Opinion ID: 718191
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Grant of Summary Judgment for the Defendant First Step

Text: 42 We review a grant of summary judgment de novo, and like the district court, we are obliged to view the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, drawing all reasonable inferences in that party's favor. Mesnick v. General Elec. Co., 950 F.2d 816, 822 (1st Cir.1991), cert. denied, 504 U.S. 985, 112 S.Ct. 2965, 119 L.Ed.2d 586 (1992). Summary judgment is appropriate when the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). [T]he mere existence of some alleged factual dispute between the parties will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment; the requirement is that there be no genuine issue of material fact. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-48, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Moreover, summary judgment may be appropriate '[e]ven in cases where elusive concepts such as motive or intent are at issue, ... if the non-moving party rests merely upon conclusory allegations, improbable inferences, and unsupported speculation.'  Woods v. Friction Materials, Inc., 30 F.3d 255, 259 (1st Cir.1994) (quoting Medina-Munoz v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 896 F.2d 5, 8 (1st Cir.1990)). Finally, Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c) mandates the entry of summary judgment, ... upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). 43
44 Although Fennell has framed her retaliatory discharge claims in one federal count and two state law counts, the parties agree that the well-established analytical framework used in Title VII retaliation claims applies to the state law counts as well. Thus, for purposes of this appeal, we treat all three counts as subsumed in the Title VII count. 45 Where, as in this case and in retaliation cases generally, there is no direct evidence of the defendant's retaliatory animus, the McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework is used to allocate and order the burdens of producing evidence. See Mesnick, 950 F.2d at 827 (explaining the interplay between the burden-shifting framework set forth in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973), and the standards for summary judgment). To establish a prima facie case of retaliation, Fennell must show that: (1) she engaged in protected conduct under Title VII (or here, Maine's Human Rights Act or Whistleblower's Protection Act); (2) she suffered an adverse employment action; and (3) a causal connection existed between the protected conduct and the adverse action. See, e.g., Hoeppner v. Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Ctr., 31 F.3d 9, 14 (1st Cir.1994). 46 Once a prima facie showing has been made, the burden shifts to the defendant to articulate a legitimate, non-retaliatory reason for its employment decision. See, e.g., Mesnick, 950 F.2d at 827. 9 If the defendant does so, the ultimate burden falls on the plaintiff to show that the proffered legitimate reason is in fact a pretext and that the job action was the result of the defendant's retaliatory animus. See St. Mary's Honor Ctr. v. Hicks, 509 U.S. 502, 510-11, 113 S.Ct. 2742, 2749, 125 L.Ed.2d 407 (1993); Mesnick, 950 F.2d at 827-28. On summary judgment, the need to order the presentation of proof is largely obviated, and a court may often dispense with strict attention to the burden-shifting framework, focusing instead on whether the evidence as a whole is sufficient to make out a jury question as to pretext and discriminatory animus. Id. at 827.
47 Although First Step refutes that Fennell has even made out a prima facie case of retaliation, the district court apparently assumed that she did. The plaintiff's prima facie burden is not onerous, and we find that she met that burden by demonstrating, among other things, that her termination occurred shortly after her protected conduct, the report of harassment. See Oliver v. Digital Equip. Corp., 846 F.2d 103, 110 (1st Cir.1988) (discharge soon after protected conduct is strongly suggestive of retaliation). 48 Fennell cannot seriously dispute that First Step met its burden of articulating a legitimate, non-retaliatory reason for her discharge: that economic and business reasons led First Step to decide to lay her off, and that the decision was made prior to her complaint. Thus, we arrive at the dispositive question: whether Fennell has, on the summary judgment record, established genuine issues of fact that (1) First Step's business reasons were a pretext and (2) her discharge was in retaliation for her reports of sexual harassment. 49 The district court granted summary judgment because it held that Fennell had not shown a genuine issue as to the fact that First Step decided to discharge her before she made the report of sexual harassment. The linchpin of the district court's holding was the October 25 memo, listing Fennell among those to be laid off. Fennell asserts that the memo was fabricated some time after her report of harassment. We discussed Fennell's assertions of fabrication in analyzing the discovery issue, and we found them to be unpersuasive. For the reasons stated in that analysis, we hold that Fennell has not presented evidence that would allow a reasonable jury to find that the memorandum was fabricated. At bottom, Fennell's fabrication claims amount to no more than conclusory allegations, improbable inferences, and unsupported speculation. Medina-Munoz, 896 F.2d at 8. 