Opinion ID: 160034
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Treatment of Similarly-Situated Employees

Text: 36 As explained above, a plaintiff may also show pretext on a theory of disparate treatment by providing evidence that he was treated differently from other similarly-situated, nonprotected employees who violated work rules of comparable seriousness. An employee is similarly situated to the plaintiff if the employee deals with the same supervisor and is subject to the same standards governing performance evaluation and discipline. Aramburu, 112 F.3d at 1404 (internal quotations and citation omitted). A court should also compare the relevant employment circumstances, such as work history and company policies, applicable to the plaintiff and the intended comparable employees in determining whether they are similarly situated. Id. 37 Not every difference in treatment, of course, will establish a discriminatory intent. 38 Title VII does not make unexplained differences in treatment per se illegal nor does it make inconsistent or irrational employment practices illegal. It prohibits only intentional discrimination based upon an employee's protected class characteristics. Human relationships are inherently complex. Large employers must deal with a multitude of employment decisions, involving different employees, different supervisors, different time periods, and an incredible array of facts that will inevitably differ even among seemingly similar situations . . . . 39 What the law does require is that an employer not discriminate against an employee on the basis of the employee's protected class characteristics. 40 Flasher, 986 F.2d at 1319. Differences in treatment that are trivial or accidental or explained by a nondiscriminatory motive will not sustain a claim of pretext. See id. at 1320. 41 In support of his contention that Penske disciplined similarly-situated, nonminority employees differently when they violated work rules of comparable seriousness, Kendrick points to a number of instances where employees swore at their supervisors but were not terminated by Penske. These events cannot be used to show pretext in Kendrick's case, however, because these employees did not violate work rules of comparable seriousness to Kendrick. At the time Cash decided to discharge Kendrick, he understood that Kendrick had physically pushed Tirrell in addition to verbally abusing him. Thus, the fact that other Penske employees may have verbally abused their supervisors but were not discharged does not establish pretext in this case because Kendrick's actions constituted violations of greater severity. 42 Kendrick does, however, provide evidence of one employee who, although he violated a work rule that is arguably of comparable seriousness, was not fired. The record shows that on the morning of October 27, 1998, a Penske truck driver, Lynn Taylor, threatened a Corporate Express driver with a crow bar. Taylor met with supervisor Rusty Swarts to discuss the incident. Swarts told Taylor that he was suspended pending a further investigation. In response, Taylor stormed out of the office. Taylor then went back into the office, pointed at Swarts and said, see you later. Swarts asked Taylor to come back into the office and explained to him that he would terminate Taylor on the spot if Taylor was threatening him. Taylor then clarified, I meant later, you know, when we discuss the matter further. Taylor was again suspended on September 10, 1998, after he verbally abused Warehouse Supervisor, Shane Steadman. On November 13, 1998, Penske agreed to allow Taylor to keep his job, without retroactive pay, if he would agree to view anger aggression videos and serve a six-month probationary period with complete adherence to corporate policies. Taylor would be terminated if any major violations of corporate policy occurred. 43 There are several problems with the evidence concerning Penske's treatment of Taylor that prevent us from concluding that Kendrick has demonstrated that a genuine issue of material fact exists as to whether Penske's asserted reason for discharging Kendrick was pretextual. First, Taylor and Kendrick's situations are factually distinguishable. While Penske's treatment of Taylor and Kendrick is close enough to be comparable, see Elmore, 58 F.3d at 530 (When comparing the relative treatment of similarly situated minority and non-minority employees, the comparison need not be based on identical violations of identical work rules; the violations need only be of 'comparable seriousness.'), their circumstances were nonetheless different in significant respects. Kendrick actually had physical contact with the person he was threatening while Taylor did not. While from a legal standpoint it would seem that assault with a deadly weapon is just as threatening as pushing another person in anger, we are reluctant to require Penske to view Kendrick and Taylor's actions as equally unacceptable. A company must be allowed to exercise its judgment in determining how severely it will discipline an employee for different types of conduct. Our role is to prevent unlawful hiring practices, not to act as a super personnel department that second guesses employers' business judgments. Simms, 165 F.3d at 1330 (quotations and citation omitted). 44 In addition, Taylor and Kendrick did not have the same immediate supervisor. We recognize that Cash, Penske's Regional Human Resources Manager, played a role in determining the disciplinary action to be taken against both Taylor and Kendrick. However, the fact that Taylor and Kendrick each threatened a different intermediate-level supervisor diminishes the evidentiary value of the comparison between Penske's treatment of the two employees. Different supervisors will inevitably react differently to employee insubordination. 45 Two other important factors distinguish Taylor and Kendrick's situations. In Taylor's case, a number of meetings were held among union representatives, Penske representatives, and Taylor during the course of Penske's investigation into Taylor's conduct. At two of these meetings, union representative Dennis Speaks defended Taylor's character. Speaks assured Penske that, based on his and Taylor's many years of association, Taylor was a stand up guy and that Taylor would walk the straight and narrow in the future. At the final meeting, Penske representatives, union representatives, and Taylor all made presentations. At this meeting, all parties agreed to the conditions of Taylor's continued employment described above. In contrast, the union did not defend Kendrick's character or provide assurances that Kendrick would not engage in insubordination in the future. In addition, and perhaps more importantly, Kendrick, unlike Taylor, did not justify his conduct or otherwise make any conciliatory gestures toward his supervisor or Penske. 46 The fact that Penske took relatively severe disciplinary action against Taylor also diminishes the persuasive value of this comparative evidence. Had Taylor's conduct been dismissed by Penske with a slap on the wrist, evidence of Taylor's treatment would more strongly support Kendrick's claim that Penske's decision to fire him for insubordination was pretextual. The record reflects, however, that Penske felt Taylor's conduct was very serious, and the company disciplined him accordingly. 47 Further, the fact that the Taylor incident occurred more than a year and a half after Penske's decision to terminate Kendrick also weakens its evidentiary value. Employers' disciplinary practices necessarily change over time, and it would be inappropriate for courts to penalize employers who have modified their practices over a substantial period of time in an effort to better address their business needs. See Hardy v. S.F. Phosphates Ltd. Co., 185 F.3d 1076, 1082-83 (10th Cir. 1999) (declining to find pretext in an ADEA case where the plaintiff alleged that his employer had previously disciplined younger employees less severely for harassing their coworkers where the record reflected that the company took a more serious stance against harassment following those events). 48 In sum, the undisputed facts in this case indicate that there were substantial differences between Taylor and Kendrick's circumstances. Adding up these differences and the other deficiencies in the evidence of Taylor's treatment, we conclude that Kendrick has not put forth sufficient evidence to create a genuine issue of material fact on the issue of pretext, and we conclude that the district court did not err in granting summary judgment for Penske on Kendrick's discriminatory discharge claim.