RHESA HAWKINS BARKSDALE, Circuit Judge:
The linchpin for this appeal is what constitutes an “ultimate employment decision” as required for a retaliation claim under Title VII of the CM Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-3(a). Eastman Kodak Company and Eastman Chemical Company (collectively “Eastman”) contest the denial of a Fed. R.CrvP. 50 motion for judgment as a matter of law, a jury having found that Eastman had retaliated against Jean Mattem, its employee, but also having made two findings adverse to Mattern that limit her retaliation claim: first, that, although Mattern had been sexually harassed by her eoworkers, Eastman did not fail to take prompt remedial action afteir it knew or should have known of the harassment; and second, that Mattem was not constructively discharged from her employment with Eastman. Mattern does not cross-appeal these adverse findings. We REVERSE and RENDER.
I.
Mattern, an Eastman employee from late 1989 to mid-1993, was enrolled in Eastman’s lengthy mechanic’s apprenticeship program, which has two components: on-the-job training and related instruction (classroom). The program requires successful completion of 14 “review cycles” which evaluate both components. Satisfactory performance during the review cycles results in regular pay increases. In addition, the program includes periodic “Major Skills Tests”. An apprentice who receives either three unsatisfactory, “review cycle” assessments or fails a skills test [704]*704three times is subject to removal from the program.
Mattern filed a Title VII charge with the EEOC on March 11, 1993, claiming sexual harassment by members of her on-the-job training crew. She alleged that two senior mechanics, Godwin and Roberts, had sexually harassed her and created a hostile work environment. She further alleged that her supervisors knew of, and condoned, the harassment.
Earlier that month, Eastman had learned of, and began investigating, this charge. As a result, on March 11, it allowed Godwin to retire early; no action was taken against Roberts. Eastman then transferred Mattern to another crew in the department. Because of the transfer, Mattern was working under a different immediate supervisor, but her departmental supervisors remained the same. Mattern encountered difficulties which she equated, among other things, with Title VII proscribed retaliation. She resigned that July.
That November, Mattern filed this action against Eastman, alleging, inter alia, that it had a policy and practice of approving and condoning a hostile work environment; had constructively discharged her; and had retaliated, and allowed its employees to retaliate, against her for reporting the harassment to the EEOC and for filing this action. The parties consented to trial before a magistrate judge.
A jury found that, although Mattern had been harassed by coworkers, Eastman had taken prompt remedial action; therefore, the hostile work environment sexual harassment claim failed. Likewise, it did not find constructive discharge or intentional infliction of emotional distress. (Mattern does not cross-appeal.) On the other hand, it found retaliation and awarded $50,000 in damages.
II.
Eastman raises several issues. But first, we re-examine Mattern’s jurisdictional challenge, premised on the timeliness vel non of Eastman’s notice of appeal. See, e.g., Mosley v. Cozby, 813 F.2d 659, 660 (5th Cir.1987). This challenge has already been rejected by a motions panel.
A.
The verdict was returned on March 24, 1995. A week later, the magistrate judge entered a “Judgment” against Eastman on the retaliation claim, and, a week after that, April 7, Eastman moved under Rule 50 for judgment or for new trial, contending that the retaliation evidence was legally insufficient. Five days later, the magistrate judge entered a second “Judgment”, dismissing Mattern’s harassment and emotional distress claims; a week later, Mattern moved for judgment or for new trial. Two weeks later, she moved for attorney’s fees as the prevailing party.
The court denied Eastman’s Rule 50 motion on September 12. Three days later, it granted attorney’s fees to Mattern, but denied her Rule 50 motion. That October 10, Eastman appealed the March 30 and April 12 “Judgments” and the September 12 and 15 orders. A “Final Judgment” was entered on October 27; an “Amended Final Judgment”, on November 2.
Mattern’s early April 1996 motion to dismiss this appeal for lack of appellate jurisdiction, asserting that Eastman’s notice was untimely, was repeated almost verbatim in her brief filed later in April while the motion was pending and approximately two weeks after Eastman’s response to the motion. The motion was denied in early May, a week in advance of Eastman’s reply brief, which, understandably, did not respond again to Mattern’s jurisdictional challenge.