50 In addition to the memo, First Step also provided the uncontroverted affidavits of three employees who swear that Fennell was on a list of employees to be laid off, and they saw the list before she lodged her complaint of harassment. Given the memo and the three affidavits, we conclude that Fennell has failed to demonstrate a genuine issue as to whether First Step's layoff decision predated her complaint. Thus, no reasonable jury could find that First Step's business-related, non-retaliatory reason for Fennell's layoff decision was a pretext--it cannot have retaliated for conduct that had yet to occur. 51 Fennell also argues that even if the memo was legitimate and predated her report, the job action contemplated in the memo was vague and not final, and that retaliatory animus motivated her ultimate termination. We are not persuaded. The October 25 memo used the term layoff, and Smith used the same term in his December 20, 1993, letter informing Fennell of her discharge. The next day, Tucker wrote Fennell a letter stating that her position had been eliminated. Fennell argues that the October 25 memo contemplated a layoff, from which she would be called back when work was available, but that in fact she was terminated and her position eliminated. First Step counters that she was laid off because her position was eliminated, and that it would have brought Fennell back from layoff if another supervisory position opened for which she was qualified. First Step states that it did not transfer Fennell to a non-supervisory position because it does not generally demote supervisors to line positions, believing that morale problems result. Our view of the summary judgment record, viewed favorably to Fennell, leads to the inescapable conclusion that the pre-complaint decision to lay off Fennell was a decision to eliminate her position, rather than a temporary measure with the expectation that she would be called back. After reviewing the entire record, we hold that Fennell has not presented evidence that would allow a reasonable jury to find that First Step had originally decided merely to lay off Fennell but then later decided to take a more permanent action in retaliation for her complaint. 52 We also reject Fennell's argument that the pre-complaint decision to lay her off was not a final decision, and that it could have been reconsidered later, but was not because of her complaint. We agree with the district court that could have is not enough. Fennell has presented no evidence that there was later reconsideration or that the decision was not final. We recognize that certain other employees on the layoff list were ultimately not laid off because of changed circumstances relevant to their jobs, but that fact standing alone says little or nothing about any changes in circumstance that might have led to reconsideration of Fennell's job future. 53 Fennell makes one other argument worthy of mention. She claims that after her complaint of sexual harassment she was immediately demoted to a lesser position. She does not, however, develop this argument in her brief, and we are not clear whether she raises it as a separately actionable act of retaliation or as evidence of the retaliatory animus behind her termination. In either case, we agree with the district court's rejection of her demotion argument. It is difficult to see how her assignment to packing duties during the Christmas season rush amounts to a demotion, given that in her affidavit she described her earlier duties thus: I spent most of my time as Warehouse Lead on the warehouse floor working alongside other warehouse employees. The demotion argument has not raised any genuine issues of fact as to retaliation, and in any event the argument is waived for failure to develop it fully in her brief. See, e.g., Ryan v. Royal Ins. Co., 916 F.2d 731, 734 (1st Cir.1990) (explaining that issues adverted to on appeal in a perfunctory manner, unaccompanied by some developed argumentation, are deemed to have been abandoned). 54 Fennell points to a variety of other facts as proof that First Step could not have wanted to discharge her for legitimate business reasons. These other facts include her value as an employee, her awards for Employee of the Month and the Year, her utility in performing the annual inventory to be performed shortly after her layoff, the fact that the First Step catalogue was featured on the Oprah Winfrey show shortly before her layoff, and First Step's plans for a large mailing of catalogues in January 1994. In essence, she attempts to second-guess First Step's business judgment that a leaner warehouse management team--that is, a team without Fennell--was desirable. None of these other assertions creates a genuine issue of fact as to whether First Step's reasons for termination were a pretext, in light of the October 25 memo and the three affidavits averring that the layoff list was made before Fennell's complaint. Courts may not sit as super personnel departments, assessing the merits--or even the rationality--of employers' nondiscriminatory business decisions. Mesnick, 950 F.2d at 825. 55 In the absence of a genuine issue as to the authenticity of the October 25 memo scheduling Fennell for a layoff, Fennell is left with only conjecture and innuendo that her termination was an act of retaliation. The district court appropriately granted summary judgment for First Step.