Opinion ID: 2995676
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Was Peele meeting Country Mutual’s

Text: legitimate employment expectations at the time of her termination? The first question we must consider is whether Peele was meeting Country Mutual’s legitimate employment expectations at the time of her termination. [T]he ’legitimate expectations’ element in the ubiquitous burden-shifting formula of McDonnell Douglas [is crucial]. Coco, 128 F.3d at 1179. If a plaintiff fails to demonstrate that she was meeting her employer’s legitimate employment expectations at the time of her termination, the employer may not be put to the burden of stating the reasons for [her] termination. Coco, 128 F.3d at 1179. If the plaintiff has direct evidence of discrimination well and good; but if he has nothing else, and is therefore totally reliant on the McDonnell Douglas formula, he is out of luck if he can’t show that he was meeting his employer’s legitimate expectations. Id. See also Brummett v. Lee Enterprises, Inc., 284 F.3d 742, 745 (7th Cir. 2002); Contreras, 237 F.3d at 761; Espo Eng’g Corp., 200 F.3d at 1090; Biolchini v. Gen. Elec. Co., 167 F.3d 1151, 1154 (7th Cir. 1999); Plair, 105 F.3d at 347. After carefully reviewing the record, we agree with Country Mutual that the evidence of Peele’s deteriorating job performance is overwhelming. In the 18 months leading up to her termination, she was repeatedly warned by the company, both verbally and in writing, that her job performance was unacceptable. As our recitation of the facts demonstrates, Peele received no less than nine critical written evaluations of her job performance as a CR2. Time and time again, Country Mutual informed Peele of the specific deficiencies in her job performance, and she failed to correct them--despite being given numerous opportunities by the company to do so. Moreover, notwithstanding her allegations of discrimination, Peele has never challenged the veracity of any of the performance deficiencies noted in the company’s written evaluations of her job performance, including those made by Hanenberger. Furthermore, while Peele casts Hanenberger as the antagonist in this case, the record clearly shows that several of Country Mutual’s other employees also criticized her job performance as a CR2, and participated in the decision- making process that ultimately resulted in her termination. The following facts are undisputed: (1) Dennis Bates, Hanenberger’s predecessor, criticized Peele’s job performance in March 1997; (2) Donald Weber, a district training coordinator, noted several problems with Peele’s files after reviewing the findings of a 1998 supervisor’s audit; (3) Michael Kearns, a district manager, reviewed Peele’s files in June 1998, and found several performance deficiencies (e.g., calling one file a disgrace); (4) Kearns and Judy Garee, the company’s manager of compensation, along with Hanenberger, collectively made the decision to place Peele on a provisional rating; and (5) four employees were involved in the decision to terminate Peele: Kearns, Hanenberger, Garee, and Joe Painter, the company’s director of claims. This evidence shows that Hanenberger was not alone in his criticism of Peele, and that a consensus was reached by several Country Mutual employees that her failure to meet the company’s legitimate employment expectations over an 18-month period warranted her being terminated. We are unpersuaded by Peele’s argument that evidence of her poor job performance must be balanced against the favorable performance reviews, raises, and promotions she received during her eight-plus years with the company. In most cases, when a district court evaluates the question of whether an employee was meeting an employer’s legit imate employment expectations, the issue is not the employee’s past performance but whether the employee was performing well at the time of [her] termination. Karazanos v. Navistar Intern. Transp. Corp., 948 F.2d 332, 336 (7th Cir. 1991). See also Fortier v. Ameritech Mobile Communications, Inc., 161 F.3d 1106, 1113 (7th Cir. 1998). Furthermore, prior job performance evaluations, standing alone, [do not] create a genuine issue of triable fact when . . . there have been substantial alterations in the employee’s responsibilities and supervision in the intervening period. Fortier, 161 F.3d at 1113 (emphasis added). The bulk of the evidence documenting Peele’s performance deficiencies relates to her tenure as a CR2. Her responsibilities and work load as a CR2 were substantially different from those associated with her previous positions. The positive performance evaluations Peele received as a CR1, and, to even a lesser extent as a CSR, are therefore of no relevance. Finally, we have held that the general statements of co- workers, indicating that a plaintiff’s job performance was satisfactory, are insufficient to create a material issue of fact as to whether a plaintiff was meeting her employer’s legitimate employment expectations at the time she was terminated. See, e.g., Dey v. Colt Constr. & Dev. Co., 28 F.3d 1446, 1460 (7th Cir. 1994) (Our cases . . . give little weight to statements by supervisors or co-workers that generally corroborate a plaintiff’s own perception of satisfactory job performance.). See also Anderson v. Baxter Healthcare Corp., 13 F.3d 1120, 1125 (7th Cir. 1994); Kephart v. Inst. of Gas Tech., 630 F.2d 1217, 1218-19, 1223 (7th Cir. 1980). For all of the foregoing reasons, we conclude that Peele was not meeting Country Mutual’s legitimate employment expectations at the time of her termination.