Of course, a panel hearing the merits of an appeal may review a motions panel ruling, and overturn it where necessary. United States v. Bear Marine Services, 696 F.2d 1117, 1119 (5th Cir.1983). And, the merits panel must be especially vigilant where, as here, the issue is one of jurisdiction. Id. at 1120; see also Commodity Futures Trading Comm’n v. Preferred Capital Inv. Co., 664 F.2d 1316, 1320-21 (5th Cir.1982). On a parallel track, Mattern’s motion appears to be driven, in part, by the dispute over the timeliness of her attorney’s fees [705]*705motion, an aspect of which • might require deciding which of the several “Judgments” was the “judgment” for purposes of Fed. R.App.P. 54(d)(2)(B) (unless otherwise provided by statute, motion for award of attorney’s fees must be filed within 14 days of entry of judgment).
As noted infra, we do not reach this fees-timeliness issue. Furthermore, we agree with the motions panel that the notice of appeal was timely. See, e.g., Fed.R.App.P. 4(a)(2) (notice of appeal filed after announcement of decision or order but before entry of judgment treated as filed on date of and after entry of judgment) and Fed.R.App.P. 4(a)(4) (timely motion under Rule 50(b), among others, tolls time for appeal until entry of order disposing of last such motion outstanding); Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(b).
B.
At issue are the legal sufficiency of the retaliation evidence; evidence of pre-EEOC charge conduct by Mattern ruled inadmissible under Fed.R.Evid. 412; and the attorney’s fees award. Because the retaliation evidence was insufficient, we need not reach the other issues.
It goes without saying that the standard of review for Rule 50 motions for judgment is found in Boeing Co. v. Shipman, 411 F.2d 365 (5th Cir.1969) (en banc):
[T]he Court should consider all of the evidence — not just that evidence which supports the non-mover’s case — but in the light and with all reasonable inferences most favorable to the party opposed to the motion. If the facts and inferences point so strongly in favor of one party that the Court believes that reasonable men could not arrive at a contrary verdict, granting [judgment as a matter of law] is proper.
Boeing, 411 F.2d at 374. To apply this standard, we look, of course, to the prerequisites for proving retaliation.
Title VII provides in relevant part that “[i]t shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to discriminate against any of his employees ... because he has made a charge ... under this subchapter.” 42 U.S:C. § 2000e-3(a). A retaliation claim has three elements: (1) the employee engaged in activity protected by Title VII; (2) the employer took adverse employment action against the employee; and (3) a causal connection exists between that protected activity ■ and the adverse employment action. E.g., Shirley v. Chrysler First, Inc., 970 F.2d 39, 42 (5th Cir.1992). Eastman disputes the last two elements. We turn first to whether there was an “adverse employment action”.
Basically, Mattern’s retaliation proof is of five types. (In addition, Mattern testified that she was required to climb scaffolding in a fire protection suit that was too large, which she thought was unsafe; and that a telephone message was not given to her.) The special interrogatories did not require the jury to identify a basis, or bases, relied on in finding retaliation.
First, on the day Eastman brought disciplinary proceedings against Godwin, Mattern told her supervisor, Drennan, that she was ill, and that it was work-related. Because it was work-related, Drennan instructed her to report the illness to Eastman’s medical department. Instead, Mattern went home, opting to take a day of vacation. Eastman then sent two of her supervisors, Drennan and Holstead (one of the supervisors named in Mattern’s EEOC charge), to Mattern’s house to instruct her to return to Eastman medical if her illness was work-related. Sending supervisors to an employee’s home under such circumstances was highly unusual, if not unprecedented.
Second, Mattern was reprimanded for not being at her work station approximately three weeks later, March 29, when her supervisors were looking for her. At the time, she was at Eastman’s Human Resources Department discussing the hostility she was perceiving at Eastman.
Third, Mattern’s co-workers became hostile to her after Godwin departed. Mattern testified that they would not say “hello”, and would mutter “accidents happen”; that one supervisor (Holstead) told her he would "fire her; and that her locker was broken into and some of her tools stolen. Mattern claimed that Eastman management knew of, but did nothing about, this hostility.
[706]*706Fourth, Mattern became ill as a result of her anxiety over this situation. Her doctor felt this was attributable to the hostility at Eastman. He telephoned Eastman to report his concerns, but Eastman did not respond.
Fifth, Mattern’s work was reviewed more negatively after her March EEOC charge, causing her to miss a pay increase, and therefore, in mid-May, to be on “final warning” of discharge from the apprenticeship program (she had missed another pay increase earlier in the apprenticeship). The poor evaluations were being completed and approved by supervisors who had praised her work in the past.
