OPINION OF THE COURT
BECKER, Circuit Judge.
This is an appeal from a grant of summary judgment for the employer in an action brought under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 621-634 (1982). The case was brought by William Healy, a former Vice President of New York Life Insurance Company (“the Company”), following his discharge as part of a company-wide reduction in force (“RIF”), which consolidated high-level management positions in response to competitive pressures. It is clear from the record that Healy established a prima facie case. It is also clear that the Company articulated legitimate business reasons for assigning Healy’s duties to a somewhat younger man who, the company claims, had demonstrated greater ability than Healy to assume high level managerial responsibility.
The difficult issue in the case is whether Healy demonstrated that a genuine issue of material fact existed concerning the Company’s asserted non-discriminatory reasons for Healy’s discharge. More specifically, we must determine whether the district court correctly decided that the legitimate business reasons articulated by the Company did not serve as a pretext to mask age discrimination. Our review is plenary. The question is a close one. However, we conclude that Healy did not meet his evi-dentiary burden of demonstrating a genuine issue of material fact as to pretext. We therefore will affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the Company.
I.
Healy was fifty-six years old when the Company discharged him after twenty-five years of service. His tenure with the Company began in 1963 when he was hired as an agent. Healy was promoted several times, eventually becoming a Vice President of the Company’s Marketing Department in 1979, responsible, inter alia, for [1211]*1211the Company’s internal communications. Because his performance with the Company after 1979 forms the factual matrix for the summary judgment ruling, we recite in some detail the relevant facts of record, developed through depositions, affidavits, and company documents (particularly performance evaluations).
At the time of Healy’s 1979 promotion, the Marketing Department was composed of two divisions, agent training and management training. The agent training division taught agents to sell the Company’s insurance and financial products. To be successful, sales agents had to learn consumer psychology and technical matters such as the tax advantages of various products. Managers recruited and motivated the agents. The training of managers focused on personnel development, planning and organizing skills, managing expenses and achieving profitability, and the recruiting of new agents.
Prior to the reduction in force, several management levels supervised agent and management training. These levels included Assistants and Associates who reported to Managers, Managers who reported to Assistant Vice Presidents, and Assistant Vice Presidents who reported to the Vice President in charge of the division. During Healy’s tenure as Management Vice President in charge of the Management Training division, another Vice-President, Ed Hesse, was responsible for agent training. Marketing Vice President Walter Ubl supervised both positions, and he, in turn, reported directly to the head of the Marketing Department, Senior Vice President Jerald Hinrichs.
This rough organizational scheme demonstrates that the Vice Presidents for both the agent and management training jobs were high-level executive positions possessing substantial management authority. Successful performance in these jobs required a resourceful executive willing to take initiative and to assume responsibility. At the time of his discharge, Healy managed a budget of close to $2,000,000 and directly supervised three Assistant Vice Presidents who were responsible for other Managers and Associates.
During the years immediately following his 1979 promotion, Healy received generally favorable evaluations. However, these evaluations also evidenced deficiencies in high-level executive performance. In a November, 1983, evaluation, Healy’s immediate supervisor, Vice President Walter Ubl, reported that Healy “is a very experienced and valuable employee____ His extensive background with the company has enabled him to apply creative approaches to new challenges.” App. at 50. But this same evaluation also noted that Healy became “so involved in [one] program that other ongoing programs cause him concern.” Nevertheless, Healy received the highest rating possible in this 1983 evaluation and subsequently was promoted to Marketing Vice President in charge of management training in June, 1984.
Although Healy earned favorable reviews in this new position, his evaluations revealed significant shortcomings. In a March, 1985, review, Healy’s immediate superior (who is no longer with the Company) wrote that Healy “demonstrates significant people and team-building skills. He takes direction and guidance easily and quick-ly____ He utilizes good judgment in addressing his responsibilities.” Id. at 65. But like the earlier evaluation, the reviewer echoed the concern that Healy “must delegate more of the work-load and spend more time in staff development.” Id.
In August, 1985, Healy was assigned responsibility for preparing the Management by Objectives (“MBO”) report for the entire Marketing Department. MBO is a management theory which posits that managers will be more effective if they can analyze what they must accomplish and develop measurable standards to determine if the desired objectives have been obtained in key result areas. The MBO was outside Healy’s normal manager training duties and required him to focus on the work performed by the Marketing Department as a whole.
