Opinion ID: 1303685
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Alleged Instances of Discrimination and Subsequent Complaints

Text: Gorzynski alleges multiple instances of disparate treatment based on age and gender that she experienced at the Buffalo station, and testifies that she complained numerous times about such treatment. The evidence she presents to support her hostile work environment, disparate treatment, and retaliation claims is as follows.
Gorzynski's hostile work environment claim is based in part on multiple comments made by her supervisor Celeste, which Gorzynski contends constitute sexual harassment. For example, after assisting a crewmember in cleaning up a spill of a passenger's breast enhancement cream, Celeste made massaging gestures with his hands and stated that he had the impulse to massage breasts. On another occasion, after observing a female passenger with large breasts, Celeste and another crewmember made a comment about wanting to suck on the woman's breasts. Celeste was also overheard telling a crewmember that he had to get home to watch his children so his wife could go to a sex toy party, and asked a female crewmember if she had gotten enough loving over the weekend. In the spring of 2002, while giving a final boarding call for a flight over the loudspeaker, Celeste announced that a female crewmember, Cheryl Harrison, was a former pin-up girl. During another final boarding call around the same time, Celeste announced that Gorzynski had been a table dancer in her life prior to joining the airline industry. Both Harrison and Gorzynski were humiliated and walked off the aircraft. Gorzynski complained to Celeste about these comments. Celeste did not apologize and no disciplinary action was taken against him. Besides these comments, on some occasions Celeste would grab female crewmembers, including Gorzynski, around the waist area and, on other occasions, he would attempt to tickle them. One female crewmember testified that she noticed Celeste looking at women as if he were mentally undressing them, and Galipeau, another Customer Service Supervisor, testified that Celeste was very sexual and frequently made inappropriate comments and gestures.
Gorzynski presents a number of instances where she was treated differently from younger Customer Service Supervisors, especially by Celeste, her supervisor. In December 2001, Celeste gave Gorzynski a negative performance evaluation. Celeste had been hired in December 2001, and although he had only worked with Gorzynski for one week, he prepared and submitted an evaluation of her for the entire year, giving her low ratings: two out of five in fifteen categories, three out of five in seven categories, and two out of five overall. This was so despite the fact that she had not been written up for any disciplinary problems that year. For this same period, Gorzynski was evaluated by an anonymous crewmember who rated her as a four out of five in seventeen categories and a five out of five in eleven categories. Moreover, at the same time, Celeste evaluated Crowley, a then-30-year-old Customer Service Supervisor, and gave him an overall rating of four out of five in the face of the fact that Crowley had been written up and verbally counseled on numerous occasions throughout that same year, 2001. Crowley was then promoted. After Crowley was promoted, he sent a series of emails to all the Buffalo Station employees relating an incident in which he and another male employee were intoxicated while on a company trip and vandalized hotel property. Despite sending these emails, Crowley was not disciplined. Zimmer, the Director of Airports, testified that Celeste should have taken disciplinary action with respect to this conduct. According to Gorzynski, also probative of Celeste's discrimination is a conversation in early 2002 in which Celeste told Gorzynski that she reminded him of one of his aunts who was in her eighties. Beyond mentioning his aunt's age, Celeste allegedly told Gorzynski that his aunt was a nice person, but difficult. Gorzynski complained to Thro about this comment, but he told her that she need not be concerned. In addition to these allegations, Gorzynski points to multiple instances where JetBlue's rules and policies were enforced differently on the basis of age and sex. Following September 11, 2001, JetBlue was forced to change its policies on bag searching and screening of passengers. Gorzynski received training regarding these new policies. Despite the directive that all JetBlue employees were supposed to be trained in this fashion, Gina Galipeau and Kevin Crowley (both younger Customer Service Supervisors) refused to complete the training and to assist in the performance of this work. Although their lack of participation made it more difficult to complete these searches, Celeste did not do anything to discipline Galipeau or Crowley. In February or March of 2002, less than four months before Gorzynski was fired, she had a meeting with the General Manager, Thro, and complained about the unequal treatment of employees based on age which was occurring at the Buffalo Station, and in particular about the fact that Crowley and Galipeau were still not trained to do bag searching six months after the directive. Immediately after Gorzynski made her complaints, Thro told her that Eli Cruz, a male crewmember in his thirties, stated that on one occasion he felt uncomfortable with Gorzynski because she spoke in a harsh manner. According to Gorzynski, Thro asked her to reinvent herself. Thro placed Gorzynski on 60-day probation. Later, Celeste reported to Thro that no inappropriate behavior recurred within the 60-day period. As another example of disparate enforcement of the rules, Gorzynski alleges that Galipeau was consistently late for her shifts without any discipline. A supervisor being late for a shift is allegedly particularly bad because the supervisor is supposed to brief the employees before the shift starts and provide them with the cash necessary to operate the counter. Galipeau also violated JetBlue's rules by scheduling her significant other for positive space (rather than standby) on JetBlue flights. Similarly, Galipeau and Crowley were regularly permitted time off without having to use the limited amount of personal time off allotted to each supervisor. Gorzynski was not given the same privilege. Gorzynski also alleges that JetBlue's preferential treatment of younger crewmembers, who were not Supervisors like herself, is probative of her claims. Lee Gojmerac, a 21-year-old female who worked as part of the ramp crew, violated rules, such as the smoking policy, without discipline from Celeste. Gojmerac also mocked and ridiculed other crewmembers and spread rumors about them. Although other crewmembers complained, Celeste did nothing. Gojmerac and another female employee in her early twenties, Nicole Helms, slept through the arrival of an aircraft. Gorzynski woke them up and then reported the incident to Celeste. Instead of issuing any discipline, he got on bended knee and apologized to Ms. Gojmerac because she was startled when Ms. Gorzynski attempted to wake her. Similarly, Gorzynski contends, Nate Neubaur, a male crewmember in his twenties, also received preferential treatment. He violated multiple policies: (a) by opening a vibrating bag while not in the presence of another supervisor, (b) by altering United States Postal Service sheets without having them verified by the Postal Service, and (c) by holding onto foreign currency that had been reported missing by a passenger. He also guided a jet bridge operated by Galipeau into a truck. Despite all of these incidents, he was not disciplined. Lastly, Gorzynski describes a general atmosphere where Celeste treated older women as if they were not there. He did not converse with the older female crewmembers, but regularly spoke with Gojmerac and Helms.
Gorzynski further alleges that she complained about racial discrimination though it was not directed at heron at least two instances. First, in approximately May 2002, Celeste was walking up the jet bridge in an irregular fashion and told Cheryl Harrison and Gorzynski that he was walking like a brother. He said that he was acting like a brother and that he had lived with brothers so he knew how brothers act and walk. Gorzynski knew that Cheryl Harrison was very offended by these comments, so Gorzynski complained to Celeste and said that his comments were not appropriate. Second, in June 2002, Gorzynski went with Eric Moses, an African-American employee, to complain to Celeste about racial discrimination that Moses allegedly faced. Moses told Gorzynski that he believed he was discriminatorily denied the opportunity to apply for the Ground Support Equipment Coordinator position which was given to David McMahon, a white male. At the meeting, Celeste responded by stating that Moses had not applied for the position. This upset Moses, and he indicated that he would have been interested in the position had he known about it. He asserted that he had never been made aware the position was available because it was not posted. Gorzynski expressed her concern to Celeste that Moses believed he had been denied equal opportunity because of his race. Celeste told her that he would take care of the situation, but nothing was done to investigate or respond to the complaint. Gorzynski alleges that she noticed that Celeste began to be very hostile toward her as a result of the complaints made about unequal treatment at the Buffalo Station.