Many of the negative reviews, including •the missed pay increase, resulted from Mat-tern’s apparent inability to rebuild and realign centrifugal pumps. She also failed two Major Skills Tests, scoring only 19% and 47%. If she were to miss another pay increase, or fail another Major Skills Test, she would be recommended for termination. But, Mattern resigned her apprenticeship before her next evaluation and next test.
Before resigning, Mattern was assigned more work with pumps, including working one-on-one with a mechanic, Humble, in order to improve and evaluate her skills. They worked on one pump in particular, which they both testified was rebuilt correctly. Drennan, however, received a report from a mechanic, Roberts, whom Mattern accuses of bias, that the pump failed because of a reassembly defect. (As noted, Roberts was one of the co-workers Mattern named in the March EEOC charge.) Drennan documented the pump failure, and continued training Mattern.
Drennan instructed Mattern to attend a training session with another mechanic, Thomas. He told Mattern to realign a pump, which was resting on a wooden pallet, while he observed. After approximately three hours, she could not complete the task. A pump resting on a wooden pallet, as opposed to a more solid base, is more difficult to realign. In Mattem’s view, it is reasonable to infer that the pump was deliberately placed on the pallet in order to scuttle her efforts to realign it and continue to the next segment of the apprenticeship program. ■
As noted, the jury found against Mattern on her sexual harassment and constructive discharge claims. As also noted, those adverse findings limit the bases for finding retaliation. Accordingly, the retaliation claim must be viewed in the context of these two jury findings adverse to Mattern. Along this line, after the court instructed the jury on. the sexual harassment and constructive termination elaims, it instructed on the retaliation claim. Concerning sexual harassment, the court instructed:
Now in regard to Mrs. Mattern’s Title VII claim of sexual harassment, Title VII ... prohibits employers from subjecting their employees to sexual harassment. This includes unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature where the conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with the individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment.
In order for Eastman to be liable to Mrs. Mattern for the actions of Eastman’s employees, she must prove four things: first, that she was subjected to unwelcome harassment in the form of sexual advances, requests for sexual favors or other verbal or physical conduct' of a sexual nature; secondly, that the harassment was based on her sex; and third, that the harassment affected a term, condition or privilege of her employment; and finally, Eastman either knew or should have known that Mrs. Mattern was being sexually harassed and failed to take •prompt reasonable measures to stop the harassment.
For sexual harassment to be actionable, it must be sufficiently severe or persuasive [sic] to alter the conditions of her employment or create an abusive working environment. The conduct must be objectively severe or persuasive [sic] that such a reasonable person would find the conduct sexually hostile or abusive. Also, the employee must have subjectively considered the environment to be sexually abusive.
(Emphasis added.)
For constructive termination, the jury was instructed that Mattern “must prove that [707]*707Eastman constructively discharged or terminated her in violation of Title VII by proving that Eastman has made her working conditions so intolerable that a reasonable employee would feel compelled to resign”. (Emphasis added.)
And, for retaliation, the jury was instructed:
In regard to her retaliation claim, Title VII ... prohibits an employer from retaliating or discriminating against a person because that person has engaged in protective [sic] activity.' Protective [sic] activity is an employee’s conduct in opposing a discriminatory practice, making a charge of discrimination or testifying, assisting or participating in any manner in an investigation proceeding.
Now, in order for Mrs. Mattern to prevail on her claim of retaliation, she has to prove three things: first, that she was engaged in a protective [sic] activity; second, she suffered from an adverse employment action; and third, that Eastman acted out of a retaliatory motive in taking adverse employment action.
Now, adverse employment action could be defined as a discharge, a demotion, refusal to hire, refusal to promote, reprimand, [or] acts of sabotage ... by employees against other employees, either condoned or directed by an employer for the purpose of establishing cause for discharge. Mere dirty looks or reluctance of co-workers to speak to an employee are not the types of adverse employment action prohibited by Title VII. Merely placing a memorandum regarding an employee’s performance in his or her personnel file does not in itself constitute an adverse employment action.
These instructions are not at issue on appeal. (The dissent totally ignores the “purpose of establishing cause for discharge” language in the retaliation instruction. Moreover, it grossly misstates our application of Title VII to the record in this case. In fact, the dissent seems to be dealing with another case entirely.)
