Opinion ID: 705166
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Pretext and Intentional Discrimination

Text: 59 In response, Tomka contends that Seiler was aware that she was receiving medical treatment and was unable to return to work. Tomka told Taylor in December that she was seeing a therapist in Philadelphia and later informed Snook in a February 10 letter that she would be undergoing tests in March to determine her ability to resume work at Seiler. Tomka also offered to send Snook the results of any medical tests, and reiterated that Taylor had promised her that her salary and benefits would continue until she was ready to return. Moreover, Tomka argues that she did not understand that Seiler required an official doctor's note in lieu of her verbal and written communication with Taylor and Snook about her condition, or that the invoice she sent to Seiler did not satisfy their concerns. Tomka claims Snook never specified what, if any, medical documentation was required, or that Seiler would terminate her if she did not provide this material. There is some additional support for this latter proposition in the record: based on the correspondence--submitted by Seiler--between Tomka and Snook, the first mention of Tomka's failure to provide medical documentation is in Snook's February 20 letter, sent after Tomka's benefits had been terminated. While Snook claims that he had informed Tomka in January that she needed to provide medical documentation, at the summary judgment stage we must credit Tomka's assertion that she was not told at that time to provide further proof of her condition. 60 Additional pieces of evidence cast doubt on Seiler's proffered rationale. First, Tomka--unlike Polonsky, Conroy, or Lucey--was never interviewed by Bowe, Seiler's security director, or by Snook about the alleged assaults. Bowe, however, concluded that the assaults did not take place and Snook accepted and acted on the results of this investigation. Seiler's treatment of the perpetrators was mixed: Polonsky was fired because his attitude and behavior did not reflect well on Seiler, Conroy was not disciplined at all, and Lucey was reprimanded and demoted, but only because he had overused his corporate charge card. While Seiler disciplined two of the alleged perpetrators, no mention was made of the alleged assaults as a basis for their punishment. A reasonable inference from Seiler's actions might be that Seiler attempted to whitewash the December 6 incident by separating Tomka from the investigation, playing down the assaults, and subsequently terminating Tomka's employment. 9 However, these fact issues must be resolved at trial. 61 Tomka's evidence, while not overwhelming, is sufficient to raise a fact issue as to whether Seiler's proffered reason was merely a pretext for terminating her salary and benefits. There is a fair amount of ambiguity regarding what and when Snook or Taylor told Tomka about the extent of her leave and the need to provide medical documentation. Similarly, Seiler's investigation of the assaults and treatment of the alleged perpetrators raises concerns over Seiler's true reasons for its actions on February 17, only one month after Tomka complained of the assaults. In this vein, we are mindful that caution must be exercised in granting summary judgment where an employer's intent is genuinely in issue. See Chambers, 43 F.3d at 40 (citing Gallo, 22 F.3d at 1224). Because material issues of fact remain, Tomka's retaliation claim must be resolved at trial.