary judgment for the Office of the Sheriff, and McKinney has appealed.

We reverse. Viewed in the light most favorable to plaintiff McKinney, his extensive evidence adds up to a strong case of race discrimination. As we explain in detail, the defendant has offered an ever-growing list of rationales for firing McKinney that fall apart in the face of his evidence. The Sheriff’s termination letter provided three reasons for his discharge. Four days later, the Whitley County Board of Commissioners sent McKinney another letter that added two more reasons. After McKinney brought suit, the defense added three more reasons. Yet patch after patch, the defense arguments for summary judgment still will not hold water. McKinney presented evidence that he was treated differently than his similarly situated colleagues who are not black. He also presented substantial evidence that the many rationales offered for firing him were baseless and pretextual. In addition, the district court erred by disregarding most of McKinney’s evidence, improperly discounting his testimony as “self-serving,” and misreading our precedent on the “common actor” inference that is sometimes argued in discrimination cases. We remand for trial.

Reversed and Remanded

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.