Opinion ID: 1303685
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The McMahon Incident and Gorzynski's Termination

Text: On the morning of June 25, 2002, a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector came to the Buffalo Station and reviewed the standard operating manual section of Gorzynski's computer. Gorzynski observed that the inspector had looked at the fire extinguisher section, and she was accordingly concerned that he was going to inspect the fire extinguishers in the ramp. The inspector advised that he would be back after the next aircraft arrival. Consequently, Gorzynski asked the rampers to check to see if JetBlue was in compliance and if all the fire extinguishers were in the right places. Crewmembers reported that there were some missing extinguishers. At the time, McMahon had been gone for several days and crewmembers had come to Gorzynski, as a supervisor, to complain about broken equipment and various safety issues. As Galipeau testified, McMahon did not keep a set schedule and was frequently gone, which was problematic because he was not there at times when the employees needed him. As repair issues began to pile up, Gorzynski felt there needed to be better communication with McMahon to address these recurring problems, and suggested that the crewmembers create a list of needed repairs, along with a file on each piece of equipment so as to avoid any duplication of equipment complaints for McMahon. When McMahon returned later on the same day (June 25, 2002), Gorzynski told the ramp crewmembers to provide McMahon with the current repair list. She also informed McMahon of the issue concerning the fire extinguishers and asked him to help her prepare for the imminent FAA inspection. McMahon, who allegedly admitted to being sensitive to criticism, objected to being presented with the list of repairs. He sent an email to Celeste about the incident. In his email, McMahon described walking to the ramp and being approached by a crewmember who said Watch out for [Gorzynski], she has it out for you ... [and says] we should be keeping an eye on ... how long it takes him to fix this equipment and so on. As he made it to the ramp, McMahon described being surrounded by five crewmembers and Gorzynski, who said OK guys, give him the list. After that, the crewmembers fired a list, just pummeling [McMahon].... As JetBlue describes the incident, Celeste received a complaint that Gorzynski once again was making inappropriate comments about a crewmember to other crewmembers. He also learned that she had encouraged fellow crewmembers to berate another crewmember. Gorzynski asserts that she did not berate McMahon nor encourage anyone else to do so, but rather encouraged crewmembers to present him with the list of repairs. McMahon testified that other than this one incident, he had no complaints with respect to Gorzynski and thought she did her job well. He also denied that Gorzynski spoke to him in an unprofessional manner that day. Judy Zimmer testified that Gorzynski's suggestion of a list could potentially have been a way to resolve the problem with McMahon and that Gorzynski had every right to ask McMahon whether he knew where the missing extinguishers were. Furthermore, Galipeau testified that McMahon told her he was out to get Gorzynski and would do whatever he could to make life miserable for her or get her out of JetBlue. Thro and Celeste began an investigation into McMahon's complaint arising from this incident. As part of this investigation, they obtained written statements from McMahon, Cruz, and Gojmerac. They did not interview Eric Moses, Kenneth Swiateck, or Gorzynski, all of whom were present for the incident or had knowledge of it. Zimmer admitted that these persons should have been interviewed. Gojmerac's witness statement confirmed several of McMahon's allegations, stating that Gorzynski accosted him with a litany of tasks that needed to get done and also got Eric [Moses] going about things that needed to be done. Upon receipt of Gojmerac's statement, Thro and Celeste met with Gorzynski on July 3, 2002, and told her that she created a hostile work environment. Gorzynski says that she was not provided with any specifics and was not informed about McMahon's complaint until discovery. Thro then recommended to Zimmer that Gorzynski should be fired, and Zimmer agreed. On July 5, 2002, JetBlue terminated Gorzynski's employment. JetBlue replaced Gorzynski with Gojmerac, a member of the ramp crew who was twenty-two years old at the time and allegedly violated various JetBlue rules. Gojmerac had graduated from high school and then worked at a pizzeria waiting tables and answering phones until being hired by JetBlue in June 2000. Celeste admitted that Gojmerac did not meet the minimum qualifications for Gorzynski's position at the time that Gojmerac was hired.