191398P.pdf   06/30/2020  Rhonda Button  v.  Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  19-1398
   U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri - Kansas City   
   [PUBLISHED] [Smith, Author, with Colloton and Stras, Circuit Judges] 
   Civil case - Family Medical Leave Act. Plaintiff alleged she was 
   terminated on the basis of her gender, in violation of the Missouri Human 
   Rights Act, and for exercising her FMLA rights; argument that the district 
   court improperly relied on sham affidavits from defendant's employees 
   rejected; there was no direct evidence of discrimination based on gender; 
   defendant's reduction-in-force was a legitimate RIF; there was no evidence 
   that plaintiff's gender was a contributing factor in her termination; 
   there was no direct evidence that defendant terminated plaintiff in the 
   RIF for exercising her FMLA rights and her claim would be analyzed under 
   the McDonnell Douglas framework; under that analysis, defendant presented 
   a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason to terminate plaintiff and she 
   failed to show the stated reason was a pretext for FMLA discrimination.