Consistent with the retaliation instruction, our court has stated that “Title VII was designed to address ultimate employment decisions, not to address every decision made by employers that arguably might have some tangential effect upon those ultimate decisions”. Dollis v. Rubin, 77 F.3d 777, 781-82 (5th Cir.1995). “Ultimate employment decisions” include acts “such as hiring, granting leave, discharging, promoting, and compensating”. Id. at 782 (citing Page v. Bolger, 645 F.2d 227, 233 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 892, 102 S.Ct. 388, 70 L.Ed.2d 206 (1981)). (No authority need be cited for the necessary and longstanding rule that, absent a change in the law, a decision by our court is binding on subsequent panels. There has not been such a change; most unfortunately, the dissent is simply unwilling to adhere to this rule. And, no matter the lengths to which it goes to distinguish Dollis, including expending considerable effort discussing Page, it cannot get around the binding precedent established by Dollis.)
Right off the bat, several of the events of which Mattern complains, although viewed in the requisite light most favorable to her, fall well below this standard. Hostility from fellow employees, having tools stolen, and resulting anxiety, without more, do not constitute ultimate employment decisions, and therefore are not the required adverse employment actions. See Landgraf v. USI Film Prods., 968 F.2d 427, 431 (5th Cir.1992), aff'd 511 U.S. 244, 114 S.Ct. 1483, 128 L.Ed.2d 229 (1994).
In addition, these acts cannot be attributed to Eastman, especially when viewed in the light of the jury’s remedial action and no constructive discharge findings. Moreover, there is no proof that these acts were by management. In general, Eastman cannot be held hable under Title VII absent proof that its employees acted as its agents. See Title VII’s definition of “employer”, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(b) (act covers “employers” and their “agents”, not “employees”). In short, a reasonable juror could not find, as required by the retaliation instruction, that these acts were condoned or directed by Eastman for the purpose of establishing [708]*708cause for discharge — an ultimate employment decision.
Likewise, the other events, such as the visit to Mattern’s home, the verbal threat of being fired, the reprimand for' not being at her assigned station, a missed pay increase, and being placed on “final warning”, do not constitute “adverse employment actions” because of their lack of - consequence. For starters, they do not meet the standard set out in Dollis.
There, the employee alleged that she: (1) was refused consideration for promotion; (2) was refused attendance at a training conference; (3) had her work criticized to a government vendor; and (4) was given false information regarding aspects of her employment, including access to travel funds and methods of filing EEO complaints. Dollis, 77 F.3d at 779-80. In holding that these acts did not constitute ultimate employment decisions, our court held also that they were at most “tangential” to future decisions that might be ultimate employment decisions. Id. at 782.
Mattern’s problems at Eastman are similarly non-actionable. While she may have been in jeopardy of discharge from her apprenticeship program at some point in the future, this possibility obviously does not equal being discharged. Failing two Major Skills Tests, having difficulty with pumps, and having documented reprimands in her file may have increased the chance that she would eventually suffer an adverse employment action but, like the actions in Dollis, neither were they ultimate employment decisions nor did they rise above having mere tangential effect on a possible future ultimate employment decision.
To hold otherwise would be to expand the definition of “adverse employment action” to include events such as disciplinary filings, supervisor’s reprimands, and even poor performance by the employee — anything which might jeopardize employment in the future. Such expansion is unwarranted. See Whitaker v. Carney, 778 F.2d 216 (5th Cir.1985) cert. denied, 479 U.S. 813, 107 S.Ct. 64, 93 L.Ed.2d 23 (1986) (refusing to expand coverage of Title VII’s anti-retaliation provision to include non-workplace hostility by non-employees).
Needless to say, Dollis is consistent with Title VII and prior ease law. For example, Hill v. Miss. St. Empl. Serv., 918 F.2d 1233 (5th Cir.1990), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 864, 112 S.Ct. 188, 116 L.Ed.2d 149 (1991), held that allegations that co-workers were staring at the employee, following her, prolonging the time she had to wait for disbursement checks, relegating her file to a less desirable classification, deleting experience data from a reference form, and criticizing her EEOC complaint did not constitute retaliation. Hill, 918 F.2d at 1241. Doubtless, some of these actions may have had a tangential effect on conditions of employment; but, as in Mattern’s case, an ultimate employment decision had not occurred. The employee could only prove examples of the “many interlocutory or mediate decisions having no immediate effect upon employment conditions” which therefore were “not intended to fall within the direct proscriptions of ... Title VII”. Page, 645 F.2d at 233. As another example, see DeAngelis v. El Paso Mun. Police Officers’ Ass’n, 51 F.3d 591 (5th Cir.) (no adverse employment action when office newsletter ran articles routinely ridiculing the plaintiff based on her gender, and her having filed an EEOC complaint), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 116 S.Ct. 473, 133 L.Ed.2d 403 (1995).