Since the MBO project implicated the interests of the entire Marketing Depart[1212]*1212ment, Healy worked closely with his superiors, Hinrichs and Ubl. The affidavits of both Hinrichs and Ubl represent that Healy’s coordination of the MBO program was unsatisfactory, and that his performance lacked creativity and initiative. According to the affiants, rather than exercising the insight and innovation that the project required, Healy merely collated and collected information from others. Hinrichs and Ubl state that Healy’s poor performance created delays and resulted in additional work for both of them.
Reacting to this criticism, Healy testified that he thought that his function in the MBO project was to incorporate the same measurements that had been used previously, assemble the raw data, and pass the information on to his superiors rather than analyze the results himself. Healy further claimed that the MBO report was not assigned exclusively to him, that he never was informed that his performance was unsatisfactory, and that, in any case, he spent less than 10 percent of his time preparing the report.
Four months later, in December of 1985, the Company decided to reduce the total salary expenses of management personnel by 20 percent to remain competitive in an increasingly demanding business environment. As a result, the Company offered employees who were 55 years or older attractive early retirement packages. Departments that had not reduced managerial staff by 20 percent faced involuntary terminations. The Marketing Department was unable to reduce its total salaries by the requisite 20 percent, despite the early retirement of Ed Hesse, the Vice President in charge of agent training.
On February 25, 1986, Hinrichs informed Healy that he was being discharged. The Company also discharged seven other members of the Marketing Department at the same time. Hinrichs represented that Healy was discharged because he
could neither effectively supervise a combined [manager and agent] training division nor effectively handle the substantial increase in responsibility that would have been required had he been retained. I found that the plaintiff, rather than taking it upon himself to broaden his responsibilities, would instead try to narrow the scope of his functions. He appeared reluctant to assume expanded responsibilities and encountered problems when faced with coordinating a substantial number of on-going programs. Moreover, he was not good at identifying important future problems or objectives and deciding how to meet them. He also tended to focus only on his own area of responsibility.
Id. at 141-42. Hinrichs further states that his decision also reflected Healy’s inadequate performance on the MBO program.
Following Healy’s discharge and the voluntary retirement of the Vice President for agent training, Hinrichs initially decided to reallocate the responsibilities of these two positions among the Assistant Vice Presidents. He decided to leave the Vice President positions vacant and to determine later whether to create a consolidated position, combining the functions of both jobs. Most of Healy's responsibilities were assumed by Paul Russell, age 47, with the exception of the MBO program, which was assigned to another Vice President, Richard Carter, age 55. At the time of Healy’s discharge, Russell had been with the company 22 years, most recently serving as one of Healy’s three Assistant Vice Presidents.
Hinrichs and Ubl both testified that Russell’s performance during the period following Healy’s departure was superior to Healy’s prior performance. As a result, in July, 1986, Hinrichs reorganized the Marketing Department, combining the responsibilities of the Vice Presidents in charge of agent training and management training into one position under Russell’s direction. This combined position involved more responsibility than the job from which Healy had been discharged and required someone with a broad perspective on the operations of the Marketing Department, willing to assume responsibility for both agent and management training in the post-RIF business environment. Indeed, Russell was ultimately responsible for a budget of 4.7 [1213]*1213million dollars — over twice as much as Healy’s at the time of his discharge. In justifying this promotion, Ubl contends that Russell
was an excellent manager with the capability of assuming greatly expanded responsibilities. Mr. Russell had conceived, designed and executed numerous valuable programs and initiatives and was the type of manager who would enlarge his job to ensure that it was done as effectively as possible, and was well able to handle the additional responsibility.
Id. at 167.
On July 9, 1986, Healy filed an age discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. On August 4, 1986, the Company completed Healy’s final evaluation. This evaluation reemphasized Healy’s limitations in assuming responsibility outside the formal boundaries of his job description. The evaluation rated him a 3 on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 is the highest), as opposed to the 1 Healy had earned in his 1983 review and the 2 he had received in 1985. Although the evaluation mentioned Healy’s broad experience and his communication skills, it also found that Healy “too zealously guards his ‘turf’ to the extent subordinates feel little opportunity to expand areas of responsibility.” Id. at 82. Furthermore, the review stated that Healy lacked an “acquisitive view of what needs to be done as part of his job.” The report noted that Healy “needs to delegate more — take a bigger view of his job. Must be more future oriented — focuses on the here and now.” Id. at 82.
