Opinion ID: 773251
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Alleged Distortions of Straughn's Responses

Text: 83 Straughn likewise failed to generate a trial worthy issue in relation to her claim that Giglio mischaracterized her responses to his inquiries regarding her receipt and retention of workers' compensation benefits. As the district court appropriately noted, Straughn's deposition testimony, affidavit, and written statement abundantly demonstrate her utter lack of candor in responding to these legitimate inquiries. 84 Upon initial inquiry by Giglio, as to whether she had received any money from compensation, Straughn responded in the negative, then added that she had received money to order out my meals [and] to help take care of myself . . . . On the second occasion, in the presence of two other supervisors, Straughn again denied receiving workers' compensation benefits, while allowing that she had received reimbursements for certain expenses. These responses were not only materially false, but knowingly made, in that Straughn was well aware that she had received and retained workers' compensation benefits meant to compensate her for lost salary, while continuing to receive full salary from Delta. 85 Straughn also received other checks from ESIS, representing reimbursements for various expenses incurred in connection with her job- related injury, such as medical services, prescription drugs, and travel expenses incurred in connection with medical appointments. Although food was not an expense reimbursed by ESIS, it was among those Straughn listed when Giglio asked whether she had received money for expenses. Curiously, Straughn now attempts to characterize her response to Giglio as an admission that she had indeed received both workers' compensation benefits and reimbursements for expenses from ESIS. She reasons that since she listed food - an expense not eligible for reimbursement from ESIS - her direct response to Giglio that she had never received workers' compensation benefits somehow acknowledged that she had indeed received workers' compensation benefits. 86 She also attempts to rationalize her negative response to Giglio as simply a reference to the promised workers' compensation settlement, not weekly benefits . . . . Since she has not elaborated, we are left to speculate about the precise details. 87 Thus, essentially Straughn sought - indeed still seeks - to rationalize the obvious inaccuracies in her response to Giglio, which she attributes to inartful language, as including an accurate response to a question she was never asked. In contrast, Giglio and Delta management rationally assessed her persistent refusals to acknowledge her receipt and wrongful retention of workers' compensation benefits as attempts to conceal the truth. 88 Undeterred, Straughn continues to defend her responses as technically accurate in the sense that she did tell Giglio that she had received food money, which could only have derived from workers' compensation benefits since food is not an expense related to medical treatment. This artful contention is belied as well, however, by her own written submission following her suspension by Delta: 89 When I spoke to my attorney[,] she advised me . . . do not advise of comp money. . . . When [Giglio] asked me if I received comp, all I thought of was attorney advise [sic]. 90 (Emphasis added). 91 Thus, Straughn admitted to an attempt to conceal the fact that she had received workers' compensation benefits while on accident leave from her employment with Delta, albeit on the advice of counsel. At a minimum, then, the summary judgment record unambiguously established that Straughn plainly understood that she had received workers' compensation benefits while on full salary, yet set out to conceal that fact from Delta. 92 No less importantly, at this point in the burden-shifting analysis the principal focus must be upon whether McColly and Ealey, the responsible Delta decision makers, reasonably believed that Straughn lied, rather than whether she actually lied. In assessing pretext, [our] 'focus must be on the perception of the decision maker,' that is, whether the employer believed its stated reason to be credible. Goldman v. First Nat'l Bank of Boston, 985 F.2d 1113, 1118 (1st Cir. 1993) (quoting Mesnick, 950 F.2d at 824; Gray v. New England Tel. & Tel. Co., 792 F.2d 251, 256 (1st Cir. 1986)). As Straughn has never claimed that either McColly or Ealey harbored a gender-based or race-based bias, but rather that they were misled by Giglio's allegedly wrongful recommendation that her employment be terminated, in these particular circumstances it is the reasonableness of Giglio's belief alone which is controlling. 93 The record plainly demonstrates that Giglio reasonably regarded Straughn's responses to his inquiries as wrongful attempts to conceal what he well knew to be so, based on Delta's business records; viz., that Straughn had received and wrongfully retained workers' compensation benefits from ESIS, while continuing to receive her full Delta salary on accident leave. Giglio accordingly recommended that Straughn be discharged, due to her persistent dishonesty, pursuant to longstanding Delta policy. 94 In these circumstances, no rational trier of fact could conclude that Giglio did not reasonably believe that Straughn had responded dishonestly when repeatedly confronted with the documented fact that she had received workers' compensation benefits, as well as full salary, while on accident leave. Thus, Straughn utterly failed to generate a trial worthy issue of material fact as to whether Giglio reasonably believed that she had attempted to mislead him regarding her receipt and retention of the workers' compensation benefits to which she was not entitled. 10 A fortiori, she failed to generate a trial worthy issue as to whether McColly and Ealey reasonably accepted Giglio's version of the relevant events. 95