The import of these cases, culminating in Dollis, is the long-held rule that Title VII’s anti-retaliation provision refers to ultimate employment decisions, and not to an “interlocutory or mediate” decision which can lead to an ultimate decision. Obviously, this reading is grounded in the language of Title VII. As quoted earlier, the anti-retaliation provision states that employers shall not “discriminate” against employees for taking action protected by Title VII. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-3. In defining this term, we look, of course, to other Title VII sections for guidance; in this case, the preceding section is helpful.
That section states, in part, that it is unlawful to “fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment”. 42 U.S.C. [709]*709§ 2000e-2(a)(l). This type of employer action contrasts sharply with the more vague proscription, found in the next subpart, of “limitation” of employees which deprive or “would tend to deprive” the employee of “opportunities” or “adversely affect his status”. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(l), (2). It goes without saying that this second subpart reaches much farther than the first. It reaches acts which merely “would tend” to affect the employee; obviously, the way in which the employee may be affected in this subpart is much broader. Id.
The anti-retaliation provision speaks only of “discrimination”; there is no mention of the vague harms contemplated in § 2000e-2(a)(2). Therefore, this provision can only be read to exclude such vague harms, and to include only ultimate employment decisions.
As discussed, another factor mandating the failure of Mattern’s retaliation claim is that the jury found (1) she was not constructively discharged and (2) Eastman did not fail to take remedial action. (She does not cross-appeal.) She preempted a possible ultimate employment decision — she resigned. See Landgraf, 968 F.2d at 431 (equating jury finding of no constructive discharge with no adverse employment action resulting in loss of position). Therefore, absent an ultimate employment decision prior to her resignation, there can be no adverse employment action.
The only event Mattern could possibly point to might be a missed 'pay increase. (Although there is evidence that Mattern missed two increases, one took place in November 1991, long before her March 1993 EEOC charge.) In any event, she did not prove that the increase would have taken effect by the time she resigned. In fact, she did not even assert in her brief in opposition to the Rule 50 motion, or in her brief here, that the missed pay increase was the ultimate employment decision. Instead, she contends that her problems at Eastman, including receiving poor evaluations and a missed increase, were “quickly leading to the ultimate adverse employment action”. (Emphasis added.)
Moreover, at the time Mattern was receiving poor evaluations with respect to her work with pumps, she was also failing Major Skills Tests with respect to them. She does not maintain (nor did she prove) that the tests were “rigged”; accordingly, we must assume they were a correct assessment of her ability with the pumps. Obviously, an employee may not complain that not obtaining a position was retaliation if she was not qualified for that position in the first place. Gonzalez v. Carlin, 907 F.2d 573 (5th Cir.1990). Therefore, the evidence that Mattern was having trouble in her Major Skills Tests precludes her contention that, but for the “sabotage”, her progress through the pump section of the apprenticeship program would have been rapid. Mattern’s missed pay increase evidence is not a basis for recovery on her retaliation claim.
In closing, we note that Mattern relies on Armstrong v. City of Dallas, 829 F.Supp. 875 (N.D.Tex.1992), for the proposition that reprimands constitute ultimate employment decisions. The employer was granted summary judgment in Armstrong on the basis that the causation element for a retaliation claim was lacking. The district court stated in dicta, however, that an adverse-employment action could rest on proof that the employee: (1) received a letter of reprimand; (2) had efficiency ratings cut; (3) was reported to the Civil Service Department for unsatisfactory performance; (4) was informed he could be terminated for failure to lose weight; (5) received a letter of reprimand for losing his firefighter’s coat; and (6) was transferred to a non-firefighting job. Id. at 880.
Because of the lack of causation, our court affirmed the summary judgment. Armstrong v. City of Dallas, 997 F.2d 62 (5th Cir.1993). Therefore, this court never reached whether the above-listed incidents constituted adverse employment actions. In short, Mattern relies erroneously on dicta by the Armstrong district court.
Even if the missed pay increase were an adverse employment action, Mattern’s evidence is insufficient to show that it resulted from retaliation. Otherwise, there was no adverse employment action. Because there was none, we need not reach whether Mat-tern proved the causation element. Like[710]*710wise, she is not a “prevailing party” under Title VII, and is, therefore, not entitled to attorney’s fees. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(k).
III.
For the foregoing reasons, the denial of the motion for judgment is REVERSED, and judgment is RENDERED for Eastman.
REVERSED and RENDERED.