On October 21, 1986, Healy brought suit in the district court for the District of New Jersey, alleging that his discharge violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 621-634 (1982). Healy’s complaint sought damages for lost income and benefits, reinstatement and restoration of benefits, liquidated damages, costs, and attorneys’ fees. Upon the completion of discovery, the Company moved for summary judgment on the ground that Healy had failed to raise a genuine issue of material fact supporting his contention that his termination resulted from age discrimination.
In its summary judgment papers, the Company proffered statistical evidence to support its position that it did not use the RIF as a vehicle for age discrimination. The evidence showed that the Company-wide percentage of employees over the age of forty remained essentially the same as a result of the RIF. Similar results occurred in the Marketing Department. Of the thirty-four Marketing Department employees who were fifty years or older at the time of the RIF, Healy was the only one fired. The statistics are set forth in more detail, infra at 1218. The data did not, however, include the employees who elected early retirement.
Analyzing the record in response to the Company’s motion for summary judgment, the district court first found that “[t]he Company has presented substantial evidence to support its claim Healy was not discharged because of his age.” Id. at 195. The court identified legitimate business reasons supporting the Company’s decision, including a company-wide RIF which increased the percentage of employees in the protected age group, specific shortcomings in Healy’s performance, and the Company’s judgment that another executive (Russell) “was more highly qualified to handle the post-reduction consolidated responsibilities.” Id. at 196. The court then concluded that Healy had “submitted no specific facts either to affirmatively support the allegations contained in his complaint or to rebut or undermine the evidence presented by the Company.” Id. at 198. It therefore granted the motion for summary judgment. This appeal followed.
II.
A.
The requisites for proof of age discrimination and the standards governing the grant of summary judgment in ADEA cases have been explained in numerous opinions. See Chipollini v. Spencer Gifts Inc., 814 F.2d 893 (3d Cir.) (in banc), cert. dismissed, — U.S. -, 108 S.Ct. 26, 97 [1214]*1214L.Ed.2d 815 (1987); Sorba v. Pennsylvania Drilling Co., 821 F.2d 200 (3d Cir.1987), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 108 S.Ct. 730, 98 L.Ed.2d 679 (1988); see also Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 252-57, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 1093-95, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981) (analogous standard for gender discrimination). We need not restate those standards here, though we shall, of course, apply them in our discussion. Before analyzing the facts of record in light of these standards, we make two preliminary comments.
First, Healy sought to satisfy his required burden of proof of intentional discrimination by the use of indirect rather than direct evidence, as the law permits. Second, we are satisfied that Healy established a prima facie case, since he showed that: (1) at age fifty-six he was a member of a protected class; (2) he was qualified for the position from which he was discharged; (3) he was discharged despite his qualifications; and (4) the position was filled by a person sufficiently younger to permit an inference of age discrimination.1
Given the facts set forth above about the demands of high-level management positions and the deficiencies in Healy’s performance, the Company proffered a legitimate business reason for discharging Healy. We turn therefore to an analysis: (1) of the Company’s legitimate business reasons for the discharge; and (2) of Healy’s claim of pretext with a view to determining whether Healy has raised a genuine issue of material fact. To facilitate this analysis, we review the evidence in four separate sections. First, we look at Healy’s qualifications as represented by his evaluations and by his performance on the MBO. Next, we turn to Russell’s performance. Then we examine the statistical evidence presented by the Company. Finally, in terms of the legal standard, we examine the record to see if Healy has presented specific evidence that “could support an inference that the employer did not act for non-discriminatory reasons.” Chipollini, 814 F.2d at 900.
We note preliminarily that each ADEA case must be judged on its own facts. The legitimacy of the employer’s proffered business justification will be affected both by the duties and responsibilities of the employee’s position and the nature of the justification. Concomitantly, the significance of variations among an individual’s personnel evaluations may well depend upon the nature of the employee’s responsibilities; a more exacting standard of performance may have to be applied to positions of greater responsibility.
B.
