U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 2017

Sharon Bolton v. City of Hattiesburg

Sharon Bolton v. City of Hattiesburg
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Decided November 10, 2017 · Higginbotham, Jones, Per Curiam, Smith
701 F. App'x 370

Sharon Bolton v. City of Hattiesburg

Opinion

PER CURIAM: *

Sharon Bolton sued her employer, the City of Hattiesburg, for sex, race, and age discrimination because of a promotion that was not offered to her. As explained in a succinct but comprehensive Memorandum Opinion and Order, the district court granted summary judgment for the city and dismissed.

We agree with the district court’s analysis. It recognized that although a plaintiff may be relieved of the requirement that she formally applied for a position, she still must show that she expressed interest in it. As the district court explained, “Because Plaintiff never applied to nor communicated any interest in the Crew Supervisor position to any of her superiors, she cannot show that she was qualified for the position she sought because she never sought the position” (citing cases). The court further reasoned that even if, ar-guendo, Bolton had established a prima facie case, the city offered a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for its decision not to promote Bolton: the disciplinary actions that had been taken against her. And finally, as the court observed, any claim of race discrimination fails because the person who was promoted was of her race.

AFFIRMED.

*

Pursuant to 5th Cir. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Cir. R. 47.5.4,

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