Alfreda Turnbow appealed a district court order granting summary judgment to her employer, Sibley Memorial Hospital, on her claims of race discrimination and failure to accommodate under federal law. The district court had resolved the case in favor of the hospital, denying Turnbow's request for discovery and dismissing her claims. Turnbow argued that the hospital's actions were a pretext for discrimination and that the hospital failed to accommodate her needs, but she did not provide the necessary factual support to sustain these claims at the summary judgment stage.
The D.C. Circuit addressed two primary issues. First, regarding the failure-to-accommodate claim, the court held that Turnbow forfeited any challenge to the summary judgment. The court noted that merely mentioning a possible argument in a skeletal way is insufficient to preserve an issue for appeal, citing Schneider v. Kissinger. Second, regarding the race discrimination claim, the court found that Turnbow failed to show that the district court abused its discretion in denying discovery or erred in granting summary judgment. To prove pretext in a discrimination case, an employee must show that similarly situated employees outside their protected class were treated more favorably. Turnbow presented no evidence to support this assertion. Furthermore, she did not allege with sufficient particularity that discovery would reveal such evidence, a requirement established in Ikossi v. Dep't of Navy and reaffirmed in Joyner v. Morrison & Foerster LLP.
The judgment for Sibley Memorial Hospital stands, and Turnbow's claims are dismissed. The decision reinforces the requirement that appellants must raise arguments with sufficient particularity in their briefs to avoid forfeiture. It also clarifies that a bare assertion of pretext without evidence of similarly situated employees, or a specific allegation that discovery would yield such evidence, is insufficient to survive summary judgment in employment discrimination cases.
Podcast (federal-narrative-summaries): Play in new window | Download