Both Ubi and Hinrichs submitted affidavits identifying specific weaknesses in Healy’s performance. These affidavits stated that Healy did not delegate enough, that his focus was too narrow, and that he did not readily assume new responsibilities out[1215]*1215side the formal boundaries of his job description. As Ubl states in his affidavit:
I found that the plaintiff lacked an acquisitive view of his job, and rather than taking it upon himself to broaden his responsibilities, would instead try to narrow the scope of his functions. I found that the plaintiff was reluctant to assume expanded responsibilities, and that he encountered problems when faced with coordinating a substantial number of ongoing programs. Plaintiff tended to focus only on his own area of responsibility, and even in that role, he had substantial difficulty in effectively delegating work to lower-level employees. Instead, he would become enmeshed in details himself, while losing sight of the broader picture. In addition, the plaintiff was not good at identifying important future problems or objectives or deciding how to meet them____ I determined that he did not possess the management abilities that would render him capable of adequately handling the substantial increase in responsibilities that would be required following the reduction or of effectively managing a combined ... division.
App. at 165-67; see also Hinrichs Affidavits, supra at 1212. These allegations also were supported by Healy’s performance reviews in 1983 and 1985 and by his post-termination evaluation. See supra at 1211-1212. Nevertheless, Healy makes three arguments that these identified weaknesses were pretextual.
First, Healy argues that the same evaluations cited by the Company as evidence of his unwillingness to take the initiative also contain portions that showed that he assumed new responsibilities. However, this fact does not refute the Company’s legitimate business reasons for his discharge, even when read in the light most favorable to Healy. These 1983 and 1985 evaluations referred to jobs that demanded less responsibility and initiative than the consolidated position eventually filled by Russell. Good (or even excellent) performance in a lower level position does not necessarily imply success in a more competitive environment. Furthermore, although often complimentary, the reviews did note that Healy had problems delegating authority and managing multiple projects — factors clearly relevant to the demanding managerial job that Russell eventually filled.
Second, Healy points out that the Company promoted him immediately following the very 1983 evaluation which it uses to demonstrate his shortcomings as a manager. However, a promotion from a lower level job, despite identified weaknesses, does not suggest that the weaknesses do not exist or that they would not be important in evaluating performance in a more demanding job.
Finally, Healy notes that his 1986 post-termination evaluation is dated August 4, three weeks after he filed a charge of age discrimination with the EEOC. We recognize that in Gunby v. Pennsylvania Electric Co., 840 F.2d 1108 (3d Cir.1988), petition for cert. filed, 56 U.S.L.W. 3834 (U.S. May 25, 1988), this court found that a highly unfavorable performance evaluation prepared after an employee expressed his view that he might have been passed over for a promotion because of race discrimination provided evidence of pretext. In the case sub judice, however, Healy’s post-termination evaluation was not substantially different from his previous ones. Although Healy descended one notch in the numerical ratings, the 1986 evaluation cited performance problems that had been apparent in previous reviews. Healy submitted no evidence indicating that this review was aberrational or in any way pretextual. Thus, Healy has not demonstrated that the identification by the Company of shortcomings in his performance in his 1983, 1985, and 1986 evaluations were pretextual.
Post hoc explanations, like any self-helpful statement made after the initiation of a lawsuit, may be to some degree suspect. However, the mere fact that a defendant relies on a post hoc evaluation does not in and of itself create a factual dispute about whether the evaluation is pretextual. To the extent that the dissent argues that a post hoc justification ipso facto creates a pretext, it is plainly wrong. Unless the [1216]*1216plaintiff introduces counter-affidavits and argumentation that demonstrate that there is reason to disbelieve this particular explanation, there is no genuine issue of material fact. See C. Wright, A. Miller & M. Kane, 10A Federal Practice and Procedure § 2726, at 118-19 (1983) (“[T]he general rule is that specific facts must be produced in order to put credibility in issue so as to preclude summary judgment.”).
C.
The Company relies heavily upon Healy’s unsatisfactory efforts in coordinating the MBO. As we have noted, the MBO involved the development of measurable standards to determine if corporate objectives have been met in key result areas. The task of preparing the Marketing Department’s MBO, assigned by Hinrichs to Healy, required careful analysis to ensure that meaningful information was incorporated into the standards. Hinrichs and Ubl expected Healy to assume broad responsibility, adopting the perspective of the Marketing Department as a whole. In contrast, Healy narrowed his focus on the MBO, concentrating on merely collecting and collating data. Rather than sorting through the data analytically and challenging inappropriate information, he shifted the responsibility to his superiors.
