Shelley v. Geren, 666 F.3d 599 (9th Cir. 2012)

After Devon Scott Shelley applied for but was not promoted to be Chief of Contracting for the Army Corps of Engineers, he filed this lawsuit alleging age discrimination in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. The district court granted summary judgment to the Corps based upon the Supreme Court’s opinion in Gross v. FBL Fin. Serv., Inc., 557 U.S. 167 (2009). However, the Ninth Circuit reversed the summary judgment, refusing to apply Gross in the summary judgment context and applying instead the burden-shifting analysis of McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 (1973). Because Shelley had provided both direct and indirect evidence that the proffered reason for his termination was pretextual, the Ninth Circuit reversed the summary judgment that had been entered in favor of the Corps.