Opinion ID: 2998038
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Jennifer Valenti

Text: Mr. Brummett claims that we should compare Sinclair’s treatment of him to Sinclair’s treatment of account executive Jennifer Valenti. Although Valenti and Mr. Brummett had the same supervisor, the same job duties and the same expectation of meeting a monthly sales quota, we cannot conclude that they are directly comparable. Mr. Brummett maintains that he had a unique arrangement with respect to his compensation. See Spath v. Hayes Wheels Int’l-Indiana, Inc., 211 F.3d 392, 397 (7th Cir. 2000) (noting that comparable employees must be similarly situated “in all respects”). The record contains no evidence that, like Mr. Brummett, Valenti had been promised that she would receive additional accounts after her first six months or that she ever had demanded aggressively such accounts. Although Connors’ and Faith’s stated reason for firing Mr. Brummett was inadequate sales, the record amply reflects that Mr. Brummett’s salary demands, and Connors’ unwillingness to meet them, were an important factor in the employment relationship. Furthermore, even if we determined that Valenti was a similarly situated employee, the record does not reflect that Sinclair held Mr. Brummett to a higher standard. Mr. Brummett claims that, when one examines the percentage of his monthly quotas he achieved in 2001, he out14 No. 04-3373 performed Valenti, yet only he was placed on probation. Specifically, he submits that, on average in 2001, he met 79 percent of his monthly sales quotas, while Valenti met only 75 percent of her quotas. Also, when he was put on probation, he had achieved 70 percent of his monthly quota in the prior two months; by contrast, Valenti had achieved less than 70 percent of her quota in the same months. Moreover, he submits that Valenti reached less than 64 percent of her sales quota during five months in 2000 but never was 4 disciplined. Mr. Brummett’s analysis overlooks Valenti’s superior overall sales performance. For instance, in 2001, Valenti’s sales totaled $227,524, and Mr. Brummett’s totaled $137,959. Also, Valenti had a higher net billing in nine out of the first ten months of that year. See R.13, Tab E, Ex.9 at 65-73. In addition, the sales figures for August through October 2001 (when Mr. Brummett was under scrutiny) indicate that Valenti had the higher sales: (1) she developed six to eight new accounts each month, and Mr. Brummett had no more than three in any one month; (2) her lowest monthly net billing was $26,807, and Mr. Brummett’s highest month was $19,289; and (3) she achieved 86 to 141 percent of her monthly quotas, and Mr. Brummett achieved 74 to 77 percent. In sum, although the two employees’ performance is somewhat comparable based on the annualized percent of monthly quota achieved, as Mr. Brummett suggests, it cannot be said that Mr. Brummett was outperforming Valenti when her total sales and recruitment of new business were higher. 4 Mr. Brummett also suggests that his sales goals were set unrealistically high. Sinclair counters that Mr. Brummett ignores the fact that his monthly goals, at least after May 2001, were keyed to the level of income that he demanded. No. 04-3373 15 Connors’ deposition testimony further supports that Valenti was not held to a lower standard; he explained: Q. Can you reflect upon [Jennifer Valenti’s] numbers for [May 2001]? A. Jennifer had been there for almost four years, not quite four years. When someone has been on staff for that long a period of time, you are going to see they’re going to be more prone to fluctuations based on a number of factors. It could be that they have some seasonal accounts, for example, and the seasonal accounts would contribute billing at a certain time of the year and not at other times of the year. What I would typically look for is to see if someone is under quota on one or two months, are they then over quota on another one or two months. If someone is consistently under quota month after month after month after month, then that tells you something. But if someone is up and down, that tells you that it’s a business with some variability built into it. Q. And as of May 2001, if you recall, did you have any particular concern about Ms. Valenti’s sales performance? A. I wouldn’t say I had any particular concerns because you don’t view it as a snapshot of one month, you view it on a continuum. Q. But as of May 2001, was she on a list of someone you were watching because you had concerns about the pattern that was developing and it was a consistent downward trend? A. No. Because it wasn’t on a consistent downward trend. Id., Tab E at 97-98. 16 No. 04-3373 Thus, we conclude that Mr. Brummett and Valenti are not similarly situated employees, and, as a result, no discriminatory intent can be inferred from the fact that Sinclair never put Valenti on probation nor terminated her employment. See Spath, 211 F.3d at 397.