Healy’s deposition testimony itself suggests he had a limited view of his role:
Q. ... [T]hey would give you the figures and you would just plug them in?
A. Yes.
Q. You had nothing to do with these figures other than the mechanical?
A. That’s true. That was not my job to originate these figures. It was to coordinate and to finalize them on this form.
Q. When you say finalize, do you mean anything other than taking them and putting them on the form?
A. Putting them on the form and then passing it [to Ubl and Hinrichs] for their approval.
Q. Does [Healy] say, this looks right to me, this doesn’t look right to me or does he say, thank you very much, I’m going to put them on the form?
A. My job was to obtain the figures, not to discuss them as to the suitability of the figures.
App. at 126-27.
In response to the Company’s allegations that his performance was unsatisfactory (in light of the expectations of Hinrichs and Ubl), Healy responds that he was never warned that he was doing a bad job. Although we can sympathize with Healy’s situation and observe that employees will perform better if they receive feedback, we note that from a legal perspective managers are not compelled to convey their dissatisfaction to employees. See Pierce v. New Process Co., 580 F.Supp. 1543, 1545 (W.D.Pa.), (“[T]he company is under no obligation to warn plaintiff of complaints regarding his performance and, if anything, the effect of such evidence is equivocal, perhaps indicating that plaintiff was receiving the benefit of the doubt.”), aff'd mem., 749 F.2d 27 (3d Cir.1984).
Healy also argues that he spent less than 10 percent of his time on the MBO. Ten percent of an executive’s time, however, can be substantial, particularly if spent on projects the company values. In any case, our inquiry must concern pretext, and is not an independent assessment of how we might evaluate and treat a loyal employee. See Thornbrough v. Columbus and Greenville Railroad Co., 760 F.2d 633, 647 (5th Cir.1985) (“The ADEA was not intended to be a vehicle for judicial second-guessing of business decisions, nor was it intended to transform the courts into personnel managers.”). Moreover, the significance of the evidence about the MBO does not lie in the amount of time Healy chose to spend on the project or his own judgment about its importance, but on what his performance indicates about his ability to meet employment challenges.
We conclude that Healy did not provide enough evidence with respect to the Company’s MBO evaluation to give rise to an inference that the Company’s proffered business justification is pretextual.
[1217]*1217D.
The Company presented evidence that Russell’s managerial ability was highly regarded. Hinrichs, in his affidavit, avers that:
Russell ... performed his own work and that of the Marketing Vice President as well, and did the combined job better than [Healy] had done his [own smaller job]____ Mr. Russell’s promotion ... was in recognition of his consistently superior performance and the high level of management ability he had displayed over a long period of time. Mr. Russell had shown himself to be creative, innovative and willing to take the initiative to broaden the scope of his responsibilities. Moreover, Mr. Russell had had recent, extensive experience in agent training. During his nearly 20 years in Company field offices, he had worked in several positions where he was responsible for agent training.
App. at 143-44; see also Ubl’s Affidavit, supra at 1213. Even Healy in his deposition and written evaluation speaks well of Russell:
Q. What was your judgment of Russell’s effort?
A. Excellent. I was very proud of him.
App. at 108. Similarly, Healy’s evaluation of Russell noted that Russell shows “significant initiative” and “self starting abilities.” Id. at 74.
The record reflects that Russell demonstrated a willingness to assume new responsibilities and that he was flexible and able to delegate. Throughout his tenure in the training division, Russell conceived, designed, and executed numerous programs and initiatives. He also increased his effectiveness. These are the very traits that Hinrichs and Ubl felt Healy lacked. The Company thus credibly argues that the decision to promote Russell was based on his creativity and superior management ability.
Healy notes that he had a higher evaluation than Russell in at least one category. Healy’s performance was rated “effective” (the middle category of three) or as a “notable strength” (the highest category) in every relevant category in a March, 1985, evaluation; in contrast, Russell was found to “need improvement” in his written communication in a similar April, 1985, evaluation. Nevertheless, nothing in the record suggests that, compared with other managerial skills, writing was such an important part of the combined job to which Russell acceded. Moreover, Healy did not point to any other weaknesses in Russell’s performance. We thus find insufficient evidence of pretext to permit a reasonable fact finder to infer discrimination in the Company’s selection of Russell over Healy.
E.
