The ongoing debate over whether federal district court judges in the Second Circuit grant summary judgment motions too readily in employment law cases took another turn with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit’s recent decision in Walsh v. New York City Housing Authority.1 In Walsh, the circuit court reversed a district court decision granting summary judgment in a Title VII failure-to-hire gender discrimination case. In doing so, the court focused on an issue that has arisen over the years in a number of other employment discrimination cases involving summary judgment motions—the extent to which a district court must view the plaintiff’s evidence as a whole, as opposed to in fragments, in deciding such motions.2 The court further emphasized that evidence of gender stereotyping should not be overlooked on a summary judgment motion.

Viewing Evidence

In granting summary judgment motions, some district courts in the Second Circuit have repeatedly demonstrated an inclination to view independently pieces of the plaintiff’s evidence in opposition to summary judgment, determining that each was too insignificant and did not in itself show discrimination. See, e.g., Anderson v. Hertz Corporation,3 where the court identified four evidentiary showings by the plaintiff, stated that each by itself did not give rise to an inference of discrimination, and granted summary judgment because “none of these arguments is sufficient to make out a prima facie case” of discrimination.”4

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