Opinion ID: 2716182
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Spencer’s Hostile Work Environment Claim

Text: The majority concludes that the grant of summary judgment on Spencer’s hostile work environment claim was correct because the record establishes that Machen is not a supervisor under Vance. In Vance, the Supreme Court held “that an employee is a ‘supervisor’ for purposes of vicarious liability under Title VII if he or she is empowered by the employer to take tangible employment actions against the victim.” Vance, 133 S. Ct. at 2439. A tangible employment action is “a significant change in employment status, such as hiring, firing, failing to promote, reassignment with significantly different responsibilities, or a decision causing a significant change in benefits.” Id. at 2443 (quoting Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth, 524 U.S. 742, 761 (1998)). The summary judgment record before us was created pre-Vance, when it was sufficient to show that an alleged harasser was a supervisor if he had “immediate (or successively higher) authority over the employee.” Celestine v. Petroleos de Venezuella SA, 266 F.3d 343, 353-54 (5th Cir. 2001). In my view, there is simply not enough evidence in the record about this worksite or the role of foremen to determine that Machen was not a 16 Case: 13-20282 Document: 00512722328 Page: 17 Date Filed: 08/05/2014 No. 13-20282 supervisor under Vance. Though the firing decisions are apparently ultimately made or approved by Schmidt managers, the record shows that foremen have some authority and input regarding firing decisions. The weight their recommendations carry is unclear. For example, when Spencer was escorted off the Anderson job site, he testified that Machen, a foreman, and Vidrine, a general foreman, were the employees who escorted him off the site, and that no other Schmidt managers were informed or involved. It is also unclear whether foremen have the authority to transfer employees to assignments with different responsibilities, which may make them supervisors under Vance. See Vance, 133 S. Ct. at 2443. I would not reach the fact-intensive question of whether Machen is a supervisor, because there are alternative grounds for affirmance. Even under the harassment standards applicable to supervisors, the grant of summary judgment should be affirmed. While there is no question that the harassment of Spencer by Machen rose to the level of a hostile work environment, I would conclude that the district court correctly held that Schmidt was entitled to the Ellerth/Faragher affirmative defense to vicarious liability. See Burlington Indus. Inc. v. Ellerth, 524 U.S. 742, 765 (1998); Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 524 U.S. 775, 807 (1998). In order to raise this affirmative defense, the employer must first show it took no adverse employment action against Spencer. See Aryain v. Wal-Mart Stores Texas LP, 534 F.3d 473, 480 (5th Cir. 2008). Spencer alleges that he was constructively discharged, which would preclude Schmidt from raising the affirmative defense. See id. In determining whether an employer’s actions constitute a constructive discharge, we ask whether working conditions became “so intolerable that a reasonable person in the employee’s position would have felt compelled to resign.” Pennsylvania State Police v. Suders, 542 U.S. 129, 141 (2004); see Aryain, 534 F.3d at 480. To show constructive 17 Case: 13-20282 Document: 00512722328 Page: 18 Date Filed: 08/05/2014 No. 13-20282 discharge, a plaintiff must present “something more” than what is required to establish a hostile work environment claim. Aryain, 534 F.3d at 480. Here, Spencer failed to point to sufficient summary judgment evidence supporting a claim of constructive discharge. The only evidence he pointed to, apart from the same evidence establishing the hostile work environment, was that he was given some menial assignments and made to repeat the same task multiple times. While certainly annoying, this does not rise to the level of intolerable working conditions that would compel a reasonable employee to resign. See Suders, 542 U.S. at 141; Aryain, 534 F.3d at 480. Since Spencer was not constructively discharged, Schmidt may assert the Ellerth/Faragher affirmative defense to vicarious liability. Under Ellerth/Faragher, an employer may avoid vicarious liability by showing that: (1) the employer exercised reasonable care to prevent and correct promptly any harassing behavior; and (2) the plaintiff unreasonably failed to take advantage of any preventive or corrective opportunities provided by the employer. Ellerth, 524 U.S. at 765; Faragher, 524 U.S. at 807. I would conclude, as the district court did, that Schmidt met both prongs. With regard to the first prong, Schmidt established that it exercised preventative action by disseminating anti-discrimination policies which prohibited discrimination and harassment and provided multiple avenues for complaints by employees, which Spencer does not argue are inadequate or unreasonable. See Lauderdale v. Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice, 512 F.3d 157, 164 (5th Cir. 2007). Further, Schmidt promptly corrected the harassing behavior. Specifically, within two weeks of Spencer opening the text message and informing the union of it, Ben Frank, the head of Schmidt, fired Machen for sending the text and Vidrine for being a general foreman who knew of the text but who did not inform his superintendent. This is sufficient to establish the first prong of the Ellerth/Faragher defense. Under the second prong, Schmidt must establish 18 Case: 13-20282 Document: 00512722328 Page: 19 Date Filed: 08/05/2014 No. 13-20282 that Spencer unreasonably failed to take advantage of any preventative or corrective opportunities made available by the employer. Ellerth, 524 U.S. at 765; Faragher, 524 U.S. at 807. Here, while Spencer notified the union of the text message, he did not alert anyone at Schmidt, and after receiving a secondhand report from his union steward that Schmidt was not taking action, he did not follow any of the multiple avenues for complaint to Schmidt management. See Lauderdale, 512 F.3d at 164-65. Further, Frank also repeatedly offered Spencer his job back after Schmidt fired Machen and Vidrine, including offering to transfer Spencer to a different worksite if he so desired. In these circumstances, particularly given the prompt and effective corrective action taken by Schmidt, I agree with the district court that Schmidt established both prongs of the Ellerth/Faragher defense and was entitled to summary judgment on Spencer’s hostile work environment claim.