The Company submitted, along with its affidavits, statistical evidence suggesting that the RIF did not have a disproportionate impact on older workers. We have approved the use of statistical evidence to support a plaintiff’s claim of disparate treatment. In Green v. USX Corp., 843 F.2d 1511 (3d Cir.1988), the plaintiffs alleged that USX’s overall system of hiring was discriminatory, but they did not challenge specific procedures or decisions. We held that statistical evidence showing that, in the aggregate, equally qualified blacks were less likely to be hired was sufficiently probative to make out a prima facie case in a disparate treatment class action suit. In Green, the statistical evidence supported the plaintiff. As a matter of logic, statistical evidence could also be relevant when it buttresses the claims of the defense. Additionally, the Supreme Court has explained that “a non-discriminatory ‘bottom line’ and an employer’s good-faith efforts to achieve a non-discriminatory work force, might in some cases assist an employer in rebutting the inference that particular actions had been intentionally discriminatory.” Connecticut v. Teal, 457 U.S. 440, 454, 102 S.Ct. 2525, 2534, 73 L.Ed.2d 130 (1982).
Nevertheless, we approach the use of statistical evidence presented by the defense in a disparate treatment case with caution. We emphasize that “statistics are not irrefutable; they come in infinite variety, and, like any other kind of evidence they may be rebutted. In short, their usefulness depends on all of the surrounding [1218]*1218facts and circumstances.” International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. 324, 340, 97 S.Ct. 1843, 1856, 52 L.Ed.2d 396 (1977).
We are skeptical that use of statistics, however compelling, can in and of itself constitute a complete defense in disparate treatment cases. The Supreme Court has made clear that statistical evidence demonstrating that an employment policy, considered as a whole, is non-discriminatory does not completely insulate employers from disparate treatment suits. “A racially balanced work force cannot immunize an employer from liability for specific acts of discrimination.” Furnco Construction Corp. v. Waters, 438 U.S. 567, 579, 98 S.Ct. 2943, 2950, 57 L.Ed.2d 957 (1978). The very nature of disparate treatment cases focuses on the bias against an individual because of age, race or sex. Because such bias is irrational, it may not follow a consistent pattern. As the Supreme Court explained: “Congress never intended to give an employer license to discriminate against some employees ... merely because he favorably treats other members of the employees’ group.” Connecticut v. Teal, 457 U.S. at 455, 102 S.Ct. at 2535. Furthermore, statistics are often unreliable because company-wide data may mask discrimination on a smaller scale. In sum, statistical evidence can be probative if cautiously and critically applied, but it cannot end our inquiry.
According to the uncontested statistics provided by the Company, the percentage of employees at the Company over the age of forty remained the same after the RIF terminations.2 More particularly, in the Marketing Department, the percentage of employees in the protected age group remained essentially the same following the discharges. The Company discharged eight out of the 125 Marketing Department employees who remained after the voluntary retirement plan. Before the RIF, the Marketing Department had sixty-three people forty years old or over. Of the eight terminees, four were in the protected age group. Healy was the only person over fifty. Three of the other discharged employees were between the ages of forty and forty-four. Among the ten employees at Healy’s level before the RIF, Healy was the only one discharged. Of those Vice-Presidents retained, one was fifty-nine years old, three years older than Healy, and another fifty-six. In fact, six of the nine Vice-Presidents retained were age fifty or older.
We observe that these results may have been different if the older employees who accepted early retirement had been accounted for. The Company, however, provides no such statistics. Although Healy has not challenged the Company’s statistical evidence, we note that the number of older workers may have been substantially reduced by the early retirement plan and that the Company’s statistics concerning the pre- and post-RIF workforce may be misleading. Furthermore, because Healy claims that Hinrichs and Ubl discriminated against him personally on the basis of age, statistical evidence concerning the Company-wide discharge patterns is tangential to the behavior of the relevant decision makers.
The only relevant statistical evidence concerns the Marketing Department’s discharge patterns — discharge decisions made by Hinrichs. This evidence tends to support the Company’s assertion that termination decisions by Hinrichs and Ubl were not the result of age discrimination. It therefore corroborates, at least in some measure, the legitimate business reasons articulated by the Company for Healy’s discharge.
III.
In evaluating the evidence, Healy relies heavily on our decision in Chipollini v. Spencer Gift Inc., 814 F.2d 893 (3d Cir.) (in banc), cert. dismissed, — U.S. -, 108 S.Ct. 26, 97 L.Ed.2d 815 (1987). There, the in banc court reversed the district [1219]*1219court’s grant of summary judgment, explaining:
The proffered reason for discharge is a subjective one. The plaintiff challenges the defendant’s post-litigation articulation of its intent and the documentary evidence can be viewed as supporting the plaintiff’s challenge. Consequently, the issue of pretext turns on [the employer’s] credibility and is not appropriate for resolution on a summary judgment motion.
Id. at 901. We emphasize that, despite the breadth of the language in Chipollini, discrimination cases are inherently fact-bound. Certainly Chipollini does not stand for the proposition that summary judgment is never available in discrimination actions. Rather, we understand the teaching of Chi-pollini to be that where plaintiffs proffer evidence of pretext and create a genuine issue of material fact as to the credibility of the employer’s “legitimate” business reasons, summary judgment is foreclosed.3
Indeed, because the plaintiff introduced substantial evidence of pretext in Chipolli-ni, it presents a good example of a case in which a court cannot grant summary judgment. In Chipollini the plaintiff rebutted the defendant’s proffered reasons for the discharge: (1) a medical problem cited by the defendant as a reason for the discharge was shown not to affect Chipollini’s job performance; (2) the plaintiff’s immediate supervisors could not identify a single specific example of poor performance by him; and (3) the defendant alleged that Chipollini had inadequately performed his duties as energy warden, when in fact the company never clearly asked him to perform such duties. Chipollini, 814 F.2d at 900-01.
Similarly, the case at bar is distinguishable from Sorba v. Pennsylvania Drilling Co., 821 F.2d 200 (3d Cir.1987), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 108 S.Ct. 730, 98 L.Ed.2d 679 (1988). In Sorba, the defendants claimed that Sorba’s dismissal had been for unsatisfactory performance on his last three jobs. The defendants claimed that Sorba “padded jobs, accrued unnecessary overtime, caused morale problems by criticizing the company and refused on occasion to take direct orders.” Id. at 203. However, the deposition testimony of Sorba’s two immediate supervisors suggested that Sorba’s performance did not cause the problems associated with his last three jobs. Nor could the Supervisors claim specific problems with his performance, or identify instances where he was a detrimental influence. Id. at 204. Furthermore, Sorba gave several reasonable explanations for the problems encountered on the three jobs cited by the defendants.
Unlike the plaintiffs in Chipollini and Sorba, Healy has been unable to demonstrate specific evidence “that could support an inference that the employer did not act for non-discriminatory reasons.” Chipolli-ni, supra. Healy has thus not presented the court with a genuine issue of material fact as to whether, “but for” his age, he would not have been discharged. See supra at 1214 (articulating the standard for summary judgment).
We acknowledge that this is a close case. The Company has shown that competitive pressures led to a company-wide RIF which forced a consolidation of several high-level executive positions, one of which was occupied by Healy. Within this context, the Company has presented substantial evidence that its decision to discharge Healy was for legitimate business reasons. The Company identified specific weaknesses in three of Healy’s performance evaluations, cited a recent and important project where Healy performed unsatisfactorily, and proffered evidence showing that Healy’s replacement was better qualified to exercise the kind of initiative, creativity, and managerial discretion required of a high level executive. Furthermore, the Company corroborated these legitimate business reasons with statistical evidence suggesting that there was no discriminatory intent by the relevant decision makers.
[1220]*1220On the other hand, as Healy has pointed out, up until his discharge he received reasonably favorable employment evaluations and had been promoted by the company. Moreover, there are some differences in tone between the evaluations he received while working and the post hoc evaluation. We are satisfied, however, that the difference between the employment evaluations is one of degree rather than of kind. The problems that the post hoc review identifies are the same problems that were noted by the reviewers in 1983 and 1985. Thus we do not think that the differences in the evaluations themselves create a genuine issue of material fact.
In the end, the evidence provided by Healy demonstrates only that he performed competently in his previous jobs. But the essence of a RIF is that competent employees who in more prosperous times would continue and flourish at a company may nevertheless have to be fired. To create a factual dispute as to pretext, Healy must not only introduce evidence from which a reasonable person could infer that he is qualified; he also must introduce evidence that casts doubt on his employer’s contention that there was a legitimate business justification for letting him go. We agree with the district court that Healy’s efforts to contrast his qualifications vis-a-vis Russell’s, given his limitations described above, are legally insufficient to cast such doubt. Barring any attempt to hide discrimination, the Company has the right to make business judgments on employee status, particularly when the decision involves subjective factors such as creativity and initiative that the Company deems essential to high-level executive positions.
The judgment of the district court will be affirmed.